Staring through my semi’s bug splattered windshield while driving across Kansas back to my home terminal gives me plenty of time to ponder all the wondrous joys of life. I can absorb the beauty of the prairie once again turning green, take in the calves with their mothers in the many cattle fields, and just enjoy the beauty of nature. You can not get this from any office window anywhere. It leaves me in awe. I love being a professional trucker. It is a demanding job hauling America’s freight, but it is also a special kind of freedom…

Tonight, once I got home from being on the road I prepared a great dinner. It was a large plate of food that was as satisfying as it was tasty while being healthy. This delicious meal was a burrito bowl served up on a plate instead since all of my bowls were still in the dishwasher. Not that this particular detail matters any, I just felt like eating before emptying the washer.

It did not take too long to prepare and the cost compared to eating out anywhere including fast food establishments was minimal. I cooked 99% fat free ground turkey breast with Old El Paso taco seasoning. Prepared Uncle Ben’s Spanish Rice, and heated a can of black beans. This took a grand total of about fifteen minutes/ I can not drive to my closest Mickey D’s and back in that short of time. Once the cooking was done, I plated it with Romaine lettuce, spanish rice, black beans, guacamole, turkey and home made salsa. For my Weight Watchers friends, this entire meal totaled 6 Smart Points for 471.6 calories, 13g fat, 44.6g complex carbs and 53.1g of lean protein. The total cost came out to less than $5 per serving.

Folks that know me personally and who follow me on Weight Watchers Connect social media know that I am a health fanatic. I work out very hard with weights three times per week even though my work weeks can range from anywhere between sixty to eighty hours each week. I have to do this, I treat my training with the same importance as my job. My occupation is quite physical and very demanding. I have to stay in top physical condition if I expect to last another ten years until I retire at sixty five years old. It is a federal regulation that I be able to pass a Department of Transportation Physical every two years. I watch younger drivers struggle with this quite often.

The other thing about working out hard is it helps keep the demons of Post Traumatic Stress tamed. A good hard training session releases endorphins which help to keep my mind centered and makes it easier to keep life in a better perspective than when it just wanders with no release.

I have posted my workouts on Connect quite often in order to hopefully inspire others over the age of fifty that just because we may have a few gray hairs, it does not mean we have to succumb to being old. I also have done this with explanations that it is as much about my mental well being as it is about the physical. It has been brought to my attention that there may have been a few people who felt it was over the top. Not that I give a damn what some folks might think if they have seen my explanations which brings me to, people getting butt hurt that I advocate cutting out refined sugar from their diets. It is something I have done and I have never felt healthier except the time I did this for three years ago in my too distant past.

I have valid health reasons for cutting refined sugar entirely from my diet. My reasons are quite serious to me and I advocate others to cut it too. However, it is only a suggestion where I have gotten a few folks all up in arms on Connect over the issue. If you do not want to quit sugar, it’s on you. If you do not like reading this on my social media postings, simply take hold of your phone firmly in one hand and use the index finger on your other to scroll on past. It is a pretty simple concept.

Back to the health aspects. Sugar has been shown to be a cause of chronic inflammation in the human body. This inflammation has been shown to cause many preventable ailments. Ailments that can be prevented with a healthy diet and exercise. At almost fifty five years old, my time for do overs with health are soon going to be a thing of the past. Sugar and refined carbohydrate intake has been linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’, and of course obesity. Consumption of refined sugar has also been linked to liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease, mental decline, and arthritis.

Diabetes and Alzheimer’s runs on both sides of my family. Some of the other issues have also been problems for my immediate family as well. Cancer and heart problems specifically.

In summary, I advocate vigorous exercise whether it is weight training such as what I do, or biking, hiking and running. I promote a high protein low carb diet with zero refined sugars. I do not miss sugar, and with the way I eat, I never get cravings for it. Lastly, nothing tastes as good as being fit feels.