Yale Graduate-Turned-Trucker Works to Improve Truckers’ Health

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Siphiwe Baleka is a remarkable man. Aside from earning his degree in philosophy at the highly prestigious Yale University, he was also the first African American to make it onto the First Team All-Ivy League Swim Team. But that’s not what makes him remarkable.

Baleka, who is now in his 40s, fell on hard times about six years ago and decided to take on a job as a trucker. But after only two months in, the former athlete noticed he had gained 15 lbs.

"Life on the road is tough. It's lonely," Baleka stated. "There's not a whole lot to make you feel good. So eating is one of the things you kind of have some freedom with, to make you feel good."

Baleka did everything he could to lose the weight. He even resorted to doing exercises inside of his cab. But no matter what he did, nothing seemed to work.

Baleka’s struggle to gain back control of his health almost made him quit his job. It’s an all-too-common phenomenon in the trucking industry. In fact, a recent survey conducted by HireRight Transportation found that 21% of drivers leave the industry due to health concerns.

But after experimenting with several different weight loss programs, Baleka finally found success in a low-carb, high-protein diet combined with short bursts of high-intensity workouts. And now that he’s back to being fit, he wants to help other truckers get healthy, too.

So Baleka developed a wellness program that’s specifically designed with drivers in mind. Inspired by the technological devices that are already used in the industry, he decided to develop one that’s capable of monitoring the driver’s health.  

"At that time, the only thing that we didn't have any real-time information on was the driver—the physiological state of the driver," Baleka stated. "These digital health devices now allowed me to do that. I can monitor the physical condition of the driver just like we do with a truck."

So far, the program seems to be doing well. Hopefully it will inspire other trucking companies to institute wellness programs as well.

Fast Food Health Food

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Ever wonder why there hasn’t been a fast food restaurant that serves healthy and nutritious meals? I guess the closest thing we have to that would be Chipotle. But if you’re like most Americans, you can’t afford to spend upwards of $8 on lunch everyday. That’s why I’ve come up with a list of what I call, “fast food health food.”

All of the items that I list can be found at your local grocery store. They’re cheap, healthy, and require little to no effort to prepare.

Salad Kits

It’s not your fault that between work and your personal life, you don’t have a whole lot of time to spend on prepping salads. You have to buy all the veggies, wash them, slice them up, mix them together, and then put it all in a container to keep it fresh. This process dirties up a lot of dishes. Fortunately, the pre-packaged salad kits in your local supermarket do all the work for you. It’s cheaper than going out to eat and all you have to do is grab and go.

Frozen Organic Meals

People can talk about how unhealthy frozen food is all day. But you know what? Frozen organic meals are still a whole lot healthier than pizza, burgers, and fries (which is what people normally resort to when they’re feeling too lazy to cook). If you’re looking for some low-calorie, organic, non-GMO frozen meals, check out Amy’s.

Smoothies

Smoothies are a breakfast favorite of mine because of how fast they are to make. Additionally, they’re incredibly easy to consume and don’t dirty up a bunch of dishes. I use fresh bananas, frozen strawberries, and almond milk to make my smoothies. If I had to estimate how long it takes me to make, I’d say five minutes max.

Pre-Made Sandwich Wraps

Most grocery stores have a deli section that sells pre-made sandwiches and wraps. I can tell you right now that they’re a whole heck of a lot cheaper than going to Subway or Jimmy John’s. It’s nice too because you don’t have to buy all the ingredients individually. Much like the salad kits, all you have to do is grab and go.

What do you think of my idea of “fast food health food”? Do you think it’s helpful? Feel free to share any tips or tricks you have on convenient healthy eating.

Three Reasons You Should Never Give Up

NEVER give up!
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Last week, a Facebook status update from one of my friends from junior high and high school alerted me to the fact that she has lost 200 pounds in the past two years. My jaw dropped. For as long as I have known her, she has been obese. I knew she had been trying to lose weight, but I haven’t actually seen her since we graduated high school several years ago. I had no idea she had started such a completely inspiring journey.

Her profile picture showed her face only, which definitely looked thinner. But it wasn’t until I flipped through the full size images of her recently that I realized how far she’s come. I have never seen her look so healthy, confident, or happy.

Another friend has been actively trying to lose weight since this fall. We participated in a 5K together in March, and she has started using any down time at the clinic she works at to walk or jog on the treadmill there. She has a pedometer to track how far she goes each day. Most days, it’s somewhere between 3 and 5 miles.

When I saw her a few months ago, she was down probably twenty pounds. When I saw her again last night, she was down a total of forty. Every time I see her, she looks even healthier. And I can tell she’s so proud of herself, too.

