Enjoying Life OTR

#48 Triathlon Triumph: Brian's 55-Pound Transformation Journey

• Malinda Fox-Wellington, Brian Wilson, Cindy Tunstall • Episode 48

Share episode

Truckers, meet Brian Wilson- an inspiring driver who battled smoking, alcoholism, obesity and joint pain but emerged victorious through perseverance. In this candid "Healthier Truckers" episode, long-hauler Brian shares his incredible 55-pound weight loss journey.

Hear Brian's motivating story, from struggling with lack of energy to finding determination through a New Year's resolution in 2021. He reveals his diet overhaul embracing nutritious foods and portion control, incorporating daily walking, pushing through knee pain to jog, and taking up cycling with his triathlete son's support.

Brian provides a roadmap packed with tips for truckers: using fitness apps to track progress, setting incremental milestones, recovering from plateaus. You'll learn how an uplifting community, including his son who motivated Brian's transformation.

Whether you want to lose weight, increase energy, manage joint pain or live healthier on the road, Brian's story offers powerful motivation that major lifestyle change is possible through consistency. Get inspired by his tenacity to start your own trucker fitness journey!

Community and support play a pivotal role in any transformation journey, and this episode highlights just that. Join our "Enjoying Life OTR" and "Healthier Truckers" communities where you can connect with others who share your goals. 

If you'd like to follow Brian's journey, he regularly posts updates and goes live on Facebook to share his rides and milestones. You can find and follow him at 

Brian Wilson



Send us a text

Enjoying Life OTR—because LIVING WELL is worth the effort. We’re sparking curiosity, adventure, & resilience while honoring drivers and embracing a healthier trucking life. Discover creative life hacks & practical strategies to make the most of your time on the road. Join the movement!Explore, enjoy the food, snap the pic, and share tips on saving money along the way.

This podcast is for new and veteran drivers looking to stay mentally, physically, and financially strong while embracing the freedom of the road. We bring you real stories, expert advice, & practical tools to help you thrive, not just survive, in the trucking life.

Connect with Us: Join the Enjoying Life OTR Facebook Group – Share your journey, find trip recommendations, & connect with fellow drivers. Follow our Facebook page – Get the latest podcast episodes, trucking tips, & entertaining content. Visit our website – Explore our journey, see community highlights, and access resources for a healthier, more balanced OTR life.

For questions or to be a guest, email our host, Cindy Tunstall at EnjoyingLifeOTR@gmail.com #HealthierTruckers #EnjoyingLifeOTR #TruckerWellness #OTRLife #WorkLifeBalance



Cindy Tunstall:

enjoying life over the road.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

A community that champions adventure, innovation and well-being hey everybody, welcome back to the healthier trucker segment. It's malinda. Have you ever felt trapped by unhealthy habits but just wasn't sure how to break them, especially being out here on the road? Well, on today's episode you're going to hear an incredible weight loss transformation from a trucker who went from 255 pounds to 200 pounds, all on his own, through sheer determination. Brian's journey shows that, no matter how daunting it can seem out here, major lifestyle changes are possible one mile at a time. So get ready for an inspiring story that is packed with real-world advice for smashing your goals out on the road. Hey, brian, thanks so much for joining us today. I am so excited to hear your journey.

Brian Wilson:

Well, thanks for having me, Melinda. It's quite the journey, it's been an experience I'm glad that I went through. I wouldn't be able to do what I do today as well as I do if I was still living that same lifestyle, you know as before, uh, eating everything in my in, in in sight and uh, just sitting around doing nothing. You know as it. You know, and it caught up with me, my, my metabolism died a long time ago and, uh, it took uh, a friend of mine.

Brian Wilson:

Years ago I quit smoking. I used to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day, and you know the typical truck driver lifestyle. And I quit smoking one day and a buddy of mine says you know, you're gonna get fat. And I said, no, I ain't gonna get fat. You know well, guess what? I got fat and uh, uh, you know, like I told, told you before, I peaked out at 255 pounds, which doesn't sound like a lot to some people, but I'm only 5'7 on a good day. So I was pretty porky, in fact. Melinda, I'll send you some pictures of me when I was fat and you'll see the difference. But it's been a really interesting journey. I learned a lot about myself, a lot about my body and there's still a few things I need to do, but it's-.

Cindy Tunstall:

Don't wait till I'm done.

Brian Wilson:

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's been quite a journey. I started, oh good Lord, when was it New Year's Day of 21, of 2021.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

Okay. So when you decide to start to get on your healthier journey, where were you at your worst? Not just on the 250 pounds, but what did your day-to-day look like? What was that cherry on the top? That's like I have got to make a change. What was it at that point? Your lowest, low on the weight loss journey?

Brian Wilson:

The pain, the pain my knees and my ankles felt Pain in my back all the time. I couldn't turn like this to look. You know, I just it was like I, I, I just I was well kind of like when I got. I got sober. I'm a recovering alcoholic also, to add insult not insult to injury, but I've been sober for 34 years and I got back. Then I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. So, and a lot of other things led to it, but I I, as far as the weight loss, the healthier living part, I just got tired of being well, being tired. I had no energy and I'm, I'm usually I'm bouncing off the chip and and I'm, I'm, usually I'm bouncing off the chip. I'm. I'm.

Brian Wilson:

A buddy of mine years ago nicknamed me and it's been my handle on the cb for years 440 because I was wired for 440 and uh, uh, it wasn't 220. He started 220. Now I said you're worth 220, so they started calling me 440. But I mean, I was just, I was just tired all the time. I couldn't move. I I had a hard time getting in and out of the truck, out of wind, unloading. The company that I'm leased to grows, sells and ships, bedding plants, okay. So we've got to unload each stop We've got big racks of flowers. I've got to pull off the trailer and put on a lift gate and up and down.

Brian Wilson:

That it was getting harder and harder to do, that I could hardly walk some days because my knees hurt so bad. So, you know, and it just got to the point where I was, just I didn't want to get out of bed some days because my knees hurt so bad. I just wanted to lay around and do nothing because I hurt. And so I think that was the big reason, the big thing for me to said you know what? I got to start doing something. And that that morning, and my son, who, uh, lives out in Pennsylvania, he uh, uh, moved out there after he graduated college, but he was, uh in 2020 when COVID hit real hard and, uh, he was in a restaurant business. They had shut his restaurant down.

