Case Study

by Chelle Pfiffner, M.S., ACSM-HFI, NASM-CPT

Delete Twinkie, add granola bar

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”                         
~ Ben Franklin

     When it comes to improving the health of America’s truckers, telling and teaching come easy for Mandie Barrett, MA, RD. But getting them involved is sometimes like squeezing a mile out of a drop of diesel.
     Unless we’re talking about John Humphrey, a Louisiana native who has been hauling freight and chemicals for nearly 40 years.
     At 6 foot, 1 inch and 165 pounds, Humphrey did not appear out of shape. But looks can be deceptive, and what was going on beneath his calm and slim exterior, could prove debilitating … or deadly.
     His blood pressure was in the danger zone.  He was a two-pack-a-day smoker, always under stress and sleeping poorly.
     “Well, I guess I just realized that if I wanted to be around and be healthy to watch my grandkids grow up, I’d better get serious about my health,” says Humphrey, a driver for Fort Transfer, out of St. Gabriel, LA.
     “My company offered this program called ’90-Day Big Road Wellness,’ so I signed up. Mandie was my coach, and during our first interview, she asked about my eating habits.
     “I told her I generally eat several packages of Twinkies, plus Nutter Butter and oatmeal cookies every day. Then, for meals, cheeseburgers and fries (sometimes four times a day) or mashed potatoes and gravy.”
     Humphrey would wash it all down with a gallon of coffee. When he got done describing this to Barrett, she grew silent.
     “If I went quiet for a minute,” Barrett says, “it was because I was figuring where to start. Fortunately, John is a very willing and cooperative student.”    
     Barrett worked out a moderate program. She knows old habits die hard, and Draconian approaches are self-defeating.
     Some of Humphrey’s steps included replacing the cookies, Twinkies, crème pies and doughnuts with fresh fruit, Cheerios, skim milk, granola bars and trail mix. Then he cut back on his meat and potato meals to once a week and replaced all that coffee with water. 
And he exercised. “I started parking my truck as far from fuel stops as I could. I’d walk around the truck a few times.” 
     Humphrey’s regular calls with Barrett re-charged his will and, by the end of his 12th week, his blood pressure had dropped to 131/80, his sleep was sound and satisfying and his fatigue that seemed to bedevil him every afternoon simply went away.
     “I like what I do for a living,” he says. “And as long as I enjoy it, I am going to keep doing it. But now I feel much better behind the wheel. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
     To learn more about healthy trucking, visit
bigroadwellness.com or call 800-664-7515.