Chris, Safety Dawg (2s):
Hey, it's Chris safety dawg here, who do we have on this week's podcast? None other than Andrea Morley from healthy trucker and with everything that's going on in regards to COVID-19 and trucking, and the challenges that truck drivers are facing. It is a great opportunity to speak to Andrea and get some of her insights about staying healthy as well as truck driver, mental health. So with that, let's go,
2 (31s):
Chris, Safety Dawg (36s):
Welcome to dog on it. Trucking podcast. I'm your host, Chris Harris safety dog. And when it comes to trucking safety, that dog is on it. Please. If you would show your appreciation for the podcast by leaving a thumbs up a comment, a rating, it would help me now.
2 (57s):
Chris, Safety Dawg (1m 4s):
Okay. I just hit record. So I'm to get that out of my way, Andrea, welcome to the Dawg On-It Trucking Pawedcast. How in the heck are you?
Andrea Morley (1m 17s):
I'm great. Thank you.
Chris, Safety Dawg (1m 20s):
What have you been doing with this work at home stuff?
Andrea Morley (1m 24s):
Stay at home pretty much just, yeah, getting work done and getting work done around the house and just trying to stay busy while also staying isolated.
Chris, Safety Dawg (1m 35s):
Perfect. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Andrea Morley (1m 40s):
Yeah, of course. So my name is Andrea Morley. I am the nutritionist and program manager for healthy trucker. We are a company underneath NHL insurance. So what I do is I oversee our corporate wellness program and create education and resources for drivers and staff across the industry. My background is in nutrition, so I focus heavily on helping drivers to eat a little bit better, as well as getting a bit more active and maintaining their stress levels and everything else while they're on the road.
Chris, Safety Dawg (2m 11s):
Well, there's no stress right now during this COVID-19 situation.
Andrea Morley (2m 15s):
Not at all. No.
Chris, Safety Dawg (2m 17s):
Yeah. So I would imagine that you're quite busy. Are drivers reaching out with different questions at the moment?
Andrea Morley (2m 25s):
Yeah, we are getting a lot of inquiries about driver mental health, specifically as well as people wanting to maintain their immune system right now and keep their immune system supported so that they have a better fighting chance at overcoming the virus. If they do come into contact with it, if they do con contract COVID-19, they want to make sure that they're as healthy as possible in order to reduce their risk of needing to go into the hospital or ending up in the ICU, just because this is such a severe virus, as we know, and the outcomes for people have, have unfortunately been quite serious for quite a bit of the population.
Chris, Safety Dawg (3m 6s):
So what would you say to a driver who says, all right, I'm, I'm concerned about my mental health and I'm probably 30 or 40 pounds overweight. Andrea, what should I be doing?
Andrea Morley (3m 21s):
You know what, it's different for every single person, because it depends on what you currently are doing. So if somebody is 30 to 40 pounds overweight, if they are having trouble maintaining their mental health, whether this is inside the COVID pandemic or outside of the COVID pandemic, I wouldn't talk to them about what they are currently eating. What does your diet typically look like? What is your lifestyle and your routine typically look like? And then we make adjustments from there just based on that specific individual. And it might mean that they are, we're going to make some diet changes.
Andrea Morley (3m 55s):
Maybe they're eating a bit too much fast food or a bit too much processed food. We're going to try to figure out how we can make some substitutions there, scale it back a little bit, add in some healthier options where we can, and of course doing that to their tastes, making sure that I'm not just forcing them to eat broccoli and Brussels sprouts, even though they hate those, we're going to make sure that they're doing this in a way that is sustainable for them. And then we're going to look at other areas of their lifestyle. Maybe they need to focus on getting better sleep because that's one of the best ways to allow the body to recover and heal and on so many different levels.
Andrea Morley (4m 32s):
So then we look at how we can optimize their sleep and we'll look at how we can optimize their mental health, but by stress management techniques and adding in a bit more exercise, helping them get more fresh air, more exposure to sunlight, lots and lots of different ways to affect mental health. When we take it from like the full picture, right? We're not just trying to get them to run miles on a treadmill and lose weight. That way. We're going to do lots of different tips and tricks that will apply to them.
Andrea Morley (5m 4s):
And that will make the biggest difference for them.
