The crazy hours associated with this job are bad enough for eating habits. Sometimes breakfast is a 7 a.m. sandwich at the Fresno airport. Other times it's at 1 p.m. Dinner ranges from early evening to Denny's around midnight.

Add a Super-sized or Value meal to this schedule several times a week, and I'm looking at an unhealthy diet.

I don't want to follow the path of so many of my sportswriting brethren. Besides, I'm just 5 foot, 7 inches, so the weight can only go in one direction: sideways.

So I'm trying to drink more water (yuck) and eat as healthy as I can (try doing that with a $40 per diem).

Just when I was poised to complain about my meal budget, I discovered Fresno State's per diem of $28.

That amounts to a couple of burritos, a quarter-pounder, some fries and more junk.

"That just doesn't get it," coach Steve Cleveland said.

Sure, the Bulldogs are young guys, ranging in age from about 19 to 22 years. They can get away with consuming so many bad calories and high levels of saturated fat because they burn them off on a daily basis.

But when you learn something about the human body, how eating the right meal (protein fuels the body) helps you perform, you realize this isn't the best route. Besides, consuming 4,000 calories then burning off 2,000 isn't healthy.

This is the fourth road trip of the season, and thus far, I've had some type of fast food on every trip. Hey, it's easy to devour chicken strips and drive a rental car.

I've got to do better.