Brian Wilson:

Uh, and, like he said, I laid around for a week drunk and he weighed in at 315, I think, big, big boy. And he started the same journey, or he started the journey which he's been one of my biggest supporters, and he went from, like he said, he went from being a 300 and some odd pound alcoholic laying on the couch potato, and he just showed me a picture. He just ran his I don't know how many triathlon. Yesterday I think it was. He ran another triathlon out there in Jersey. So it's it's. You know, he's been a big supporter of me and a big catalyst for me to do what I do. But um, I just, like I said, I just got tired of being sore all the damn time and no energy. That just wasn't me.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

So how did you go from that lowest low to the next step? What was the very next step? Like I got to do something. What was it?

Brian Wilson:

I was in Florida in a truck on New Year's Day. I had set the night before. I set in a pickle park down there and watched, watched fireworks and whatnot, and I went to bed. Okay, I woke up the next morning, I'm waiting for my 10 hours to roll around and everything, and I'm doing the old scrolling Facebook land and and, uh, my, uh, my son had uh, posted something about I don't know. I think he said he went out and rode his bike or walked or jogged or something five or eight miles or ten miles, whatever the hell it was. I don't remember exactly right now, but in his mother, my ex-wife, her and her husband are runners. She posted something about well, tom and I did eight miles and five miles, but whatever, I can't remember, but me, being the smart ass that I am, I posted on that.

Brian Wilson:

On Brad's post. I said, well, I walked around a pickle park and, just being a smart ass, and Brad picked right up on it. It was really pretty neat. I think maybe that was my call for help, because he said, good, dad, he says do that twice tomorrow, go twice as far. And he told me about the app on my phone that's already built into an iPhone that you can show your steps and everything. And I looked at that and I think I had a thousand, 11, 1200 steps. He said you watch that every day. He says just go twice as much tomorrow. So I did, and I kept doing that every day. He says just go twice as much tomorrow.

Brian Wilson:

So I did, I and I and I kept doing that every day that week uh, the first week of of 21 2021 and then I thought you know what? Brad brad goes facebook live a lot on his stuff. So I went facebook live and I said, okay, guys, this is what I'm doing, I'm going to try to get a little healthier here. And god had a lot of people come on and really encouraging me and everything. So I started doing that and, like I said in the previous area, I can be a bit of a smart ass and so I'm cracking jokes all the time and everything.

Brian Wilson:

And this other friend of mine who lived in Michigan at the time, she's out in Arizona now I think she challenged me. She says you keep walking and I'll start walking Now. She was a like we call each other, formerly fat person and she had lost a bunch of weight. She's got some health issues, but it don't matter anyways. So I started walking while she was doing a lot of it on a treadmill, cause it was cold in Michigan and everything and I'm down South most of of the time.

Brian Wilson:

So I'd walk and she'd walk. Well, and she, like I say, she challenged me and, and I'm a, I'm a, I'm an all-american male, you know, you double dog, dare me, I'm gonna do something. You know, don't, don't, dare me that kind of shit. So, anyways, I started walking and I I started out at 0.6 miles was my first six tenths of a mile was that first day, and it didn't seem like it was all that long and I didn't really change my eating habits at first. But then I got to thinking you know, there's no reason to eat all this processed food, this processed deli meat and bologna and all this other stuff and, of course, all the stuff that I like. So I started watching when I was eating a lot of more. I did a little research and I realized that a, uh, a colorful diet is a good diet. You know carrots, celery, peppers, all the vegetables and fruits and stuff, and, uh, and there are some bad fruits you don't want to eat if you're trying to lose weight, and I didn't. I didn't ever know that either, but I did a little research and did a little. You know, the Google search and the Google machine is a is a pretty cool deal for for old farts like me. That don't you know, don't know how to do anything else.

Brian Wilson:

But I, I started doing that and got the first couple of weeks I started losing weight and I thought, well, hey, this is kind of neat. Well, that just kept fueling my want to lose some weight. So I set a couple of small goals. I went eh, I think my first goal is lose five pounds. Well, the first couple of weeks I lost five pounds, five or eight pounds, something like that. So anyway, I said, okay, let's go for another five. And I kept doing that. Well, then I said you know what, let's step it up a little bit. I said I want to lose another 15. Well, by now I'm down into two fifties or two forties and it just kept going.

Brian Wilson:

And thank God for Facebook, because I was looking back at my memories and when they, when they pop up and I can see where my weight was, cause I would, I was posting it and got I started. I mean I lost probably in the first month. I know I lost 10 pounds, which don't sound like much now but it really is. Oh, yeah, yeah, and and I, I kept, I kept looking at different apps on my phone and stuff and there was one that it's called I fit or no, I'm sorry, my fitness pal. I think it costs like 80 bucks a year and I downloaded that and I can go on there and I can put in whatever food it was I ate and how much I ate, and it tells me how many calories it is and it said to set your goal and all this other stuff. So I set a goal of 1400 calories a day because by now I'm starting to lose weight and I'm liking it. I'm getting around a little better. I could tell even after that first 10 pounds, my knees weren't near as tired at the end of the day. So I started recording everything I ate, I mean right from a cucumber to a meal. And then I found Lean Cuisine meals, lean C, lean cuisine, frozen meals for the trucks. I got my refrigerator in here and my microwave. So I started getting those for my dinners and I used.

Brian Wilson:

When I started getting real serious about it, I mean, I started walking and I was up to God. I was up to three or four miles a day before I ever started to truck up to leave, three or four miles a day before I ever started to truck up to leave. So I went from sleeping for nine and a half to 10 hours a day to I would make myself get up after about seven hours, seven and a half hours. Then, by the time I got up, got a cup of coffee in me and stretched out a little bit and I'd get out and I'd walk. I bought some walking shoes, I mean, cause I was just walking in my my work shoes, you know. So I bought some walking tennis shoes and I listened to some friends of mine that I well, some people I graduated with. They're very much into fitness, and they told me this is what you want to get. And so I did, and they said you'll buy a new pair at least every six months if you're going to keep doing this. Well, they were right, because I'd wear them out. So I mean, I started doing this.