Chris, Safety Dawg (5m 8s):
You mentioned sunshine and I don't know, does sunshine coming through the cab window count does vitamin D or whatever the necessary vitamins are, get through the windshield.
Andrea Morley (5m 21s):
It can help. Ideally you want unobstructed sunlight. Now windows and glass doesn't allow 100% of the sunlight to get through. Of course, a lot of windows are treated with like UV filters so that they purposely don't allow the sunlight to come through so that you don't get that sunburn. But at the same time, it still can get through. So it helps, but I always recommend exposure to natural, completely unfiltered sunlight for at least like 10 minutes a day can make a really big difference in your body to produce that vitamin D as well as regulating melatonin levels in order to help you sleep and to get back on like a regular sleep schedule and just improving your overall mood vending benefits to getting exposure to sunlight.
Chris, Safety Dawg (6m 13s):
See, that's cool because I've never heard anybody else talk about sunlight and the benefits for especially truck drivers, because they're almost outdoors. Their office has a big window.
Andrea Morley (6m 25s):
Yep. Yep. Definitely. It's in the past few years or several years, we only hear about the negative effects of sunlight and how we need to be avoiding sunlight as much as possible. And of course avoiding those damaging UV rays. And that is one side of the story, but we also need to remember that the sun is a very, very powerful, powerful source of a lot of benefits.
Chris, Safety Dawg (6m 48s):
Yeah, that's cool. Yeah. What is, you had mentioned healthy trucker that's who you work for? What is healthy trucker and what are you doing besides fielding these phone calls from truck drivers, but what is healthy trucker and what's the purpose behind it?
Andrea Morley (7m 6s):
Yeah, of course. So it was back in 2013 that our parent company and insurance decided that they needed to do something in order to improve driver health. They were seeing that drivers were becoming more and more unhealthy specifically because they're an insurance company. They were seeing, the drivers were having to go off of work because of injuries for longer periods of time, especially say if they were injured and needed a surgery, quite often, their doctor would advise that that patient loses weight before they could even perform the surgery.
Andrea Morley (7m 39s):
So they saw that there was a problem. These drivers don't have access to the right education, the right resources in order to improve their health. So they decided to create something for them. And then that's where the healthy trucker program was born. So over the past six, seven years, we have worked to create lots of resources, lots of education. We go to lots of different seminars and drivers' meetings in order to get that information out to them, just to show them that it's possible, show them what that, what they can do in order to improve their health.
Andrea Morley (8m 11s):
Because even though the odds are stacked against truck drivers, as far as their unhealthy lifestyle goes, there are still a lot of tips and tricks and techniques that they can use, just webbing them into their regular lifestyle and their day in order to improve their health. And we talked to countless truck drivers all the time that tell us that it is possible. We talked to drivers who have maintained a fantastic healthy lifestyle for the past 20 years while they've driven truck.
Andrea Morley (8m 43s):
And we've talked to lots of truck drivers who have been able to go from a very unhealthy lifestyle to being very fit and very healthy, very happy with their current health. And that is really exciting to us. I mean, I can sit here all day long and preach to truck drivers that they need to eat better and they need to exercise more and do all of these things. But it's when the actual truck drivers tell each other, yeah. You know what it is possible. She is right. She has some, some good points and maybe you should listen up. That's when it really hits home for a lot of them.
Chris, Safety Dawg (9m 16s):
And if I remember correctly, you are a member of a truck driving family. So a lot of this comes directly from the horses. Moly does it not?
Andrea Morley (9m 28s):
Yeah, definitely. So my dad was in the trucking industry for years and years and all while I was growing up. So I definitely saw the effect that the lifestyle can have on a truck driver, just knowing many different truck drivers my whole life. And I feel for them. And I always thought it would be kind of nice if somebody could take the initiative to help these guys get a little bit healthier. And now here I am having the opportunity to do that. And I've been doing that for the past six years. So that's been really great
Chris, Safety Dawg (9m 57s):
And that's, it's something that's so needed and not to ask truck drivers to go crazy and change their, their habits. Totally. But I know that you offer some great suggestions and tips and tricks, as you said, can you give me an example of something that you might say besides eating more broccoli?
