“I was open to meeting people and I was open to having adventures. When you’re vibrating that genuinely, and you’re not scared, you’re gonna be open to all kinds of experiences and you’re going to meet people.”
Living a healthy life can be hard. It can be really hard. It’s the whole lifestyle part that gets in the way. It’s easy enough to eat healthy when you’re quarantined at home and surrounded by healthy food that you bought, no alcohol, and lots of motivation, but it can be really hard the moment we step out our front door. It’s not so easy to be healthy and fit when we sit at a desk for 9 hours a day. It’s also not so easy to be healthy and fit when it seems like we are surrounded by over-processed, high sugar, high carbohydrate food. When you’re on the go, what are you supposed to do? Today’s guest, Siphiwe Baleka, learned just how intense this issue could be when he decided to become a truck driver. Out on the road with no schedule, clean food, or gym nearby Siphiwe gained over 10% of his body weight in his very first 2 months. Rather than resign himself to the fact that that was just going to be his new life, Siphiwe decided to do something about it. Over time, he developed a plan to make himself the fittest trucker in America, and now he helps truckers across the country follow in his footsteps.
“The universe is compelled to put you in situations so that you can learn and master lessons. And if you don’t learn them you tend to repeat the experiences and if you do learn them then you get to move on to better lessons or more lessons or different lessons.”
“I had a couple [that were both truck drivers] that came to me and said that they took a cruise and that they couldn’t do any of the activities. They had a weight restriction on horseback riding, they had a weight restriction on ziplining. And the couple realized that they were missing out on life because they were un-fit.”
Interview Contents
5:15 - Siphiwe’s story of falling short of becoming an olympic swimmer.
13:30 - Siphiwe leaving everything behind to travel the world indefinitely.
17:00 - Meeting people and finding work.
22:30 - The lengths of time Siphiwe would spend in one place.
23:30 - Getting a new name in South Africa.
28:45 - Deciding to come home after 15 years and deciding to become a truck driver.
31:00 - Gaining weight after becoming a truck driver.
32:20 - The schedule of a truck driver.
34:30 - Finding interesting things to do when on the road.
35:30 - The challenges that truck drivers face with weight gain.
38:30 - Sleep challenges.
42:30 - Hacking your metabolism.
45:45 - Winning national swimming events while still driving.
46:50 - Going to the owner of his truck company with his idea to get drivers fit.
48:30 - Getting drivers trust and getting them to sign up.
55:15 - The results.
58:15 - The power of fitness.
1:04:00 - Advice for people thinking about getting more fit.
Links
THIS EPISODE WAS MADE WITH THE SUPPORT OF
Marcus Batson
Roxanna
Michelle & Jim Wortner
Janelle Swanson
Jimmy Seymour