Brian Wilson:

Well then Brad my son and it was telling me about he started jogging and I said, yeah, man, my knees ain't going to, let me do that. He says, just run a little bit until you can't anymore, then just go back to walking. So I started doing that. My reefer just made a weird noise, but I would jog for probably 20 feet, but it felt like 200 yards first and then I thought, god, that wasn't bad and I walked a little bit and I jogged a little more.

Brian Wilson:

Well then one day I was down in in the meantime, like I said, I was watching everything I ate and I could not believe how these little snacks would add up, because a couple of times I hit my 1400 calories at two o'clock in the afternoon and I said, well, this ain't good, you know. So I started cutting out those little stupid snacks and, uh, when I would snack I was, I was eating cucumbers. I love cucumbers. So that was. You know, that was easy, and those are like five calories of cucumber for the little mini ones.

Brian Wilson:

So I started doing this and I started doing a little running. Well, the more I ran, the more my knees hurt and I got some braces and stuff. I'd been wearing braces for quite a while, just some oh gosh, what are they? Copper fit, and that seems to work really good for me. So, anyways, I was doing that and then I thought you know, I'm really getting serious about this. Now, by now it's been I don't know four or five months and I started riding a bicycle at home a little bit. We had an indoor bike and I started a recumbent and I started riding on that a little bit. God, that wasn't bad. I kind of enjoyed that. So I upgraded to a pro form recumbent bike at home, one that you can download iFit on that. So I've got that iFit downloaded on my recumbent at home and then I put just an iPad on there and it shows me all these places you can go to. I mean, I've never left my living room and I've rode in Hawaii, australia.

Brian Wilson:

Germany living room and I've rode in Hawaii, australia, germany. I mean it is really neat because it ups the, it ups the resistance and the speed and and I never thought I could get encouraged by somebody on a freaking iPad telling me but man, I'll tell you what these trainers know, what they're doing. I started doing that and I found another app on my phone and bradley in fact my son told me about it it's called strava. Well, it will record walks, it will record bike rides, it will record renewing, you name it. Well, I downloaded that. So I started keeping track all this stuff and I set some goals there.

Brian Wilson:

And uh, riding the bike outside at home once the weather started changing because it was still pretty cold up in michigan, and riding the bike outside at home once the weather started changing, because it was still pretty cold up in Michigan. And by the time the weather started changing in the spring is, and I was I was going out and walking. You know I was up to six, six, eight miles a day. And then I started riding that bike and I thought, you know, that's not too bad, I kind of like that. So I fixed the bike up a little bit and because it was an old one I'd bought for my grandson a few years but prior to that.

Brian Wilson:

So I went ahead and I did that and then I I got to thinking you know, this is really neat, I can, I can ride these. Riding a bike. I can get a hell of a lot more exercise in less time than I can when I'm walking and it's easier on my knees and, like I said, but now I'm probably six, eight months into. Well, no, I was about four or five months into it because it was still pretty chilly when I started riding a bike. But once the weather broke I bought another bike, I put that one on the truck with me, I strapped it on the back of my catwalk and I'd get someplace and I'd look around and there was a lot of bike trails in some of these cities that we used to eat. Really neat one is in uh, in uh, effingham.

Brian Wilson:

They got some really nice bike trails out there I ride a lot out there, um, but at any rate, I started doing that and I started keeping track of all that stuff and set some goals. And I set a lot of small goals 15 pounds, 10 pounds. I think my first big goal was 230 pounds and when I hit that, I mean by now I'm really amped, I'm really getting into this, I'm feeling better, I'm feeling my energy coming back, feeling better, I'm feeling my energy coming back. And, uh, I even got some friends of mine to start doing this crazy stuff and, uh, when I uh, when I uh, uh, I would go Facebook live. I got, oh my God, there's been times I had 30 people watching me. You know, uh, another friend of mine uh, known her since high school.

Brian Wilson:

Uh has tried a million times to quit smoking and just couldn't do it and that's a tough one. I remember when I quit, that's a tough one. And she said that by me, by watching me on my Facebook Lives and everything. She's now been off cigarettes for two and a half years, I think, and her daughter has gotten a hold of me and said man, thanks for everything you did. I said I didn't do anything. I said all I did was went on Facebook Live and made an ass out of myself. I'm good, you know, but it encouraged her mom and that's what she says to this day. She said I couldn't have done it without you. Because I can be I don't know, I guess I can be pretty persuasive at times. When it comes to you know, all you got to do is do this.

Brian Wilson:

I used a lot of my, a lot of the things I learned 34 and a half years ago when I got sober, when I quit drinking and drugging and everything. I used a lot of those things that I learned back then to get through the cravings for food and the times when I wanted to eat so damn bad, but I knew I couldn't or I didn't want to, but I wanted to, but I didn't want to. So I, I, just I used the serenity prayer. Thank God it doesn't wear out. You know, god, grant me serenity just to get through the next five minutes without eating something. You know, uh and I I used to do that with with drinking still do to this day. I don't so much drink. There's really not too much worry me drinking today, but just to stay sane, just to stay in a decent state of mind. You know God, grant me serenity to accept the things that cannot change. I can't change what happens outside me, but I can change how I deal with it.

Brian Wilson:

React. Yes, you know how I react, and it used to be. I reacted to eating. I would eat. Well, now I don't have to do that. I just grab a bottle of water and drink a bottle of water. I'm keeping the Meijer stores in the tri-state area there, wherever they're at.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

I'm keeping the Meijer stores in business with water because I drink a shit ton of it, just a few, you know. Just a five minute pause will completely change your mindset. Yeah, you just give it time to you know, do it most definitely.

Brian Wilson:

It's, uh, it's been a really neat uh. I just saw a friend of mine the other day that hadn't seen me in quite a while and this t-shirt makes me look really fat but it's not. But it was neat because she told me she hadn't seen me in a while and she couldn't believe how much weight I'd lost. But I saw people but I lost. I went from, like I say, on New Year's Day, let me say on a new year's day, and then I think it was December 11th when I weighed myself and I and, and, and, and and. When I hit 200, I was just a static, I was. I hadn't weighed that little and I can't tell you how long. Well, that's when I made my last long-term goal and that was 170 pounds, and I kept working at it and I Iate, I'd plateau and I'd get madder than hell. So I'd get back on the bike and I'd ride twice as far at home and I'd walk and I'd ride the bike on the road and I called my son. I said what the hell am I doing wrong? I was losing weight like crazy. Now, all of a sudden, I can't lose an ounce. And he said your body is shutting down. I said what do you mean my body shut down? He said it's thinks it's starving to death. So it's, it's. It's not losing that weight because it needs that too. I went ah. I said what do I do to get around it? He said just go back to eating like you used to, he said for a couple of days. He said then go back on it. It worked every time, because I've plateaued many times. I'm I'm plateaued right now at about 187. I think it is Uh. So I I went back to eating a little little more for a couple of days and now I'll go back to my hunt, my 1400 calories. I'll get back down to 180 again.

Brian Wilson:

I just I feel so good where I'm at. I'm not as adamant about it as I was before, but because I did, I put on 20 pounds. It took me two and a half years but I put 20 pounds back on. But I also haven't rode as much on the bike for a while. I'm fixing to hit my first goal. I've got a 280 mile a month goal and I'm I think I'll probably hit that tomorrow when I get home, after I get this load delivered. I've got here. I'm just going right back to the house and then I'm going out again Tuesday. I'll probably get on the bike at home and I'll ride around the County there at some of the country roads and I'll probably hit my 280 mile goal, and that's the first time I've done that in quite a while.

Brian Wilson:

But uh, the, the, let's see. It was 21 when I started the year of 22. Yeah, in 19, in 1922, good Lord, 2020. I'm showing my age. Uh, I remember those 1900s. Uh, 20, 2022, I rode 30. And I can't remember what I told you the other day when this didn't record 35 or 3,700 miles on the bike, along with 140 summer 150, some into truck. So I was pretty proud of that when I, when I added all that up, I went holy cow, that's a lot of miles on a bike and but my cardio is so much better than what it used to be. Uh, I I may sound a lot of times like I'm really out of breath, but within shit, 60 seconds to 60 to 90, my breathing is back under control again because my cardio is just out of this world great.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

It's more of not how fast you get out of bed, it's how quick you recover is what actually sets a healthy standard. It's the recovery phase that really makes the nuts on it, you know uh-huh, yep, yep.

Brian Wilson:

That's because it was kind of bothering me and I I talked to a couple guys and they said oh no, no, don't, don't be afraid to be out of breath, he says. The one kid was 32 years old and he was a marathon runner. He said I get out of breath all the time, he says, but when I recover, he says I'm recovering, and twice as fast is what most people do. I said yeah, that's what. He's the one that told me the same thing. He says it's not how quick you get out of breath, it's how quick you recover.

Brian Wilson:

And that made a lot of difference because I was getting kind of discouraged with that. And he said all that means is you use an oxygen. And he said an oxygen makes the power that you need, you know, to get to the top of the hill on the bike or whatever the case may be, you know. But I've still got a bike in the back of my truck and I still watch what I eat Not probably as much as I should, but I still like a bowl of ice cream every once in a while.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

We're human, there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, definitely there's a time and a place for everything. That's like there's a couple of foods. Through experimenting with different foods and stuff, I've noticed that there's certain foods that just make me feel really tired after I eat them. So I save those foods for when I know there's nothing going on and I just want to be a couch potato. That's when I will eat those foods. I would save them for those times.

Brian Wilson:

Eat those things I would save them for those times. It's the knowing how to do the right thing, whereas before I never knew how. I never knew how to eat right. I never. You know it's okay and I tell a lot of people it's okay to feel a little hungry. You're not going to die. You know it's okay to be a little hungry. One of the biggest things that I that I use is is is quantity. You know you don't have to. You don't have to be stuffed. Eat until you're satisfied, not till you're stuffed. And one of the hardest things for for people. My age, when I grew up, I was always told clean, clean your plate. You don't have to do that it's not necessary.

Brian Wilson:

It's not necessary. We all take a little bit too much and I'm all about leaving stuff on my plate. If I have to, it ain't no big deal. You know it ain't no big deal, uh, yeah so I teach my clients the hunger scale.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

So hunger scale is you know a one to scale, is you know a one to 10. One is you know? You're one of those starving kids that had to really emancipate it, with the big bellies and everything. And 10 is you're sitting on the couch with your pants undone, almost in coma space after a Thanksgiving dinner.

Cindy Tunstall:

Yeah.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

You want to maintain between a three and a seven and then you know, when you start getting around five it's like, okay, I need to get something to eat, because if you wait until you get down to three then you're going to gorge and get up to ten. So it's trying to maintain right in between that middle ground, that three and seven.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, that's something good to know too. And to know your foods, to know what kind of foods you're eating. My wife loves nuts. She's trying to lose some weight too, and she loves nuts. And I keep telling her nuts aren't good, there's too much fat in them, and but it's a good fat. I said there ain't no good fat fat's fat.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

but one thing that she can do that you might want to let her know is throw some sunflower seeds in with the nuts, so you feel like you're eating more, but you're not eating as much the nuts. So it kind of helps slow it down a little bit.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, that's a good idea too. I'll let her know about that. But you know, I just keep on doing what I do and I ride my bike. At least once a week when I'm home I get on the recumbent. At least once a week when I'm home I get on the recumbent and I ride a lot. I'll ride. Well, I rode this morning I think I got on that before we went to the store and I think I rode 18 miles this morning.

Brian Wilson:

Had planned on doing a little more, but I got up a little late, Didn't get in and I didn't get home until yesterday about noon, Got a few things done around the house and when I added all my miles up from Sunday to Saturday, I'd run 3,400 miles. I said I'm tired, it's time to it's time to take a little break. So I, uh, I, I did that and slept a little longer than I wanted to this morning, so I didn't get quite as big a ride in, but it's it's. Riding the recumbent bike and following the I fit is so much more of a workout than when I get out on my bike. Uh, I try to.