Andrea Morley (10m 20s):
Yeah, definitely. So one of the biggest issues for truck drivers is their consumption of liquids. And when I say liquids, I mean, they drink lots and lots of coffee, and a lot of them rely heavily on energy drinks, sports, drinks, and soda pop to keep their energy levels up. They might be looking for that caffeine. They might be looking for the other stimulants that you get from the energy drinks, or they might be just looking for the sugar and getting that sugar rush to keep them going throughout those long nights or those long days on the road.
Andrea Morley (10m 56s):
What I really, really tried to get them to do as soon as possible when they're trying to change their lifestyle is to cut back on those excessively sugary processed drinks. And I'm not against drinking coffee, especially for truck drivers. I understand that that's just basically a way of life for them. So if they want to drink a coffee or two a day, that's not a problem. Again, just trying to cut back on maybe the amount of sugar that they add cutting back on the amount of cream or that they add, or just cream in general, there's ways to make it a little bit healthier.
Andrea Morley (11m 32s):
And then especially they need to cut back on the other sugary process during. So whether it's the sports drinks, the pop, the energy drinks, maybe even chocolate milk or processed juices, whatever their vice is. As far as those liquids go, that's one of the most important things that they can do for their health is cutting back on those as much as possible. And it doesn't need to be all at it. Doesn't need to be 100% buy, but cutting back on it by about 50% can make a world of difference in their health. And then replacing that ideally with water, the more water that they can drink, the better
Chris, Safety Dawg (12m 7s):
The, you know, truck drivers. They get generally paid by the mile. And, you know, I was thinking recently that if I was a truck driver, I don't want to be drinking coffee and I don't want to be drinking a lot of water because if I drink a lot, then I have to stop a lot and I get paid by the mile. Do you have any suggestions? Because recently I've become a lot more aware of how important water is to all of us. And I've tried to increase my consumption of water.
Chris, Safety Dawg (12m 40s):
So any tips on drinking of water? Well on the road.
Andrea Morley (12m 47s):
Yeah. So that often does come up when I'm talking to drivers, as they say, well, I, I, I can't drink that much because then I'll have to go to the washroom. Well, I often will ask them, okay, so how many coffees do you drink a day? Oh, usually about like six largest. Okay. So you are drinking. There does not drink in the right thing. So they're kind of allowing that to be an excuse for them. But then for other guys, that's not the case. They just drink their one or two coffees in the morning. Then they don't drink anything else for the rest of the day.
Andrea Morley (13m 17s):
And it is a little bit of a barrier for them because they will obviously drinking more liquids. It means more liquids need to come out. Right. So I recommend that they time their water intake as best they can. So when they are not driving to use that time to drink as much water as possible to make sure that when they get up in the morning, they drink a glass or two of water to kind of top up their hydration after sleep, because sleep is extremely dehydrating. We all wake up a bit dehydrated in the morning. And then when they're done driving at the end of the day, if they have a couple of hours before they're going to sleep, then to get lots of water in then, and then be able to, again, go to the washroom before they try to go to sleep and just being a little bit strategic about, about that.
Andrea Morley (14m 1s):
So even when, if they know that they're stopping in about half an hour, they can take that chance to, to drink their water, what they have in the cup holder. And, and then there'll be able to relieve themselves once they do get stopped in that half hour.
Chris, Safety Dawg (14m 16s):
Well, and recently I've been looking at a van life was totally off topic in some ways, but I didn't realize how many, very small portable toilets that are actually available in there's one that is basically a five gallon pail with things stuck on the inside of it that can be used in, I want to say properly and legally dispose of the contents, but there's a lot of options nowadays.
Andrea Morley (14m 49s):
Yeah, definitely. There is, it's an area that I really get into or that I know a whole lot about, but I know a lot of different drivers do have their preferred methods of taking care of that. But yeah, definitely not something that they can do while they're driving. I will never recommend that, but yeah, there, there are ways to get around the issue of, well, I can't drink water while I'm driving or I can't drink water because I'm a truck driver and I can't find a washroom there's there's ways around that.
Chris, Safety Dawg (15m 16s):
Yeah. Now I really, I think, and go ahead and glad to see you drinking your water for that conversation. I really want to talk about truck driver and mental health, as it relates to today's environment. We're in the middle. If you're listening to this later, we're in the middle of COVID-19 rate at the minute, at the minute as we're taping this. So I really want to ask you how can truck drivers and all of us address mental health.
