Beef Jerky Diet Blog

Beer & Pizza and Lost Three Pounds

2009-06-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

Weighed in this morning at 177 pounds.

I've been trying to stay on the beef jerky diet this week, but it's been tough. Yesterday, I did that largely, but still succumbed to a cinnamon apple muffin later on in the evening. But, I did some exercise, walking about 1.5 miles, and jogging for 0.5.

My wife felt pretty good on Monday, and made me a grilled turkey and swiss sandwich. Then on Tuesday she baked a pizza. My mother-in-law also bought me a six pack of Sierra Nevada IPA for Father's Day, which I've consumed a few bottles of. I'm not a father, but that didn't stop her from celebrating.

All that being said, I still managed to lose a few pounds since last weekend. It was largely exercise that did the trick.

So it's Thursday today, and the garbage truck has emptied my garbage cans, so I can throw out more stuff from my garage, and organize things a little more. That'll give me a bit of exercise.

Why Is It Tough To Lose Weight?

2009-06-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Weighed in this morning at 178 pounds.

Over the past couple weeks from my last post, I had went back up to 180 pounds.

It's so tough to lose weight because sticking to a diet itself is boring. You can stick to it for awhile, but then your resolve wears off, and the temptation gets stronger.

Of course, it doesn't help that my wife went on a cooking spree. On many days she doesn't feel well due to her kidney failure and dialysis treatments. But the past couple weeks she's felt better, and on several of those days she started cooking. Cooking is what she loves to do.

So, she's been cooking me lunches and dinners. I can't complain, because I want her to feel well, and I want her to enjoy what strength she can muster. And it makes her feel good to know that I enjoyed her cooking.

So what's a dieter to do?

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon mowing the lawn, and reorganizing my garage. I threw out a bunch of stuff. I have more to throw out, but my trash cans are full. Believe it or not, I can't wait for Thursday, because that's when the trash gets picked up, and I can clean more stuff out of the garage.

And that's what I need to do to counter the temptations to eat, more exercise, more work. Gotta keep burning the calories.

How to Lose 7 Pounds in 5 Days

2009-06-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

Weighed in this morning at 173 pounds.

That's a 7 pound loss since last Monday.

Yesterday I stayed on the beef jerky diet, eating 8 ounces of jerky over the day, with 4 cans of Diet Coke. I also had what amounted to about 3 cans of water, when you factor in the ice in my cup. Well ok, in the evening I also had 3 baby pickles, but those 3 pickles still measured out to 0 fat, and 0 carbs, based on the nutrition label.

So how did I lose 7 pounds over 5 days?

Four of those days were on the beef jerky diet, which is what I described above, limiting myself to 8 ounces of jerky, spread out over the day, and supplementing that with low-fat, low-carb drinks, in this case Diet Coke. But on a few of those days I also had a couple cans of vegetable juice. Among juices, vegetable juice is fairly low-carb. And I happen to like vegetable juice anyways, I get low sodium V8.

One of those days, Thursday, was spent off the diet. I ate whatever I would normally eat. In this case, it was 1 1/2 plate fulls of ravioli my wife made, along with four slices of garlic bread. I also drank down a half-gallon of V8 Fusion, which is higher carb. And I had one beer.

I also exercised each day. In my case, it was walking for 2 miles every day. Yesterday, I managed to jog for about 1/2 mile along the way. I also did some yard work on Thursday.

Soaking in a hot bath helps a little. The higher temperatures gets the heart rate pumping faster, and that burns a little more calories. It also makes you sweat, which helps remove the water and sodium in your body, which is particular because eating lots of jerky equates to a lot of sodium, causing water retention.

Getting rid of boredom. When I'm bored, I tend to think about food. So I tried to keep myself focused on other things at all times.

Finally determination is a big factor, probably the biggest. Any diet will help you lose weight, but it's the determination that ultimately spells success. For me, I kept sight of my goal, anytime I felt tempted to cheat. I weighed myself every morning to keep track of my progress. I used this blog to help focus my mind.

Spreading the jerky around all day is important. First, to eat a couple of pieces in the morning is key towards jump starting your metabolism. Then eating a little bit each hour helps keep something in your belly which keeps the metabolism going all day, and staves off the hunger pains. And then, keeping yourself busy throughout the day helps take your mind off of eating.

Well, that was just one week.

Today being Saturday, I'm taking myself off the diet, jumping on the motorcycle and going riding. Probably eat a burger and grab a few beers. I'll no doubt gain a couple pounds doing this. Sunday is another off day. Hopefully by Monday, I will have only gained 3-4 pounds. That would still net me a 3-4 pound loss.

If I can sustain that pattern over a month, I should be able to effect a 10 pound loss.