Brian Wilson:

I try to uh maintain speed and power when I'm on the bike outside, but it's a lot easier to do on the recumbent because I can follow what they're telling me to do and uh, so, but I'll, I'll get, I'll probably get another ride in tomorrow and hit my, my 280 mile goal for the month and which, which is good, it's, it's, it's going to, it's, it's keeping me motivated to go out and do one more ride, that's. All I need is one more ride before the month and I'll have it, so that that's keeping me motivated. And just little, little stuff like that is is, is it? I've always been real, a real competitive person, and so it makes it a lot, a lot easier for me to get motivated to go back and do that kind of stuff, you know. So I'll, I'll continue doing what I'm doing and I hope, like heck, I can, you know, I, I, I kept telling myself when I got down to one 70, uh, I'm never going to weigh 200 pounds again, uh, and I promised myself I won't weigh that much again.

Brian Wilson:

I just, I remember what I felt like, I remember what I looked like and I don't like it, I just don't like it. So, and, and I've been doing a little bit of that intermittent fasting lately too, which I think the jury's still out on that I'm not sure it works, but it does it does it makes me feel better. So all I got to do is quit thinking that when I do eat, that I'm binge eating and right.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

well, and that's the one thing is, you got to be real careful about doing that like, oh my gosh, my window's open and then just totally binge eat. Um what? The way I kind of like to explain is when you're not eating, you're fasting, and when you're fasting you're not eating, and when you're fasting you're not eating. I mean, you know it goes hand in hand. And when you go back to that hunger scale, the beauty of intermittent fasting is you can open your window anytime. There are some times I'll open my window at three o'clock in the morning because I wake up hungry, and there's sometimes I won't open up my window to seven o'clock at night because I'm just not hungry throughout the day. It's just learning to listen to those hunger cues and when you're hungry then open your window and then just whatever you decide your window to be.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, that's a good idea. I find when I'm at home it's easier for me because I keep busy. I'm out in the garage doing something, or I'm out in the barn or out in the yard, you know, especially this time of the year, because now it's time to get the lawnmowers around and all that good stuff, and I should have mowed my lawn today but I didn't have time because they called me to take this load for them. So I'll get that done tomorrow when I get back home. But when I'm home it's easier for me to do an 18 to 22 hour fast than it is when I'm on the road. Because I'm on the road I got a refrigerator behind me. I've got a cooler right beside me. I try to keep the water on the top of the cooler so I can reach to grab that rather than grab a, you know. But when I do eat, I eat good stuff, I mean my vegetables and my fruits.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

It goes back to the, the hunger scale just eat when you're hungry.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

When you're not hungry, don't eat. You know, once you open that window, then just maintain it within whatever you choose six hours or eight hours, whatever you choose and then just close your window whenever that one's done and um, it really does make a big difference because it gives your body a chance to actually go through and digest and clean up everything. Because when it's not working to digest your food, then it gets a chance to work on getting rid of the old cells and cleaning up some stuff that's through the body because it's not focusing on digesting the food. So that's basically how I look at it. Like okay, you know, my body needs a little bit of detoxing, because your body will detox by itself. You don't have to go on any kind of detox. You just have to stop eating for a while to give it a chance to detox and clean up, and that's all. That's the way I look at it, and it just makes it a lot easier to stick to it that way, like, okay, my body needs a chance to kind of clean out some.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, and I do. They call it intermittent, but I fast almost every day for at least 18 hours. Sometimes it might be 17,. But the most I've ever gone is 23 hours and it was just one of those days where I was busier than hell and didn't have a chance to stop eating. But it's working. So my like I said I'm maintaining right at one 90, one at one 88 to one 90, one 87 to one 90 right now, and and I don't ever for for anybody that will be listening to this later on is don't ever weigh yourself at night, weigh yourself in the morning. That's your true, true weight. Because I waited till, oh God. When I got home the other day, saturday, I jumped on a scale real quick, like after I took a shower. I said what? There ain't no way. 194 pounds. I said well, wait a minute, tell me. You've drank a gallon and a half of water today. That adds up. Well, there's some people.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

You know, and just for whoever's listening, you know, weighing yourself frequently could be a huge trigger to you know, just for whoever's listening. You know, weighing yourself frequently could be a huge trigger to you know, either completely stop or have you go to the extremes, which I'm one of those. I can't weigh myself because it is a huge trigger for me. Yes, and what I do is I have one pair of pants and not the stretchy kind of pants, you know, the traditional blue jean pants, and whenever they start getting a little snug then I'm like, OK, I need to kind of cut back because I can't do the scale. The scale just completely triggers me and I'll go off on a complete eating disorder. So just a little tip you know, just have like one pair of pants that you can't fit. You know that are your pants to fit in, but don't, don't stretch. Stretchy ones is cheating.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, oh yeah, no doubt they feel a lot better though but uh, you see because I don't weigh myself at all during the week, when I'm on a road course, uh, but when I get home, I weigh myself. Every day that I'm home, every morning, after I work out, take a shower and stuff, I'll weigh myself and and that keeps me knowing what my body does during the week.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

And think about people like you. Weighing is perfect because it's your motivator, it's what keeps you on track. Yep, yep, exactly. So it's just finding what works for you.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, and that was one thing that Brad told me. He says just keep weighing yourself every day. No-transcript odd 30, almost 40 years ago, or 35 years ago, I should say, and I use a lot of that to motivate me today. God, get me through this next couple of minutes. I want to eat, but I don't want to. It's okay to be a little hungry, I'm not going to die because of it. It's okay to be, you know. But don't let myself get too hungry, angry, lonely or tired. The halt we call that the halt because if you do that, you're going to start drinking. Well, in my case, I would start eating, I'd get bored, I'd bored eat, I'd bored to meet, and that's not good, you know. Just because it's there and processed foods aren't good as much as we like them. They're very good to eat, they're very. They taste good. Processed foods ain't a good deal.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

But ultra processed foods. They add a lot of chemicals that they've done through science experiments that will actually not only trigger and stimulate our taste buds but trigger and stimulate our hormones that make us feel hungry and it actually decreases our hormones that make us feel full. So they're cheating. And to me, eating those foods now that I know that I, to me that's letting them control me because they're controlling my hormones and, um, I don't like that. Yeah, I don't like that. And once I learned that, it's like, oh, I don't need to eat that stuff anymore, like I'm a rebel. I'm an inner rebel. Yeah, exactly.