Chris, Safety Dawg (15m 46s):
What can we do to help ourselves?
Andrea Morley (15m 50s):
You know, what mental health has become a really important issue in all of our lives? No matter what profession you have, if you work in an office, if you're a stay at home parent, or if you are a professional truck driver, no matter what you do, your mental health is important. And it's something that you need to take seriously and just keep in mind as you move throughout your life. And you do different things, is that you are checking in with yourself and doing things that help you to maintain your mental health now right now, because we are dealing with COVID-19 that has become even more important because a lot of us are going through really all of us are, are going through an extremely difficult time and every single person is experiencing this in a different way.
Andrea Morley (16m 38s):
So someone who may have just gotten laid off and they're not able to provide a full income for their family, that's obviously very stressful financially for them, the people who are getting sick and contracting the virus, they are dealing with that on another level. And then we have people that are fearful of having to go out into the world, that they are essential service workers. They're, they're afraid to, for their health, just in order to do their job.
Andrea Morley (17m 9s):
They're putting themselves at risk. And that's really scary for them, especially if they know that they have older adults in their family, or they know that somebody in their household is immune compromised and potentially at even more of a risk. And if they were to bring that virus home to them, then that's a very scary reality for a lot of these people. And we do know that a lot of drug truck drivers have just decided to stay home and not work right now because it is too much of a risk for both of them and their family. And because of, of all these heightened stress levels, we're all just having a difficult time waiting through this.
Andrea Morley (17m 45s):
And there's a lot of different ways to approach mental health and to, and to try to improve it. Of course, one of the biggest things that should be mentioned is that we have a lot of really great mental health resources here in Canada, whether you want to call it like a helpline and talk to somebody through there, maybe you have benefits that allow you to speak virtually to a counselor or a therapist, or you can talk to your doctor about different options that may be available to you.
Andrea Morley (18m 18s):
As far as different practitioners. You can speak to even medications. If it comes to that for you, there's a lot of other resources available such as like a text line or an online chat system where you can just talk to somebody and you don't have to do it over the phone. Some people are a lot more comfortable with that. But then aside from that, there's a lot of things that you can do on your own time. And what I'm really encouraging people to do right now is to shut off the media and the news as much as you possibly can.
Andrea Morley (18m 48s):
And that doesn't mean that you're going about your day blind and just not knowing what's going on in the world. You can absolutely check in a couple of times a day and just see maybe where, how many new cases of Cub have come out in Ontario or in Canada or wherever you are checkup on that. But then don't read into every single news story that's associated with this, because that will just drive you further and further into that state of stress and that flight or fight mode. And that's not something that we want you to be doing.
Andrea Morley (19m 18s):
We want you to try to maintain some sense of normalcy because this, unfortunately for the time being is our new normal that we are having to deal with this pandemic. And I want you to bring as much normalcy back into your life as you possibly can. So even if you aren't working, or if you are working, you're an essential service worker and you're having to go out and face that when you do come home and you have some time to yourself, I really, really recommend just filling your own cup up by doing the things that bring you joy for a lot of people that just means watching a funny movie or watching a funny show, listening to a podcast.
Andrea Morley (19m 58s):
Maybe it means that they're cooking some really elaborate nice meals at the end of the day or for their family on the weekend. Of course, their immediate family, or it might mean just getting a little bit into woodworking or another little hobby that they've kind of thrown on the back burner, but they have all the supplies or they can just order the supplies easily off of Amazon. Just get into those hobbies that, that really you enjoy and can bring just a little bit of joy to your life right now.
Chris, Safety Dawg (20m 29s):
Well, and also I think we have to listen to ourselves. And one of the things that I know that his mood altering for me, and I think it is for a lot of people is music. And so when I used to be a truck driver, if I found myself getting into a mood where things bothering me, and obviously that was a long time ago, it wasn't COVID-19 related, but I would play the right music and I could alter my state or change my mood.
Chris, Safety Dawg (21m 0s):
And I found that would really help me.