Then this morning, when I was perusing the news to see what’s up in the health world, I found another inspiring story. It was about a man named Ryan “Mac” McDonald. Three years ago, Mac was 35 years old and topping out at a weight of 530 lbs.

Ten years previously, he had gone to the gym after some friends bought him a gym membership for his birthday. He was so heavy that the treadmills began to smoke under his weight. He avoided treadmills and gyms altogether for a long time after that.

But eventually, Mac realized he had to do something before he killed himself with fast food, sodas, and the myriad health problems that come with severe obesity. He began slowly, starting with occasional visits to the gym. When that was successful, he decided to give up fast food and all-you-can-eat buffets. Next came sodas. Finally, he began buying healthy food at the store.

The slow start and gradual progression allowed Mac to start tackling what had previously been an overwhelming goal. He wanted to make a change, and he wanted to maintain it—something that becomes more difficult the stricter the rules are. To maintain, it had to be a gradual change in lifestyle.

That gradual change has led to a total weight loss—so far—of 300 pounds. Today, Mac weighs in around 230 pounds and is accomplishing things he never could do before—like running in half marathons and racing motorcycles. If that’s not inspiring, I don’t know what is.

So start this week off with those three stories and know that if you’re one of the many people out there trying to lose weight, you’re not alone. And even if you have three hundred pounds to go, it’s not impossible. Rather, it’s completely possible—just as long as you never give up.

Coconut Water: Famous For A Reason

Fad alert: drinking coconut water.
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It seems like everywhere I look (especially in these warm summer months), people are drinking coconut water. When I was growing up, I had a few friends who loved coconut water, and when I was living in Costa Rica, we used to crack open fresh coconuts and drink it fresh through straws.

Lately there’s been this huge surge of people drinking coconut water. And while some might just be doing it because it’s the new healthy “fad,” coconut water has become famous for some very legitimate reasons.

It’s not for everyone (my boyfriend absolutely hates it), but if it tastes good to you, you can enjoy these benefits:

Recognizing Anorexia Nervosa

I read an article today that made me incredibly sad. It was about a six-year-old little girl named Sophie, who developed anorexia in kindergarten. Kindergarten. She started restricting her portions of food more and more, exercised compulsively on the monkey bars, and even began throwing away her lunch and snacks at school.

And because the beginning stages of anorexia nervosa are not immediately physically apparent, no one knew. “She was slim, but not skeletal,” recalls her mother.

Be kind to your body. You'll only have one.

One night, Sophie told her mother about her problem, telling her, “Mommy, I have a problem… I am hungry all the time and I can’t eat. A voice in my head is telling me not to eat.” She was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa in the first grade, after not gaining weight for ten months straight and dropping from the 60^th percentile to the 19^th percentile for her weight.

Sophie is eight now, and is doing well. Her parents got her treatment from a specialty center and continually monitor her eating at home and school. Sophie was also diagnosed with mild obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety.

I’ve always thought of anorexia as a mostly society driven problem; I knew that there was a psychological component to eating disorders, but I never realized that sometimes they can manifest without the individual even really understanding what’s going on. Sophie, at six, didn’t know why she felt she couldn’t eat.

Many people believe that eating disorders are a choice for individuals… but the truth is, I think it’s less of a choice than we realize. Anorexics can realize what’s going on, can fear for their life, can see that what they’re doing to themselves is wrong—but they can’t always stop doing it. And as a society, I think we could be a lot better at understanding that and being more supportive to those who suffer from eating disorders.

The girl with the eating disorder is often the last to know she is ill.
Becoming the new feminine ideal requires just the right combination of insecurity, exercise and anorexia.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, over 10 million Americans suffer from eating disorders, which have the highest mortality rate of any other psychiatric illness. But despite this, the thinspiration movement continues to grow online, promoting eating disorders as a way of life.

Anorexia isn’t always immediately visible to us, especially at the beginning. Many individuals who suffer from anorexia may never look like that skeletal image we hold in our minds, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Here are some of the behavioral signs and symptoms of anorexia:

• Obsession with food, weight, calories, dieting, or exercise
• Constant anxiety of gaining weight or being fat even when healthy or losing weight
• Refusal to eat with or around others
• Extremely self critical, anxious, depressed, or irritable. Is a perfectionist
• Self worth is determined by appearance and weight, loss of desire to engage in social relationships or activities

"You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed.
And you are beautiful."
Image from Tumblr.com

I am certainly someone that values eating healthy, exercising, and generally being aware of overall health—but I hope that I’ve never given the impression that thinner is better, no matter the cost. Because it isn’t. We were all made differently, and more important than being “thin” or “skinny” is being healthy and happy.

Love yourself. Love your body—and be nice to it. You only get one.

Do Late Lunches Mean Less Weight Loss?