Ravioli Thursday

2009-06-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

Weighed in this morning at 175 pounds.

Yesterday, I had planned to be off the beef jerky diet, and just have some left over lasagne. But the wife decided to make some raviolis and garlic bread for lunch. So I ended up having 1 1/2 plate fulls, and four slices of garlic bread.

To drink, I had a half gallon of V8 Fusion, 1 can of Diet Coke, and 1 bottle of beer.

I also did some exercise, walking 2 miles, and pulling weeds in my front yard.

In the end, I didn't lose any weight from the previous day, but at least I was able to stuff myself with a homemade meal, drink a beer, and not gain anything.

Today, I'm back on the beef jerky diet.

Lost Three Pounds in One Day

2009-06-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

Weighed in this morning at 175 pounds, minus three from yesterday.

Stuck to the beef jerky diet yesterday, 8 ounces of jerky, 2 cans of vegetable juice, 4 cans of Diet Coke.

I also did a 2 mile walk yesterday. I think that really helped.

Last December, I wrote that I needed a smaller leather jacket for motorcycle riding, and that I didn't have the money to do so. Well, around last February I bought a smaller one. At the time, I weighed in around 168 pounds, and it fit perfect. It came down to my belt, and felt almost like a fitted shirt.

So then I crept up 180 pounds and it felt tight. That's helped give me another kick in the pants to get back on track with this weight loss program.

Sticking to the Diet

2009-06-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

Weighed in this morning at 178 pounds.

Stuck to the beef jerky diet yesterday. 8 ounces of jerky all day, 2 cans of vegetable juice, and 3 cans of Diet Coke.

The urge to indulge is tough to beat. The wife went grocery shopping yesterday, and brought home plenty of goodies, mostly bakery stuff, like cookies, cinnamon muffins, and corn bread. It was best for me to stay out of the kitchen.

In past months, I had said I was on the beef jerky diet 4 days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Meanwhile, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday I'd eat normal food.

Well, on Thursdays I'd go out with my friends on our motorcycles and do some riding. We'd usually hit up a restaurant somewhere and eat burgers, or ribs, or pizza.

But for now, Thursday I'm staying home, for financial reasons.

So as far as my beef jerky diet is concerned, I could possibly spend 5 days on the diet, and two days off. But for now, I'll play it by ear and see how my weight loss is progressing.

There's some yummy homemade lasagna in the fridge that my wife made last week. I need to eat it before it gets furry.

A Good Start So Far

2009-06-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

Weighed in this morning at 178 pounds, down two from yesterday.

Yesterday, I tried to stick to the beef jerky diet, and for the most part I did. However, I ended up falling for a large caramel apple cider at Starbucks. Otherwise, it was just 8 ounces of jerky and a few cans of Diet Coke.

Actually, it's now Caffeine Free Diet Coke. I decided that the lack of sleep I've been experiencing is due to all the caffeine. And so far it's working, I got a full night's sleep last night.

The bigger challenge is to keep myself from getting bored. While I always things to do in my business, after awhile I need a break. It's those break times when my mind tends to think about food. So, I'm thinking about creating a "to do" list that I stick to my computer monitor. It will present things I can do to keep my mind off of eating, like going for a walk, yard work, cleaning my motorcycle, soaking in the tub, etc.

How to Stick to a Diet?

2009-06-08T19:03:00.000-07:00

This morning I weighed in at 180 pounds.

But over the weekend, I ate and drank like the capitalist pig that I am. Motorcycle riding on Saturday with some buddies, we hit up La Terraza Casuelas in Palm Springs, for the usual assortment of chips, salsa, guacamole, and nachos, along with a couple of margaritas. Then headed up to Idyllwild for a beer at El Diablo Bar.

Getting home, I was about to take the wife out to eat, when I got a call from a friend inviting us over to his house for dinner. So, we had carne asada tacos, and I drank down four bottles of beer.

I weighed in at 184 pounds Sunday morning.

Sticking to a diet is indeed tough!

So today, Monday, June 8, 2009, I'm attempting to refocus on this beef jerky diet for another push towards my ultimate goal of 150 pounds.

So how do you stick to a diet?

That's actually one of the reasons for resurrecting this blog. I found that if I build up an audience, and that audience posts comments back to me, I tend to stay true to myself. That is, it's like having a support group cheering me on. So, I need you folks to post comments, letting me know you're reading this stuff.

Back After a Long Hiatus

2009-06-05T21:57:00.001-07:00

I'm back after about 5 1/2 months from my last post.

I don't know what to tell you, I just dropped the ball keeping this blog up to date.

My weight has been up and down the past several months. I got down to 167 pounds at one point, and then went up to my current weight of 180 pounds.