Andrea Morley (21m 4s):
I'm really glad that you mentioned that because I actually just mentioned to a coworker this morning that I never listened to music while I work. I just, I don't, but since working from home and just all of this going on, I had been listening to music a lot more while I work, because it does help me to just get into a different state of mind. And it helps the days to maybe pass a little bit more quickly and not feel as monotonous, especially when you are working just on your own versus in kind of a busier environment that you might be used to. That's definitely something that can help a lot of people through their days because the right type of music that really makes you happy and that you really enjoy can make such a difference.
Chris, Safety Dawg (21m 45s):
Well, that a lot of truck drivers also have Sirius radio. And so I can choose my station there and it could be music, but you'd also mentioned watching a comedic film, well there's comedy channels on Sirius that some people might enjoy as well. And I totally agree with you. You got to turn off the news. I tried to watch the news once per day now, as opposed to I used to be a news, a holic, but no longer. I just watched the 11 o'clock news before I go to bed.
Chris, Safety Dawg (22m 16s):
And that's the only dose of it I'm getting now.
Andrea Morley (22m 20s):
And that's all you need, right?
Chris, Safety Dawg (22m 22s):
Oh God. It's just, yes, because you can get buried. I was getting buried in the negative sense and it was affecting me. I knew it was. So I made that choice, but all of us, especially a truck driver, who's only entertainment largely when he's on the road is the radio. It's so easy to listen to just news and alter your mood. Not in a good way.
Andrea Morley (22m 49s):
Yeah, definitely. Especially even just the regular radio right now. I'm finding it has a lot of, of course the radio always has a lot of commercials. So that is the nice thing about Sirius satellite radio is no commercials, but then with the regular local radio, there's a lot of commercials that are coming on that have to do specifically with COVID. So that can be a little bit frustrating to listen to. So just keep that in mind, you might want to do a little bit more channel surfing than normal right now to make sure that you're always finding music and not getting trapped into listening to those commercials.
Chris, Safety Dawg (23m 21s):
Yeah. And can I ask you a question? Cause I, I partially know the answer, but the effect of exercise on our mood, because you are a nutritionist and, and a health expert, what effect does exercise have on changing our mood?
Andrea Morley (23m 41s):
There's a lot of different ways that exercise can affect our mood. It is one of the most proven ways to be able to enhance your mood. And sometimes that's easier said than done. I will. Pre-phase that by saying it can be difficult if you are in kind of a dark state right now, and having a difficult time remaining positive, it can be hard for you to get out and put your shoes on and go for that locker to do that workout. So that's understandable, but if you can just even just, just start by putting the shoes on and then go for that one lap, maybe around your house or the one block or one lap around the block and just see how you feel then and see if every day you can build on that a little bit, because the benefits are absolutely huge for improving your mood.
Andrea Morley (24m 30s):
It directly helps your body to release the hormones that affect your mood, such as serotonin and dopamine endorphins. And that is really going to obviously directly affect the chemicals in your brain that are making you happier and more content. And then also as you become healthier and you become more fit, you will start to see and feel the changes. You'll see that when you go up a flight of stairs, you're not quite as winded. You'll be more able to just do certain activities a little bit easier, right?
Andrea Morley (25m 2s):
And putting on your shoes won't feel as much of a chore. If you do have that slightly improved level of fitness, and then you'll feel your posture starting to change, you'll feel your strength improving. And all of those things are going to contribute to a positive cycle of making you feel better and better about yourself and about your health.
Chris, Safety Dawg (25m 22s):
Well, and I know from personal experience, when you are, as you call it in a dark state or depressed, it is extremely hard to do things, even though I know exercise is going to help change my mood. It's really difficult to get out there and get my ass moving. You know, I, I I'll ask you a question, but I don't know if there's an answer. Do you have any suggestions as to how to alter your mood just enough to put those shoes on and go for that walk, whether it's around the house or around the truck stop,
Andrea Morley (26m 2s):
We already talked about one of the things and that would be music. Music is a fantastic way to get yourself a little bit more motivated to get up and get moving because of the effects that it has on your brain and on your mood. And then even just watching a video. For example, when I can't get myself moving, I like to look up say the promotional videos from the past Olympics. And if you look those up on YouTube, you see all the athletes that were training really, really hard and, and just doing what they're so great at.
