Good Beef Jerky (not a food question)

well, sort of a food question, but more of a nutritional one. does any one know of a good beef jerky that isn't sweetened? I would like something tought (so it takes a while to eat) and with no added sugar, I went to the store the other day (three stores including a natural foods store) and all of the beef jerky brands had sugar as the third ingredient, with 80 calories per serving and 13-15 grams of protein vs 5 grams of carbs, 3 of those being sugar. I've got to loose some weight and I cannot eat eggs (when I eat eggs straight it gives me horrible gas, like no one wants to stand near me gas) and I eat at a caffeteria so its really hard to have good controll over my diet.

Thanks.

I'm not a jerky guy but I think the only kind you'll find that meet your needs are either from a health food store or from your own kitchen and dehydrator. Luckily, dehydrators are cheap; you can probably find a Ronco on eBay or in a thrift for $10.

How about snacking on almonds? Not too many but they are a great snack; add a cheese string or a protein shake as well.

If I start to snack on something that I can get through easily like nuts I will eat about 4 pounds a day. I bought a pound of pistacios and a pound of pecans two days ago at 10 PM, I shared some with my residents (I'm an RA) but I was done with them by midnight, I probably ate 2/3rds of them.

Wow yea, so you need to slow down on the eating altogether. It is easy to binge on nuts and they are very calorie dense. Unfortunately there aren't too many things you can eat unlimited quantities of -- broccoli, celery, lettuce, etc.

Does anything make you feel full? The common wisdom says to eat fat to make you feel fuller but that doesn't seem to work. Ever tried an appetite suppressant like ephedrine? You still need willpower though -- clean out all crap from your pantry and fridge, stop drinking altogether, and learn to order healthy when going out.

Self control is the thing with any diet. Keep anything out of sight and just keep busy, it'll keep your mind off snacking. If it's just something to chew on you can always get a pack of gum.

Cottage cheese + berries is always a good snack, I actually do that as breakfast, along with some natural peanut butter on whole grain bread. Drink lots of water with anything that you eat.

The problem is that my caloric intake rises to meet my output, I think I eat around 4000 calories a day, thats what I was at last time I totaled up, but I'm very active, I have lived at the top of a 700 foot tall Mesa for the last two years and I've probably walked up it 1000 times, I'm sitting at about 195 and I'm 5'11" or so, no one believes that I weight 195 because I carry most of my weight in my legs, which have been shrinking since I stopped riding my bike.

I do drink lots of water, like a gallon a day, and I never have any food in my room for more than two days, cupboards are bare, fridge is empty (because it smells aweful because I let some fish food thaw that I shouldn't have) The problem is that I'm up 18-19 hours a day and I've got access to vending machines, and if I don't then I walk down the hill to the super market. I really love celery and cucumbers, but I feel ill before I'm full if I eat them, then I'm hungry on an upset stomach.

I'm 21 but I don't drink much alcohol, and I waited till I was 21 to start drinking.

Make sure you're not eating a lot of simple sugars and starchy vegetables. Cleaning up the diet will help a lot (I don't know what you eat so you could be eating fantastically healthy.....but 4000 calories is A LOT if you're eating clean). Eat snacks that are a good combination of fat, carbs and protein - if you want to try going ketogenic (you can decide for yourself from other sources the thoughts behind it, let's not turn this statement into a debate please as I'm sure we personally have done enough study on it) cut out the carbs. Contrary to what was spread around for a while fat isn't bad for you if you're eating good ones.

But again, you have to have the willpower to not eat and control yourself. Once you get used to not eating all the time your body will adapt to that. You just have to force it in a comfortable zone of calorie deficit so it doesn't over react and start to store fat.

>>I'm sitting at about 195 and I'm 5'11"
>>I've got to loose some weight

Why?

You say you don't look that heavy so you are probaby have decent muscle density. So what is the issue?

Just because sugar is the third ingrediant doesn't mean there's alot of sugar in there. 3g of sugar for 15g of quick, quality, low-fat protein is a decent trade off. For better results, eat salmon jerky.

make your own beef jerky... it is 100x better than storebought junk. Humidifier, worshishier (whatever) sauce, soy sauce, pepper, salt, spices.... plus whatever else you want to put in it... there are lterally hundreds of recipes on the internet.

It is a pretty painless process. Slice meat, shake meat with all ingredants in some tupperware, put in humidifier, forget abut it for 24 hours.

I ate a serving (???) of lasagna today for lunch, alon with half a plate of broccoli, and then a salad plate of olives, garbanzo beans, and mushrooms (least starchy things outside of lettuce and eggs at the salad bar)

Hoff- My knees hurt, and I could be better looking with my shirt off, I'd really like to have a 6 pack again.

Ken- thats 3 grams that I don't need, also the beef issue is because its tough, salmon jerky is not (I grew up on salmon, I'm from Alaska) I'm really after some shoe leather.

Kakemono- Is there a cut of beef you would recommend?

One of the problems I have is that I moved from an apartment to a tiny dorm room, I've barely got room for my three fishtanks, let alone kitchen appliances.

Originally Posted by Opcn

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Hoff- My knees hurt, and I could be better looking with my shirt off, I'd really like to have a 6 pack again.
Yea I kinda thought that might be it. Ever heard the saying "abs are made in the kitchen"? If you don't naturally tend to have the genetics and metabolism to have visible abdominals, then like most of us, you have to really work at it... which includes controlling each meal content and the timing. It sounds like you have don't the ability to do that living in a dorm unless you can drastically change your shopping and eating habits. Getting decent snacks like beef jerky is a good start but if you want to get serious you need to start calorie and macronutrient counting and packing your own meals if you can't find what you need out.

Yeah my biggest problem is that I can't make a good meal, free board is the primary mode by which I am payed.

Originally Posted by Opcn

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I have lived at the top of a 700 foot tall Mesa for the last two years and I've probably walked up it 1000 times
Out of sheer curiosity, where do you go to school?

To be honest, there's not too many out there that are going to be what you're looking for.

The only jerky I've seen with low sugar and low (relatively) salt is homemade deer jerky. You have NEVER tasted a more delicious jerky than this, and it's healthy too! I have a close redneck friend of the family that hunts off his land all year and keeps a huge chest of nothing but packaged jerky, and I swear I'm in heaven everytime I go over there...