Brian Wilson:

I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to ring bologna. I love it, pickled or naan or whatever. So that's been. My biggest thing is staying away from the bologna, the ring bologna, the pickle bologna and stuff like that. But it's okay every once in a while if you want to try a little bit of it, but don't don't eat it. You know, in sandwiches and stuff like that I've been trying to stray away from the breads and stuff, trying to keep the, the carbohydrate, the carbohydrates down and and everything. So it there's.

Brian Wilson:

There's a lot of different ways you can go about this. I had a friend of mine, him and his wife. That's what they've done is is, uh, cut carbs and they've lost a ton of weight. I couldn't handle the carb cravings just driving me nuts. But uh, I, I do, I. I cut down, I don't eat. I don't eat bread near as much as I used to. Uh, I've had a package of whole wheat wraps in here for shit a month now that I haven't even touched. So I imagine I probably ought to throw them away.

Brian Wilson:

But it's a really neat journey, the exercise, and I used to be the first person to laugh at these runners when they'd say they'd get a runner's high and all this other stuff. Oh, I'm here to tell you that's a real thing. That's a real thing. The endorphins that that kick in when you start feeling a little bit of pain. Your body automatically creates endorphins to get away from the pain. And it's, it's a thing, that runner's high is a real thing. The first day I actually ran a solid two miles. Well, there's a fast job, let's put it that way. I wasn't. I didn't break any land speed records, but that first day I did that, I, I, I, I had to subdue myself to keep from just screaming out loud that I just ran two miles. Whoops, my phone just fell over. Uh, that I just ran two miles, you know, without stopping. And I get that the first five miles on my bike. Oh man, there's days when it'll about kill me, but it seems to be about five, five and a half miles in. That's when that runner's high or those endorphins start kicking in and I start feeling better and I've got the oxygen to my legs and into my back and to my arms and everything starts feeling so much better. And that's when I go hell.

Brian Wilson:

I took, I took a ride Tuesday. I left Tuesday to go to uh, uh, uh. Tuesday night I left for Denver with a load of flowers. I got up to the hub early. Oh, I went to Chicago, that's what it was. Monday I went to Chicago and back and then I got back Tuesday morning. I went to Chicago Monday, delivered Tuesday morning and came home or came back to the hub in Kalamazoo and I got my bike out and I went out and I rode for 30 miles. It was just, it was. It was a beautiful day. I found some, really a couple of places I'd never been before. But once those endorphins kick in and it makes you know, the pain in my knees go away a little bit, maybe a little bit in your back, and all of a sudden, next thing you know I've been gone for two and a half hours. It's like wow, and it was just, it was a great ride. So, yeah, the runner's high, it really is a thing. That's a real thing. Your body does feel good about that stuff.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

And it's part of also learning you know what works for you and what don't work for you, because I know when I used to do, when I was a lot more active than I am right now. It kind of like you. It kind of comes and goes, you know, in phases, especially since winter's coming out, especially since winter's coming out. But when I first started I had a coach and she actually now you know, today and tomorrow I want you to go in the morning, and then the next two days I want you to go in the afternoon, and then the next two days I want you to go in the evening. Some people they do better in the morning, some people do better midday and some people do better in the evenings. On how it makes them feel.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

I couldn't do two days in the evening. That one day that I ran in the evening time I was up to one o'clock in the morning. It had me just so revved up and so energized I could not sleep. She's like, okay, you're not a night person, because some people will knock them out. You know they'll get that high and then they'll crash and knock out. It's like I took a caffeine pill or something.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, just gets you all jiffed up. It's kind of the same thing with my horses. A friend of mine is a really good trainer and he was talking about loping horses. You know, you put them on a lunge line and they go around in a circle, around in a circle around in a circle.

Brian Wilson:

And he says I want you to go out and run around the block twice and then go in and lay down and go to bed. Tell me that you're going to be able to go right to sleep. And he's right. And it works the same way with a horse too. I kind of brag a little bit about this. I started this deal, like I said, in 21, the new year's day when I was 62 years old. I just turned 65 last october and I'm still doing pretty much everything I was doing. I've brought the mantra on my life's. Mantra lately has been from the late great Toby Keith Don't let the old man in. I may grow old, but I'll never grow up.

Brian Wilson:

You know, I just I love life, I love what I'm doing. I'm still trucking, I still go out and I ride my bike every time I get a chance or walk Hell. Tonight, before I got a hold of you, I went out and I took a little walk around the parking lot here at this place I'm delivering to. So it's just a matter of it's a mind over matter type thing. I've heard that said a lot of times in my life. But I'm not going to let the old man in. That said a lot of times in my life. But uh, uh, but I'm not gonna let the old man in, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, uh, uh, I'm not going to be that 66 year old person or 65 year old person that says, oh, I can't go, I can't do this Cause I can't move, I can't. Nah, ain't gonna happen, it ain't gonna happen. I, I'm gonna, I'm going to keep going as long as I can until my body tells me I can't, and then I'll go some more. Yeah.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

So, on average, what would you say you average driving per week? And then what would you average between your bike and your walk per week? Distance-wise, I've been running between 2,500 and 3,000.

Brian Wilson:

Well, I got 3,400. Between 2,500 and three well, I got 3,400. And that's in in in one of our eight day weeks, uh, uh, I've been running 35, 25 to 3,500 miles a week, and I've been getting at least 25 miles on the bike, if not more, uh so. So the average would be probably about 28 to 2,900 in the truck and another 25 to 30 on the bike there you go.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

That's pretty substantial.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, that's fabulous that's that's and, honest to god, that's that's what I, along with the eating, but it was just the exercise part, because I was taking in all these calories and just sitting here in the damn truck and driving I'd get done and I'd come back in here, I'd sit at my table and I'd eat more and I'd go to bed.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

I like the way you did it too, because first you started with just increasing your steps and you didn't do nothing else really except for just focus on increasing your steps, and then you gradually added in okay, well, now let me try to figure out how I want to eat. So first you focused on one thing and then, once you kind of got that in, kind of the way you liked it, then you're like okay, now let me take the next step and let me try another thing. And just doing one thing at a time like that is, I think, the only way to do it.

