Uber is KILLING ME, my story...

So I have been reflecting today on my 8 months with uber... I left a good $60k per year part time job for uber and now I can't get it back. In that time I have gone from 87kg to 114kg and I am now classified as morbidly obese... I cannot walk or exercise because of the pain and stiffness in my body from sitting down all day and find the only way to relax my body is by drinking... I have drunk a 6 pack of VB every night for around the past 6 months...

I feel my marriage is coming to an end too as I have not managed to (how do I put it mildly) be intimate with my wife for over 3 months as I have developed ED because of my failing health. I have also gone from smoking 5 to 25 cigarettes per day and I use copious amounts of deodorant, mints and 3-4 shirt changes per day to try and minimumise the smell for pax. After some tests the doctor said I have a severe fatty liver and he is sending me to the cardiologist because as he put it 'you will almost certainly have a heart attack at this rate'. I am 37 years old.

I have completely lost interest in both my hobbies (golf and fishing) and haven't done either since I started ubering.

All this for what I have calculated for me to be $6 per hour after expenses (I spent a lot of time sitting and waiting for surge).

All this has also caused me to develop depression and generally feeling very sick.

This is worse than just slave labor, I don't even know what the hell this actually is...

Hopefully this is a warning to anyone reading this forum and who thinks it would be a good idea to join...

Don't... Just DON'T

 

Sorry to hear of your struggles @BreadandWater

I went from 91kg to 105kg in the last 8 months of Ubering. I also now take cholesterol lowering meds and pre-diabetes meds.

But I don't blame Uber. I chose to work for a slavemaster, and chose to work long hours out of greed and necessity (but greed first).

So I have to wear it. As do you IMO.


I started interval training a few weeks ago during the big wet up here in Sydney, and found instant relief.

I use the free MapMyWalk app, and start walking in my area and when i feel like it i get into a run, in a stop/start fashion.

Gradually, my fitness is improving and I have lost 2kg in the last few weeks.

Diet is also important, no more junk food at all. To make it easy I look for three things in the nutritional information on food labels:
1. Lowest sugar per 100 grams, ideally less than 1g.
2. Lowest saturated fat per 100 grams, ideally less than 1g.
3. Lowest sodium (salt) per 100 grams usually listed in milligrams (mg), lower the better.

It's early days yet but I am already feeling better. To save my own health I drastically pulled back my hours driving.

So I am poor but not dying.

We can only save ourselves. Good luck!

 

@BreadandWater doesn't sound good, but it's not too late to make changes and reverse the damage.

Habits are important in this job. When I started Ubering, I told myself I'm doing this to supplement my income and I refused to waste money on junk food and stuff that would end up costing me more than if I'd stayed home and worked on my business instead.

I drink tap water only. I always take a 600mL bottle I keep next to me and a big 1.5L to refill. No sugary drinks. On the odd occasion I'm feeling tired I'll grab a 80c Coles Express coffee.

I usually take some bananas with me. If in doubt a long day I'll grab a Vietnamese pork roll. It's full of vegetables which is one good thing. Sure they've got a fair bit of salt, but it's better and cheaper than fast food.

I'll only occasionally get a KFC snack if I'm hungry and feel like a rest at the airport queue. Otherwise if I get something free with the Hungry Jacks app, or if pax buy me Maccas.

I did full time, 65 - 72 hours per week leading up to Christmas, and ended up losing about 4Kg, end result I just didn't eat much at all, didn't have time to eat!

Driving full time, I had no time to drink. I didn't want to risk it, when sleeping 4 or so hours per night before the next shift it's possible I could've still had traces of alcohol the next morning.

Important thing, try to find some time to go for a walk and get some exercise. Cut the booze and smokes, it's the only way to turn things around. Plus you'll have much better ratings if pax don't smell smoke on you.

Drink plenty of water when you get home. I would regularly sip water while driving, but never had enough since I didn't want to be looking for a toilet every half an hour. So I drink a fee cups as soon as I get back home and feel much better for it.

Find time for your wife. Since living with my gf, I've had to adjust also. Can't drive all day and all night. Need to find a balance, which takes time but you'll feel much better when you drive less anyway.

You can do it, it's not too late, but start now with some positive changes.

 

Wow. We're like twins!

 

Ubering is really killing me now.

They are coming for us! RE: GST

http://ridesharedriversunited.com/forum/threads/they-are-coming-for-us-re-gst.60/

 

Were you insane?