GOOD FOOD, TO GO

To keep her weight down but her income up, driver Laura McCrae worked with the Prime Health and Fitness team to come up with truck-friendly recipes and cooking techniques.

BY PEYSON SHIELDS

Laura McCrae was working at a bank in Las Vegas when she suddenly gained weight. Like many people, she had an underlying health condition that triggered it. “When got my thyroid messed up, gained so much weight in so little time. It was unbelievable,” she says. Turns out, the weight gain was caused by thyroid cancer.

Thankfully, she had surgery and is now cancer-free, but the weight gain showed McCrae how different life could be if she didn’t keep up with her health. “I felt very tired and sleepy, and my knees were hurting,” she says. “I didn’t like that my clothes were not fitting. hile wor ing at the an McCrae worked with a nutritionist who helped McCrae develop healthier eating habits. When McCrae switched careers and joined Prime, she wanted to keep up with those dietary changes while on the road. t first she worried she would gain weight while driving. After all, her nutritionist had helped her plan meals she could make at home, not on a truck. “I was so afraid because didn’t want to gain more weight. heard that you met people that were skinny, and then after two years they gained like 100 pounds. refuse to gain that much weight,” McCrae says. McCrae was so careful about her diet when she got behind the wheel that she lived off rice, tuna and tomatoes at first. Then she reached out to Rachel Dreher for help.

Dreher is a licensed registered dietician with the Driver Health and Fitness program at Prime, and she helped McCrae come up with meals that were nutritious and easily made. The key was getting the right cooking accessories. McCrae bought a small skillet, an air fryer and a blender she could plug into the cigarette lighter. She eats kale and spinach salads with as many colors as possible: tomatoes, avocado, boiled egg, carrots, celery and cilantro. She will also eat meat but just a small portion.

“Sometimes, want a hamburger with a little bit of French fries too, so get a small portion of it,” she says. McCrae has learned to listen to her body and trust her cravings. he recently craved clove while fighting an ear infection and later learned that clove is a natural antibiotic. “I learned that your body asks you for what your body needs,” she says. And what she needs in the morning is a quick boost of protein. This is her go-to protein shake recipe.