guest post from siphiwe baleka, founder of fitness trucking
Fitness Trucking was founded in order to revolutionize the transportation industry by creating a culture of fitness within it. My goal is to take the unhealthiest occupation in America, and make it a model for corporate wellness. In the process of doing that, I am helping a lot of people significantly improve their lives.
Changing The Culture Of The Unhealthiest Occupation
In 2014, my Fitness Trucking 13 Week program helped transportation carrier Prime Inc. win the “Healthiest Company Award” during the Digital Health Summit at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
Soon after that my program was featured in Men’s Health Magazine, then Sports Illustrated. Fox Sports did a seven-minute documentary that won a Sports Emmy in 2016. Eventually, the Atlantic dubbed me “The Fitness Guru to the Trucking Industry”.
Now, I have the #1 weight loss program in the country which is described in my book, 4 Minute Fit: The Metabolism Accelerator for the Time Crunched, Deskbound and Stressed-Out.
Simple and Accessible Fitness Strategies
Now, I don’t consider myself a “guru” and my methods for helping truck drivers lose weight are based on simple, effective strategies. When it comes to nutrition, I rely on the Cronometer app. Using the app, I can help drivers make a few, strategic changes that have a maximum effect towards fat burning and weight loss. Let’s look at an example.
Case Study: Doug
Goal 1: Increase Meal Frequency
My client, Doug Alred, started my program weighing 297.8 lbs. In the first week of the program, Doug logged everything he ate and drank. Using the “add note” feature, he labeled each meal so that I could calculate his meal frequency, which turned out to be just 2.8 meals per day. So, I wrote Doug, explaining,
“Logging your nutrition is the most effective tool you have… it keeps you accountable and builds your knowledge on food so that when you are choosing meals in the future, you understand what the best choices are for your health. The meal frequency is the first and most important priority we want to make because it directly controls your metabolism. To increase your metabolism, you need to eat every three hours, (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner) which will increase your meal frequency to at least 5 meals each day. This will ensure your metabolism is burning throughout the day, so plan your meals ahead of time.”
| Client Name | Meal Frequency | Calories | Carbs | Protein |
| Doug Alred | 2.8 | 1984 | 256.4 | 78.8 |
| 2.5 | 1875 | 177.1 | 80.6 | |
| 4.9 | 1904 | 134.9 | 110.7 | |
| 4.6 | 1533 | 93.1 | 97.3 | |
| 5.1 | 1924 | 130.8 | 113.4 | |
| 5.3 | 1896 | 101.5 | 120.8 | |
| 5 | 2009 | 135.5 | 111.7 | |
| 5.1 | 1784 | 112.7 | 114.3 |
My client, Doug Alred, started my program weighing 297.8 lbs. In the first week of the program, Doug logged everything he ate and drank. Using the “add note” feature, he labeled each meal so that I could calculate his meal frequency, which turned out to be just 2.8 meals per day. So, I wrote Doug, explaining,
“Logging your nutrition is the most effective tool you have… it keeps you accountable and builds your knowledge on food so that when you are choosing meals in the future, you understand what the best choices are for your health. The meal frequency is the first and most important priority we want to make because it directly controls your metabolism. To increase your metabolism, you need to eat every three hours, (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner) which will increase your meal frequency to at least 5 meals each day. This will ensure your metabolism is burning throughout the day, so plan your meals ahead of time.”
After three weeks, Doug was able to get his meal frequency to 4.9 and he was able to keep it at or above that level for the rest of the program.
Goal 2: Reduce Carbohydrate Intake
Doug’s other nutritional problem was too many carbs. During that first week Cronometer showed that Doug was averaging 256g of carbs per day. That’s high if one’s goal is weight loss.
So, I instructed Doug to gradually cut his average daily carbohydrate consumption a little each week.
Three weeks later, Doug was down to 134.9g and was able to maintain this level for the rest of the program. Nutritionally, that’s all that we did. Doug could eat whatever he wanted so long as he kept his meal frequency at 5.0, his carbs at 140g or less, and calories between 1700 and 2000.
During this time Doug exercised just once a day for about 15 minutes following my Active Trucker Phase 1 and Phase 2 program on the Skimble app.
Results
You can see the results of his nutrition and exercise in the changes to his body composition (see chart below).
Doug lost 29.2 lbs. and 9.8% of his body weight in just 13 weeks. His body fat dropped from 41% to 37.4% while his visceral fat rating – a measure of the fat surrounding his internal organs – dropped from 22 to 19.
| DATE | Weight | Body Fat % | Water Weight | Muscle Mass | Physique Rating | BMR | MET Age | Bone Density | Visceral Fat Rating |
| 6/17/2017 | 297.8 | 41 | 44.1 | 167.2 | 2 | 2470 | 50 | 8.6 | 22 |
| 6/25/2017 | 299 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 7/9/2017 | 295.4 | 37.5 | 45.2 | 176.4 | 2590 | 50 | 9 | 21 | |
| 7/16/2017 | 291.4 | 45.1 | 43.1 | 152.4 | 2 | 2269 | 50 | 7.8 | 23 |
| 7/23/2017 | 288 | 43.8 | 43.4 | 154.4 | 2 | 2289 | 50 | 8 | 23 |
| 7/30/2017 | 284 | 42.7 | 43.7 | 155.2 | 2 | 2294 | 50 | 8 | 22 |
| 8/6/2017 | 279.8 | 40.6 | 44.2 | 158.2 | 2 | 2323 | 50 | 8.2 | 21 |
| 8/13/2017 | 277.6 | 40.6 | 43.7 | 158.2 | 2 | 2241 | 50 | 8.2 | 22 |
| 8/20/2017 | 276.8 | 40.2 | 44.4 | 157.6 | 2 | 2311 | 50 | 8.2 | 21 |
| 8/27/2017 | 273.8 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 9/3/2017 | 271.8 | 38.8 | 44.9 | 160 | 2 | 2331 | 50 | 8.2 | 19 |
| 9/10/2017 | 270.4 | 38.1 | 45 | 161 | 2 | 2328 | 50 | 8.2 | 19 |
| 9/17/2017 | 268.6 | 37.4 | 45.1 | 161 | 2 | 2326 | 50 | 8.2 | 19 |
Changing Your Nutrition To Lose Weight
Doug’s is a great example that changing your nutrition to get outstanding weight loss results doesn’t need to be overwhelming. With a tool like Cronometer, the most strategic areas for improvement can be easily identified. Specific foods that are causing damage can be identified and changed and small changes that cause maximum fat-burning can be implemented.
More About Siphiwe
To learn The Blake Method – the most effective, least time-consuming way to burn fat and lose weight – get the book, 4 Minute Fit http://www.siphiwebaleka.com/4-minute-fit/
If you would like weight loss coaching or nutritional help, go to:
