Well, that was my question. Does a driver burn more calories while sitting in the seat and driving as opposed to sitting in front of the television watching the tube?

Well, everybody has a different metabolism, but utilizing the BodyBugg (my new diet tool), I put that question to the test on myself. While watching television for several hours, I burned (on average) 1.3 calories per minute for a total of 78 calories per hour. While driving, I burned an average f 2.8 calories per minute for a total of 168 calories per hour. (This was calculated over a five hour period with one fueling and window washing and two stops to check and shift the load on the trailer).

So, as you can see the difference between driving a big rig and sitting on your bumm watching the tube on the livingroom sofa, is just 90 calories per hour. Now, if you figure that a truck driver is only supposed to drive for 11 hours out of the day, then you can figure that your job enables you to burn only 990 calories more than if you sat on your couch for those same 11 hours.

Now, we all know that a truck driver does more than just drive their rigs. There is fueling, loading, unloading, walking to and from the truck, cleaning inside the cab....and that all burns calories too. On my best, my most active day, I am able to burn about 3200 calories. On those days, I loaded and unloaded in the same day and wrestled tarps for 3 to 5 hours. I also walked 4 miles at the end of the day. That is a lot of activity, yet, I only expended about 3200 calories.

So, what does that mean? Well, if I got up in the morning, ON MY MOST ACTIVE DAY, and ate 2 fried Eggs, 2 slices of Toast with Butter and Jelly, two strips of Bacon, 2 cups of Coffee with 4 tablespoons of Creamer, and Home Fries. I would have consumed about 972 calories.

If I ate a Bacon Cheeseburger, French Fries, and a 20-ounce Coke for lunch, then I would have consumed another 1383 calories.

Getting hungry in the middle of the day, a driver might grab a Snickers bar, adding another 280 calories to the daily total.

For many drivers, dinner might be Country Fried Steak, Baked Potato with Sour Cream and Butter, Corn, Roll with Butter, and a slice of Apple Pie with one scoop of Ice Cream. That would finish the day out adding another 2880 calories.

If you typically eat this way, you are consuming about...5515...calories a day!!

So, if this sounds like a typical days worth of food for you, let me ask you this question. Did you throw tarps for 3 to 5 hours today? Did you walk 3 to 4 miles today? Did you have more than 2 solid hours of constant and strenuous physical activity today (you know, the kind that makes you drip sweat from all your clothes)? Did you take more than 13,000 steps today? If not, then it is not likely that you burned off the 3200 calories I was talking about earlier. But, for the sake of this entry, let's say you did, but you ate as I described.

If this was the case, you would have consumed 5515 calories worth of food and only burned off 3200 calories through physical activity and metabolic expenditure. That means that you only GAINED a total of .66 pounds on this day. How many days can you afford to do this?

So, if you keep asking yourself why you are gaining weight, perhaps I have answered this question for you! Now, you ask, how can I stop this spiraling weight gain in it's tracks?

FIRST....you must go online and order a BodyBugg so YOU know each day EXACTLY how many calories you are burning. The BodyBugg will tell you (with 92% accuracy) the total number of calories your body is expending each day, or even hourly. This information will help you to make better food choices to let you know how many calories you have left to eat in order to meet your own personal goals. Further, the customer support that Apex provides to it's customers will ensure that you have all the help you need staying on track and meeting your goals. YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TOOLS TO DO THE JOB!!

SECOND...call the customer service department of your favorite truck stop and ask them to stop making you fat, making you unhealthy, and killing you with their fat laden, sugar laden, salt laden foods. Did you know that I was at the Petro the other night and couldn't even eat the pinto beans, as the cook had put sugar in them to...."make them taste better"....as he said. Hey Petro, do we really NEED sugar in our pinto beans. Do you add sugar to YOUR pinto beans when you cook them at home?

THIRD.....park your truck and get walking. This is probably the hardest thing to do. As a driver, I know that you are tired at the end of the day and walking is the last thing on your list to get done. So, maybe just one lap per day should be your goal for this week. Learn to get in one lap each day. It is one lap more than you were doing yesterday or last week. Then, maybe next week you can add one more lap to your day....until this has become a routine daily event that you are used to. Some of you drivers may be so heavy, that the thought of making one lap around the lot is terrifying. Try a few laps around your truck then....ANYTHING....no matter how little you are able to do, is better than doing nothing at all and allowing your waistline to increase further and your health to decline faster.

FINALLY....take a few days to join us (the Fit For The Road participants) at the Great American Truck Show in Dallas, Texas on August 24 and 25. We would love to share our experiences with you or just get you in touch with the right people if you need help. I will have a BodyBugg there for you to see...as I really feel that all drivers with weight and health issues needs to get one right away. I will be staying at the Dallas Hilton if you would like to get together outside the show and talk about things you can do to change your life on the road.

So, the answer to the question.....DO DRIVERS BURN MORE CALORIES.....the answer is YES.....but, it wasn't as many as you thought, was it"?