Andrea Morley (26m 35s):
That can be a little bit motivating for you to say, Hey, you know what? I'm going to go out there and, and, and try my best. Even if I fail, I know that have failed. And it shows these videos showed their struggles, but I can do just a little bit more than what I've been doing. And then another way a lot of people find it hard to just even leave bed or the couch when they are in that state. So then what I recommend is just stay right where you are and just do some stretching right there. Just getting your muscles loosened up a little bit, just by sitting right directly where you are.
Andrea Morley (27m 8s):
You don't need to get up, but that can help you to just start that cycle and get a little, get feeling a little bit better physically and mentally. So that maybe the next day you do want to put the shoes on and go outside for that walk.
Chris, Safety Dawg (27m 22s):
Those are great ideas. Did, what else do you offer from the point standpoint of healthy trucker?
Andrea Morley (27m 32s):
Yeah, so we often offer our healthy fleet challenges. So we run those every few months where we, anyone who wants to participate can join in and just work together to improve their health. They often work together as a team at their specific company or fleet in order to maybe lose the most amount of weight or get the most amount of steps, whatever we're working on for that specific month. So that's been a lot of fun. That's something we've been running for the past six years.
Andrea Morley (28m 2s):
We ran a couple of those earlier in the year. We put them on hold for now, just because we are focusing on getting information out in other ways. And then we always love to go out to drivers meetings when again, possible obviously no drivers meetings are being held in person right now, but we are doing some, some virtual types of meetings for different companies and associations that want to learn a little bit more about mental health or just general health during this time.
Chris, Safety Dawg (28m 34s):
All right. And so if somebody was interested in healthy trucker ways to get in touch with you or in the show notes below, right. You've shared your, I believe email address, was it?
Andrea Morley (28m 47s):
Yes. So my email, I included that. So they'll be able to access my email address. They can go to our website and check out some of our resources there. And so that's just healthy trevor.com and any questions that they have. They're, they're more than welcome to pass those along to us and we'll be in touch.
Chris, Safety Dawg (29m 6s):
Did we cover everything? Is there any last tips that you can give us before I re respectfully in this call?
Andrea Morley (29m 19s):
You know what I think that we've covered some good, good points, but I always do. I th I don't think we really talked about eating healthier quite as much, just because we did focus a little bit on drinking healthier liquids. So I would say that it's so important for drivers to try to prepare as much of their own food as possible, whether that means that they are making more food at home and taking that on the road with them, or if they are taking a couple of pieces of equipment in the truck with them so that they can prepare just a little bit more of their food, because that is the only way for them to know exactly what's going into what they're eating and to make sure that they're not consuming too much processed food, because that is one of the leading contributors to dietary related health issues is the amount of processed food that we eat.
Andrea Morley (30m 8s):
And truck stops are unfortunately full of processed food. So if, if they go into a truck stop, they can still look for healthier options. I've outlined lots of those in, in various videos and articles over the years, the healthier things that they can find in a truck stop, they can look for more just vegetables and potatoes versus the French fries and the vegetables that come on a cheeseburger, right. But then cooking in the truck is something that's really, really important. And especially right now, as we are dealing with COVID-19, I do recommend cooking in the truck as much as possible because the less that you have to go into a restaurant or a truck stop, the better you'll be as far as reducing your risk of S of exposure.
Chris, Safety Dawg (30m 50s):
Well, that, and I was thinking the exact same thing. It's far less exposure going into a food store to pick up some ingredients and avoiding the Truckstop the crowds there. Yeah. That's I was thinking the exact same thing.
Andrea Morley (31m 6s):
Yeah, definitely going into a truck stop three times a day in order to get food is going to be a lot higher risk than maybe going into a grocery store once or twice a week in order to pick up those essentials to keep a couple of fresh items in the truck. And I know that's not always possible. Of course they are going to be going into the truck stops for, for various reasons still. And sometimes they will need to purchase food and that's okay. I'm not completely against that. It's just looking at where you can make those little changes to improve your health and right now, to reduce your risk of exposure.
Chris, Safety Dawg (31m 38s):
Yeah. Reduced risk of exposure is huge at the moment. Thanks so much, Andrea.
Andrea Morley (31m 44s):
No problem. Thanks for having me.
Chris, Safety Dawg (31m 47s):
You loved the show as much as I did, please leave us a, like a thumbs up a review, a comment, a rating. If it is, thank you so much. And I do really appreciate your time and join us again next week for another exciting injury.
2 (32m 5s):
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