Brian Wilson:

I think you're right, because then you can focus and learn how to do the one thing at a time, because I know myself I'm a squirrel, you know big red truck type of a person. I'll get distracted from doing, trying to do too many things at once. So, by and honest to God, I've never thought about it this way before, melinda. But you're right that by doing just one thing at a time I didn't get distracted and get pulled off course. So I tried the like I say the exercise, and then the eating, and then it all fell into where that was just one big thing, it was all the same thing. After a while he says I'm going to lose this weight, I'm going to stay in shape, and that's what I've done. It's been pretty amazing.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

Yes, that's fabulous. Okay, anybody that's wanting to start on their journey. Three things you would suggest, whether it be mindset, eating, whatever, just three things you think they should focus on. And then, if they want to follow you, where do they find you?

Brian Wilson:

Three things to focus on would be your mindset. I've got a lot of friends and a lot of friends that are truck drivers and say, well, I wish I had the time to do it like you do. You do have the time, believe me, you do. I just told you I run thirty five hundred miles a week and I still last week got 60 miles on my bike, on the outdoor bike plus my indoor bike. So you've got the time. Just take it and do what you got to do. So that's your mindset.

Brian Wilson:

Number two watch what you eat. Make it a colorful diet. And number three if you, if you, if you start and you, you keep doing it for a couple of weeks and then you kind of slack off a little bit, that's okay, it's okay. Just, we say it in in this other organization that I'm in about my drinking keep coming back. It works if you work it and it's exactly. You've got to do the work. You've got to put in the work. There's magic, magical pills and magical diets and all these operations and stuff. You don't have to go that route. You really don't. I don't feel this is my opinion. You don't have to go that route. Calories in, calories out, as long as you burn more calories than you're taking in, you're going to lose weight.

Brian Wilson:

And to get a hold of me, my name is Brian Wilson. Look me up on Facebook. There's a picture of a hat that says don't let the old man in, and another one of me riding my horse cutting cows. I'm the owner, owner, operator. The owner of BW transport LLC, so just hit me up on Facebook. I'm on Instagram too, but I don't do much on there but share jokes with my friends.

Cindy Tunstall:

You know, Facebook.

Brian Wilson:

Facebook is the best place to find me. Like I said, there's a picture of the old the hat with you don't let the old man in and me on my horse from from a year or so ago. And then, like I said, shoot me a message on Messenger, or I would just assume you shoot me a message first, because a lot of times if I don't know someone, I won't accept a friend request because there's too many fricking hackers out there now and uh, I don't. I don't want anybody getting ahold of my shit. So shoot me a message on uh, uh, on messenger. Say hey, I saw you on Melinda's podcast. Uh and I'll, I'll give you all the encouragement I can. You know, uh, and believe me, that helps a lot. If you can get a coach or even a formerly fat truck driver like myself to tell you you're doing good things, you know that helps a lot too.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

Or, like me, I'm both, so there you go.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, yeah, you're a coach and a formerly fat truck driver so yeah, that's, that's a good thing, but no, just, but no. Just keep with it, and if you decide to eat too much one day, go back at it the next day. You'll be fine, you really will.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

One day won't make a difference. It's what you do 80% of the time.

Brian Wilson:

Yep, exactly Exactly. Yep, you're exactly right, but this has been really cool, it's been a journey. It really has it, really has it really has.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

I'm proud of your journey. I mean for you not only to lose so much weight at your age, plus you quit smoking in your lifetime, plus you kicked alcoholism. I mean, you're just a try. What is it? The horses that win all three crowns in the oh, the triple crown, the triple crown. Yeah, that's a triple crown, yeah.

Brian Wilson:

I guess I never thought about it that way. Uh, yeah, it was, uh, it was, it was kind of a, it was, it was a funny thing, I told. I told my wife, uh, when we well, we knew each other from high school We've only been married for 20, oh God, 21 years now, I guess. But uh, we got, we used to date when she was still in high school. I was just out of high school and we did our things one, our separate ways, and had families and all that other stuff.

Brian Wilson:

And we hooked back up again 23 or 24 years ago, I guess it was now, and got married a couple years later and and everything, and I just told her I says you know, I said I'm I'm and I and I, I'm, I'm, please, everybody, I'm just, I, I'm a smart ass, I'm a, I like telling jokes, I like screwing around. But I told her, I says I'm just about as perfect as they come, honey. She said what do you mean? I said I don't. Well, at the time I smoked. I said I don't drink, I don too damn hard. I says what more can you ask for? And now and now that I quit smoking, I said see, hon, you got that, you got the catch of the century here, so you know, but it's just a joke.

Brian Wilson:

People don't think I'm stuck on myself.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

We're all drivers, we're all that way, come on now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's no doubt about that.

Brian Wilson:

I've been driving for gosh don't know 40 some odd years total now. I started in 79. And then, like I said, when I got sober I kind of had to get out of trucking because the state wanted my license worse than I did. So I got busted one too many times. It is what it is. I can't change a damn thing about it. But what I did back then made me what I am today.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

Exactly.

Brian Wilson:

I don't regret a thing I've done. I don't regret being fat. I don't regret, you know, any of the stuff I've done in the past. I'm not real proud of some of the shit that I did back then when I was drinking and using, but it is what it is. It's made me who I am today and, if you want to look back at it, my recovery really did give me a lot of good tools to use for this weight loss journey. You know, absolutely. But it can be done, guys. I'm telling you, don't say you're too old, you'll never lose it, because I'm here to tell you you can do it. I'm a formerly fat and old truck driver that did it, so it's a thing that can be done. So don't think you can't, because you sure can and, like I said, get on Facebook and I'll be more than happy to help you out.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

However, I can, yeah, I'll help you out, however I can. Yeah, so I tell my drivers all the time. You know, as a driver, you have the skills for the weight loss journey. You just don't realize it. Once you realize the same skills that you use to get from Miami Florida to Seattle Washington within a two-hour window, you use those same skills. You got them. We got the planning skills out the wazoo.