My exercising has really fallen short. And I've slipped into a bad habit of drinking a lot of beer.

Even worse, I resurrected my Junk Food Blog; that won't help.

Beer has really become a favorite food of mine. I've developed a love for really good, microbrews. Just a few miles away, they opened a BevMo!. BevMo! is a warehouse-style liquor store chain with outlets across California and Arizona. They have a large selection of microbrews.

I just can't keep myself out of there.

I'm still eating lots of jerky. You can still keep up to date with what I'm eating at Best Beef Jerky.

In fact, I started selling banner ads directly to manufacturers this past week. So far, I'm getting a lot of positive interest. Based on the interest it looks like I could make a lot of money selling banner ads, but I just don't have enough page views to satisfy that demand.

I need to get more page views.

Hence a big reason why I've resurrected this blog. I'm hoping by keeping it active, it'll help pump some page rank value into my beef jerky review blog, and get it higher listings on Google.

We'll see.

Can You Get Mad Cow Disease From Beef Jerky?

2009-01-19T10:51:00.000-08:00

Here's the question of the day (that I found in my log files)...

"Can I get mad cow disease from eating beef jerky?"

The answer is "yes". But only from an animal infected with mad cow disease. And, cooking the meat won't help. Not even if you burn it to a crisp.

Blowing My Diet

2009-01-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 175 pounds. Up about 6 pounds from the last report which was Wednesday.

Pretty much from Wednesday evening through Sunday evening, I spent off the diet. I just pretty much ate whatever sounded good. Burgers, beer, mac & cheese, chocolates, screwdrivers, pizza. It was all fun.

Today I'm sticking to the diet, and planning to do so tomorrow and wednesday. My goal is to lose that 6 pounds.

My goal for this month is still to slim down to 165 pounds.

The Weather Out Here

2009-01-14T06:44:00.000-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 169 pounds, down three pounds from last Sunday.

Been on the jerky diet Monday and Tuesday, and even did a couple miles of walking yesterday.

It's been rather warm here in Southern California for a January, and I've been reading that in the upper mid-west, it's been super cold. Our warmer temps are due to a Santa Ana wind condition here. But that's supposed to cease later today, and start cooling back down by this weekend.

So I've been taking advantage of the warmer temps and doing some motorcycle riding, and hanging out with my friends. But the 10-day forecast is calling for clouds and even rain, and looks like we're headed for more staying-home weather. That's usually good for the diet.

Eating and Eating and Eating

2009-01-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 172 pounds. Up three pounds from last Wednesday's report.

Since then, I went as high as 174 pounds. I did spend Monday through Wednesday on the beef jerky diet, though I did do a little snacking on some fresh veggies.

But Thursday was my normal non-diet day, and I spent it riding my friends to Callahan's Pub & Brewery in Mira Mesa. I had the avocado salad and a 22oz beer. Then I had coffee and beer at another pub later on, and finally snacked on some appetizers at a Mexican restaurant that evening.

Friday, my wife wanted to get some lunch at Sizzlers, so I had the salad bar. That evening I had a pint of mango sorbet.

Saturday, jumped on the motorcycle again with some friends, and porked out on some ribs and tri-tip. Then I had a couple of beers at Back Street Brewery in Ladera Ranch. That was that for the night.

Today, I'm heading over to Rodrigo's in Temecula to watch the Charger game. I'll be drinking down margaritas, and eating chips & salsa, and who knows what.

What to do With the Beef Sticks

2009-01-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 169 pounds, no change from yesterday.

Yesterday, I had about 6 ounces of jerky, and 4 cans of Diet Coke. Later in the evening I got the munchies pretty bad, and I ended up eating some leftover grape-tomatoes and some baby carrots that I found in the fridge, about a couple handfuls.

No exercise either.

I've talked about the beef sticks that I've received from some jerky manufacturers, and wondered if I should include their reviews on my beef jerky blog, or if I should launch a new blog just for beef sticks.

Well, I've been thinking about that question, and I'm going to move forward on created a new blog for beef sticks. I won't be publishing new reviews as frequently as I do with jerky, rather this new blog will exist purely as a placeholder for all the sausage-style snacks that I end up with.

So, I'll be working on building that, and I'll announce it later.

Down in the 160s

2009-01-06T12:34:00.001-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 169 pounds, down one from yesterday.

Yesterday, I did 8 ounces of jerky, and 4 cans of Diet Coke.

No exercise yesterday.

Apple Pie and Old Beer

2009-01-05T09:54:00.001-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 170 pounds, down two from yesterday.

