You need to stay healthy as an auto damage appraiser, it’s important. You go to appointment after appointment, spending endless hours on the road. One of the biggest challenges to your health is eating healthy and resisting the urge to gobble down burgers and shakes at every meal.

So how do others do it? Here are some tried-and-true methods you can use. Just a few small changes can really make a difference to your health.

Eat Breakfast

The most important thing is to always eat breakfast. Don’t skip it. While it can be difficult to find time in the morning, breakfast primes your body for the rest of the day, so it is important. This first meal gives you energy all morning long and reduces your urge to snack by 9am. That will help you avoid that donut in the gas station.

If you are having trouble finding time to squeeze breakfast in, some appraisers use egg cookers to make whipping up eggs even easier. These egg cookers can make you a boiled, scrambled, poached, or even omelets with an auto shut off to ensure you don’t have to watch a pan. Put this on and go take a shower, breakfast will be done when you come back. You can also bring extra boiled eggs on the road as an added snack.

Pack Your Lunch

You can also pack your own meals and snacks for the rest of the day. You can do it in the morning or you can do it the night before. This is a healthier way to eat and it’s also less expensive than going to a restaurant every day for lunch or eating gas station food. Pack plenty of protein like nuts and protein bars to sustain your energy and mental clarity throughout the day.

A fast lunch idea is to have beef jerky, cheese sticks, and carrots. No prep time required, but it’s healthy and will continue to give you fuel to finish your claims.

Drink Water

It’s common sense, but not always common practice. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water. Take a small cooler in your car so you always have it ice cold and ready to drink. This will make it more pleasurable and help keep you away from other unhealthy road beverages like soda—particularly caffeinated ones.

Drinking more water will help with your mental clarity, keep your energy level up, and help keep your hunger down. Instead of grabbing chips you can drink a bottle of water to curb your appetite.

Fast Food

Try to avoid fast-food drive-thrus whenever you can. It is very tempting, but most meals are high in calories and fat which will slow you down and are hard on your body. However, there are some choices that are healthy with lean proteins and lots of nutrients. Here are just two examples.

• The Chick-Fil-A grilled chicken salad and fruit cup is a great choice is a drive thru is in your future. The meal has just 400 calories and is very low in fat and has a whopping 30 grams of protein to give you energy the rest of the day.
• At Wendy’s, you can order a plain baked potato and a small cup of chili and create a chili potato lunch. This meal has about 460 calories and over 20 grams of protein. It will fill you up all afternoon without too much long-term damage to your money making machine.

We hope these meal tips have helped you stay strong and healthy while on the road.