Brian Wilson:

We can do it yep, yep, it's just it's planning a lot of people meal plan. Yeah, plan your meals out. Put them out in separate tupperware bowls. Put them in your refrigerator, because I don't think there's too many trucks out there today that doesn't have a refrigerator of some sort in it. I got my microwave right up here in mine, you know, and my inverter laying down here on the floor that I put in. So just use them. And, like you said, we got trip planning. Use it for meal planning. Stay away from you know you, stay away from the back row and the truck stops. The old jokes about the back row and, believe me, some of them weren't jokes, they were true stories. Stay away from the back rows of the truck stops and stay away from the fast food joints. Man, there's salads. You can buy salads pre-made with the dressing dressing in them. They run from about 210 to 380 calories. That's pretty good for just one meal yeah, you know.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

And then you can buy those little packets that has chopped chicken in them and dump that in your salad and that's an extra 17 I think 17 or 18 grams of protein. You're adding that on the salad.

Brian Wilson:

Yep, yep, and you're in in. In what is it? Maybe five calories that you're adding? Just very little, very little, very little. But yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a. It's a worthwhile trip for those that want to take it, and it's. I can promise you that it's very rewarding it, just in the way I feel about myself. You know it's.

Cindy Tunstall:

I can promise you that it's very, rewarding it just in the way I feel about myself, you know, and the people that I've helped.

Brian Wilson:

I've had a lot of people, you know, my friend with the quitting smoking and other people that said, you know, you've encouraged me and that makes all of the time that I take and I've gotten caught in some pretty wicked-ass rainstorms and stuff and I've learned to read the radar before I go on a bike ride.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

It's just a little load.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, but there's only been one time that I had to call and get hauled back from one of my bike rides. That's when my wife and I I own a separate little lot that's down on a lake by where I live. We take our camper down there and park it for the weekend a lot of times and and go out on our pontoon and whatnot. Well, I got up one morning I said I'm gonna take a bike ride. Well, we're about I don't know 10 miles from the indiana state line where we're at. So I rode down across the across the state line into fremont, down down there around the truck stops and stuff, and I was coming back up and I'll be damned if I didn't get a flat tire on my bike, ran over a staple or something on the side of the road. I said you know what, if I was in the truck I'd have to ride this damn thing back. And I've done that before. I've rode back on a flat tire. I said but I ain't going to do it today. I called my wife. I said come down here and pick me up, would you? I said I got a flat tire and I don't feel like riding at home, but I have had flat tires on the bikes when I was riding on the road and I had to take it back. One time down in Florida I had to walk it back because the tire kept coming off the rim.

Brian Wilson:

That's just another. One of those things is you don't quit, just don't quit. Once you start, don't stop. And the weight loss is. What kept me going, is what was my catalyst. Every time I'd lose another pound or two. It just made me feel all that much more determined. I'm going to lose two more. I'm going to lose four more. I'm going to lose eight more, you know, whatever the case, may be.

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

Now. They say that losing one pound of fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories oh wow, that's crazy so that tells you when you're like oh well, you know, I only lost like 10 pounds. Oh no, that's significant.

Brian Wilson:

You know, one pound is 3,500 calories, that's significant yeah and and uh, some friends of mine, uh, that had done some weight loss and stuff and I believe they went through Weight Watchers. She told me she said when she lost 10 pounds they handed her a 10-pound bowling ball, said, carry that around for tomorrow all day long, tell me how you feel. And she said I couldn't do it. She said I had to put it down. So imagine carrying that much weight so like with myself. I lost originally, I lost 85 pounds. That's a whole human. That's a 10, that's a 10 year old human. You know, and it it it? Just to stop and look at it in that aspect is like wow, you, just you don don't, you don't stop and think about that I was carrying around a 10 year old on my back, basically, and it's no wonder why your knees hurt.

Brian Wilson:

Yeah, my knees hurt I got my knees in my back, my ankles, my feet and everything hurt, you know but, uh, it's, uh, it's, it's very rewarding and very uh uh. Well, I get to. I get to meet so many cool people. Look at, I got to meet you for christ's sake.

Cindy Tunstall:

You know that's that's a good thing,

Malinda Fox-Wellington:

man. What an amazing conversation with brian. He was able to take us through all those ups and downs of his 55 pound weight loss journey in such an authentic way, from struggling with obesity to smashing his goals through walking, cycling and actually overhauling his whole diet. Brian's stories show that permanent change is possible, even for truckers battling unhealthy habits out here on the road. His tips about using apps, setting small milestones and recovering from plateaus are just golden. Now, on next week's episode, it's going to be with Cindy, where we get to hear the latest trucker adventures out on the road. But until then, let Brian's unstoppable determination motivate you to start your own transformation, embracing healthier habits, one load at a time. I'm Melinda Fox, wellington, and this is Healthier Truckers.

Cindy Tunstall:

Hey, this is Cindy Tunstall. Thanks so much for staying tuned to our podcast. We're grateful for you tagging along on the journey. I think you can see now why I think every trucker in America needs to know Melinda Fox Wellington. She's breaking the myth that trucking has to be an unhealthy lifestyle and she's giving us really practical tips and tools to make us to become healthier truckers. Join her Facebook community by the same name Healthier Truckers and tune in.

Cindy Tunstall:

Next week I have another interview I'm honoring truckers and sharing their stories on the have another interview I'm honoring truckers and sharing their stories on the enjoying life otr podcast and I can't wait for you to hear this next episode. It's a great talk and I know you're going to love it. Hey, I also want to invite you to join our facebook community, enjoying life otr. We're sharing our favorite stops. You know, sometimes we get to, we stumble across some place that has great food and there's truck parking. It wasn't way off the interstate, it wasn't a lot of trouble to get there, and we're just reaching out and sharing those ideas with other drivers so that we can make the most of the lifestyle and still stay on schedule.

Cindy Tunstall:

You know we're all out here to make money and we don't want to spend a lot of time having to research places to do and see, and we can now share those ideas with other drivers. So we can, when we're passing through a new area or maybe we're resetting in an area we're not usually at, we can search the community and find fun things to do that you know are low cost and also accessible to the truck or easily accessible from a truck stop. So check out that community as well, both Healthier Truckers and Enjoying Life. Otr, we'd love for you to join our community. A lot of great things are happening. We want you to be a part of it. Thanks so much for tagging along. Well, y'all be careful out there, be safe and, by all means, enjoy the journey.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Cindy Tunstall

Host