Getting off the tools? Be careful

Twisties chips, crisps, getting off the tools

Why you ask?

Food. Food will likely become your biggest necessary evil.

While on the tools, there is nothing better for smoko (lunch) than a big greasy hamburger, a side of chips and a soft drink. As we eat, we all sit around joking about how we will get fat if we keep eating this way. Who cares, we work hard, sweat our butts off, we will be fine.

Famous last words those ones. Those words did come back to haunt me. The first time I got off the tools, I had six employees.  I don’t think more than a few months had passed before my lovely brothers pointed out how much my waistline had grown.

It happens to just about everyone

Which raises an interesting point, talk to most people that have moved on from the tools into a hands-off role, there is a similar theme. Speaking with Tim a carpenter who worked his way to being a construction manager, said that he had put on a few kilos as well. He said that he had to sort out his eating habits and jokes with the guys on site about where he has found himself.

Food on a table

The crazy thing, we joke about putting on the extra weight if we keep eating the way we do while on the tools. But it still catches a lot of us out.

Damien, a formwork carpenter, turned project manager who was a competitive powerlifter, had a few lessons in store for himself. “I couldn’t eat nearly as much junk, or the quantities and I had to make a conscious effort to drink enough.”

Talking with Nathan from Citi Industries, he was one of the lucky ones that managed to go the other way and turn to a healthier way of eating.

Just remember that if you are looking to get off the tools and move over to a less physically demanding role, beware of your eating habits. Which is easier said than done, ask anyone that has made the jump.

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