LoneStarM1A

Hi,

I'm curious how any of you manage to stay in shape. I work for a "17 days on the road" type of outfit. After 6 months my "body clock" doesn't really exist and I find myself on a screwed up rhythm where I stay awake for about 30 hours then sleep for about 15 regardless of what time it is locally. Last night I went to bed at 2200 and woke up at 1430. I end up even doing this same thing on my days off. I have no family and few friends; most days off I have zero face to face contact with anyone, granted that's probably the way I like it.

While I feel fine, I look like crap. I'm gaining weight and don't exercise much. How/what do you guys eat on the road? There is tons of catering and it's hard not to eat it when you're sitting there for 12 hours with nothing much to do. Then you do 3-5 day stints in Hotels in foreign countries where eating and drinking practically becomes a sport. A lot of the hotels don't have gyms or what they do have is third hand crappy equipment that barely works.

Is there any sort of diet/exercise regimen designed for this sort of lifestyle, or is the basic mantra "of don't eat very much, only drink water and exercise a lot" supposed to be good enough?

Sounder

Assuming you have a laptop and if you really want to go crazy, you can get P90X and watch them on a laptop while doing the workout in your hotel room. It really doesn't require any workout equipment except for the "resistance bands", which are essentially giant rubber bands. If not P90X, try another DVD based workout that doesn't require any equipment.

myoface

Its called willpower. Only eat one meal plus some fruit on the flight. Get to the hotel and do some stretching and pushups or situps in the room. Go for a walk. Eat some local food. One thing I do is after my nap on the plane I stretch and maybe do a few pushups just to get the blood flowing again.

elssaw

I feel your pain. I had similar experiences until I left the 135 world and rejoined the 121 ranks. Having a schedule with work life balance is crucial.

I second myface's comment; will power is all you have available to you right now. However, it also helps to find something else to do with your layovers besides eat and drink. Get a hobby, read a book . . . there's a reason lots of grey haired pilots have big bellies too.

Personally, I got back into running a few years ago and it has made a huge difference.

HSLD

That's the crux of it right there, also give up caffeine and alcohol when your on the road, you'll sleep much better. Don't count on hotel gyms, except in rare cases they always disappoint.

Take a pair of running shoes and a jump rope......and use them!

captjns

I too have a pretty busy roster ranging from a out and backs with a 5 hour duty day to all nighter QTAs resulting in an 11 hour duty day.

I am fortunate that the hotel I reside at has a fairly decent gym. I am able to alternate days between a cross trainer and the treadmill. I do about 4 sets of 50 sit ups a day.

I stay away from too many carbs and caffine... eat lots of salads when I can. I also drink a minimum of 2 litres of water a day. Be careful of the about intake of some fruits as they may elevate the blood sugar.

Palmtree Pilot

These are all really good pieces of advice. I gave up drinking 2 years ago after a 19 year binge; Makes a HUGE difference for your body in this career! I don't think you have to quit all together, but if while on the road you limit it to little or none you will help yourself a lot.

Good diet, any kind of exercise every layover and if your tired, then sleep as long as your body wants to. I use melatonin to get to sleep and help me sleep for 8 hours on the road. When your body is on crazy sleep patterns, it produces less of the natural hormone called melatonin, especially the longer your crazy schedules go on.

Good luck,

PtP

Mattio

+1 for P90x. However, that requires equipment for some portions. You can get exercise bands for like $20 that are light and fit in your bag and that'll suffice until you are in better shape and need real weights (sounds like that could be a year out for you). The Insanity workout program requires no equipment and could be done in any hotel room (P90x requires a little more space but could be done with creativity in most hotel rooms). The best way to get involved in fitness is to find an activity that you enjoy. For me, it was basketball. And, then, I wanted to get better at basketball and get in better shape so I took on other kinds of fitness.

The best way to lose weight is counting calories. As girly as it sounds, it's really the only way. For 3 days consume 1000 less calories than you burn, and then take 1 day off and eat as much as you want but with high protein. Then repeat. Your body will burn muscle along with fat on the 3 days, but the 1 day off gives your body a chance to put the muscle back on. You'll lose about 2 lbs of fat a week (but may not see it on the scale if you're building muscle). It's not as much of a PITA as it sounds. Especially once you see the quick results.

As for the sleep goes, that is intrinically linked to the rest of your health. Exercising rigorously and eating healthy helps with most sleep issues. However, if you have good health otherwise and that's the sleep cycle your body is in, then so be it. Your body is going to do what it can to adjust to your schedule and that's a good thing. However, people that spend time with other people are the happiest people. Maybe you don't like spending time with other people because you're not happy with yourself. There's no problem with taking time to work on yourself but definitely get out once in a while and have fun.

Cubdriver

I used to do calorie control 5 days out of 7 when on the road and that helped with weight control to some extent, but let's face it the road is a huge disturbance to any type of dietary eating program. The next best thing on the road is regular exercise, because it promotes self-discipline. Be self-contained and carry those running shoes and use them. Take pride in your physical side- that pride will help you will win the health war if not the daily eating battle. Lose the extra couple of pounds you gained from diet slippage during your days off. Being too rigid about diet on the road will lead to disappointment, but you can't just quit. I think having a regular exercise program is the key even though it does not burn all that many calories as you may consume, and dietary control is still necessary. I think of it as a continually changing battle front where the nature of the battle changes as the venue changes. On the road I can exercise but I tend to lose the calorie battle, but at home I can win all around for a little bit, but I can't stay securely at home and have to leave for the road again which is part of life, too.

LeftWing

Stay away from any trendy so-called "diets", including Atkins.

Diet without exercise is bad.
Exercise without dietary considerations is bad.
Be mindful of BOTH!

The bottom line; Eat more calories than you burn = weight gain
Burn more calories than you eat = weight loss.

My own dietary mantra;
"Eat *food, not too much, mostly plants." Michael Pollan

When you must eat out, if you have to have something that had a nervous system, try to order dishes in which meat is more for flavor as opposed to a course.

The more a food product is fortified and made via the advice of nutritionists and food scientists, the worse it is for you.

The homogenized western diet is one of the worst in the world.

THE MORE BASIC, THE BETTER.

*the least processed and packaged, the more it is real food.