Does your lunch time affect weight loss?
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A new study from the International Journal of Obesity hassuggested that those who eat lunch earlier in the day may have better successwith weight loss than those who eat later. The study surveyed a total of 420 people in a weight loss program and found that those who regularly ate lunch before 3 p.m. lost about 25% more weight than those who ate later.

As someone who snacks about every three hours, with slightly larger snacks around breakfast and lunch, missing meals isn’t something I often do. My body is used to having small, constant amounts of food coming in to refuel it—so a late lunch is pretty miserable for me. But others don’t have the same routine as I do—my boss regularly waits until after three to eat and even then it’s just a bowl of ramen noodles (sodium and carbs). For those or you who find yourselves relating to her, I wanted to discuss the implications of eating late.

3 p.m. lunch may bee too long of a wait.
Image: Shutterstock

Numerous studies have been done over the years on the effect of meal times and sizes. Some suggest that the biggest meal should be breakfast, and meals should gradually decline in size, making dinner the smallest. Other studies say that eating every three hours is best for our bodies, as it keeps meals small and generally lighter than a heaping platter. But none of these studies have definitively nailed down the single best pattern. And that includes this one.

When reading into studies, make sure to keep in mind all the variable factors. One such factor to consider is how much time the participants were going between meals. This study doesn’t chart that, but it’s an important consideration to make. One thing we do know about meal times is that when we go too long in between meals, it can affect the metabolism, slowing it and hindering weight loss.

A cute lunch box is essential in life!

Participants also likely had other different behaviors, including the comparison between calories consumed and burned. Not getting enough sleep has also been linked to higher rates of obesity and lower success in weight loss. The researchers themselves have recognized that these findings are preliminary and require further research to determine how much meal-timing influences weight loss.

Certainly, it’s not a bad idea to space your meals out equally and keep your body from going into “starvation” mode. But how much of an impact it actually has remains to be seen. Eating right and exercising regularly are still kings of the weight-loss world. 

Anne Hathaway & Other Celebrities’ Movie Diets

Anne Hathaway lost 25 lbs. for Les Miserables
Image: Vogue

 Before you watch the next movie with a stick-thin actress, consider the following: actresses often go on extreme, unhealthy, diets to prep for roles. Do you remember people complaining that Jennifer Lawrence was “not hungry enough” for her role in The Hunger Games? Or how about Kate Winslet, who was often criticized for being “too fat” for Hollywood? Personally, I’m ecstatic when I see a star that actually looks the size of a normal person. Because, let’s face it—the alternative is much scarier. Let’s look back at some already thin actresses who’ve lost major pounds to better fit into their roles:

1. Anne Hathaway—The actress went on a deprivation diet for her latest role as Fantine in Les Misérables, losing 25 pounds and eating only oatmeal paste. She’s previously also lost weight for roles in The Devil Wears Prada and The Dark Knight Rises.

Natalie Portman got so thin for Black Swan that
her director worried about her eating habits.
Image: Black Swan

2. Rooney Mara—The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actress looked just as pale and anorexic as the character in the book was described. That’s because she ate little and worked out constantly before and during filming.

3. Natalie Portman—She’s about as tiny as they come already, but somehow managed to lose another 20 pounds for her role in Black Swan. She worked out between five and eight hours a day and became so thin that her director made sure her trailer was constantly stocked with food so she would eat.

4. Beyonce—For her role in Dreamgirls, the singer had to drop about 20 pounds. She lost the weight in only two weeks by doing a Master Cleanse—which means living off of hot water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for 10 days.

5. Mila Kunis—As Natalie’s co-star in Black Swan, Kunis said she constantly felt hungry during filming. She also lost 20 pounds and participated in the same workouts as Natalie—5-6 hours per day, six days a week.

Emily Blunt was encouraged to lose weight
to look nearly anorexic.
Featureflash / Shutterstock.com 

6. Emily Blunt—In The Devil Wears Prada, her character was nearly anorexic and hardly ate. She was encouraged to lose weight for the role so she would look as stick thin as her character. In The Adjustment Bureau, Emily also had to lose weight, working out for four hours every day leading up to filming.

7. Renée Zellweger—After packing on 30 pounds for her role in Bridget Jones’s Diary, the actress subsequently had to lose it all and more to play her part in Chicago. This back and forth weight loss and gain had critics and specialists seriously concerned.

When I look at regimens like these, it puts things into perspective. It’s easy to watch a movie or an actress and think “I wish I were skinnier,” but the truth is that just because celebrities are subjecting themselves to these intense regimens, it doesn’t mean it’s healthy or good. They look rail-thin because they are rail-thin. There are healthier ways to lose weight, and limits to what we should expect from our bodies.