Bill: A Road Warrior In Search of Better Answers

I’m a sales rep for a national distributor of truck parts, so I spend about four days on the road most weeks, either in airports or driving to customers in my territory.

I’ve been doing this almost seven years and I really like my job, but I have to say I don’t feel like it’s been good for me health-wise. I probably weigh 25 pounds more than I did when I hired on and I can tell I’m having a hard time keeping up with my 10-year old when he wants to practice throwing.

I’ve tried to eat better while I’m on the road, my wife told me about points, but I haven’t had much success — a lot of my meals on the road are with customers, or I get in late so I don’t always have a lot of restaurant choices and I’m so wired when I get to the hotel I don’t always have the focus to make healthy decisions. I’ll find myself snacking on junk food, partly because it’s easy, and partly just to unwind. Plus it tastes good, right?

When I was growing up, food was the answer to everything — good day, bad day, it didn’t matter. But now, knowing that my weight’s up and my doctor’s telling me I’m pre-diabetic, a lot of the time I feel like food’s the enemy. I know you have to be careful about what you eat but I hate feeling guilty all the time.

That’s why I like the idea of a coach so much. He’s helping me find new ways to handle eating on the road. I’ve also been practicing new ways to deal with stress instead of reaching for a snack. Food’s not my enemy anymore, and I’m feeling like this ship just might be headed in the right direction.

(Stories represent typical situations based on the aggregated experiences of our providers and clients.)