I think that weight loss, however, is from the diarrhea that started late last night. I had the last two slices of my wife's apple-cherry pie. This was not the same pie that I had been writing about earlier in December, but a second one that she baked around Christmas Eve.

I washed that pie down with a bottle of Michelob Amber Bock that had been sitting in the fridge for about 9 months. It didn't quite taste the way it's supposed to taste, this one had an aftertaste like rubbing alcohol.

So I think the combination of that heavy sweet pie, and this old beer, did a bad, bad thing to my innards.

Otherwise, that same day I had eaten some more leftover ham, and some leftover stuffing. I thought for certain that as much food I ate that day I would gain a pound or two. But instead, losing two pounds was probably due to getting the runs.

I'm going to shoot for today, tomorrow, and Wednesday as being beef jerky diet days, and see if maybe I can trim myself down to around 165 by Thursday's weigh in.

Dieting on Leftovers

2009-01-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 172 pounds.

Since my last report on Thursday, I've been going up and down between 174 and 172. That Thursday, I said I was going motorcycle riding, and I did, and I did indeed have a chef salad like I wanted. I needed to get some veggies into me after several days of just red meat.

The following Friday, I also went motorcycle riding again, and stopped in this little town called Pine Valley, in eastern San Diego County. I had a denver omelette, potatoes, english muffin, and two cups of coffee. Later that day I had a hot mocha at Starbucks. That night I ate up some leftovers from Christmas, ham, rolls, and macaroni cheese.

That takes me to Saturday, where I ate up some more leftovers. More ham again, the rest of the scalloped potatoes, and more rolls. But yesterday, that was all I ate, and I think it was enough to get me back down to 172.

So today, I'm staying home again, and working on some more leftovers. There's still ham left, some turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, some little smokies, some of the veggie tray, still lots that I need to gobble down before it goes bad.

Lost 7 Pounds for December

2009-01-01T08:02:00.001-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 172 pounds, down two more from yesterday.

Yesterday, I had 5 ounces of jerky, 2 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, and 2 more around dinner time. Then I had four cans of Diet Coke spread around there. It was enough to keep from feeling hungry most of the day.

I also took the dogs for another 2 mile walk.

Well good news, I hit my weight loss goal for the month. I started December at 179 pounds, and ended it at 172. I had actually taken myself down to 170 in the middle of the month, but all the Christmas feasting took me back up to 178. I only had a few days after that to get myself down to 172.

Limiting myself to just beef jerky on these diet days certainly is not a nutritious way to diet, but it definitely produces results. Today is my non-diet day. Going motorcycle riding again with some friends. We're supposed to lunch at this burger joint, but I'm going make an effort to get some salad in me.

So now for January, I'm setting my weight loss goal to 165 pounds.

Lost 100 Pounds Snacking on Jerky

2008-12-31T10:04:00.001-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 174 pounds, down two more from yesterday.

Yesterday, the diet consisted of 7 ounces of jerky, four cans of Diet Coke, and one Bud Light. I also walked the dogs for two miles.

I read this article yesterday about an ob/gyn physician who found herself overweight mostly due to snacking on cupcakes she buys from a vending machine. Her work was so busy and so stressful, that she became obese. But since then, at age 60, she retired and found her life more relaxing. She lost 100 pounds, snacking on better food.

And what's that better food? Apparently peanuts and jerky...

She smiled because she didn't crave the cupcakes anymore. When she snacks, she has peanuts or beef jerky.

Then she noticed packages of peanuts and beef jerky in that very machine, where they'd always been.

I had to share this because I've lost a lot of weight snacking on jerky also.

Calculating My Proper Body Weight

2008-12-30T15:50:00.000-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 176 pounds, down two from yesterday.

Yesterday I had about 6 ounces of jerky, 3 cans of Diet Coke, and two bottles of Bud Light. That was it.

I also walked the dogs for 1 mile.

I've been rethinking my weight loss goal of 160 pounds. In talking to some other people who are around the same height as me, and in checking out the many weight calculators online, it seems my proper weight should be about 150 pounds instead.

For my height of 5'8", my weight should vary between 140 to 160 pounds, depending on how much muscle mass I have, and how stocky of a body I have. Since I don't have much muscle mass, and I'm of average build, I'm thinking I should be about 150.

But I think I'll do is get myself down to 160 pounds and reassess things and then decide if I really want to shoot for 150.

Christmas Can Kill a Diet

2008-12-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 178 pounds. That's up about 7 pounds from my last report.

Christmas can really kill a diet.

Christmas day we enjoyed a big feast centered around a baked ham. The day after Christmas, I hooked up with a buddy, and rode our motorcycles to Oceanside for some pizza and beer. The following day, we had another big feast, centered around a roasted turkey, with our niece and her two kids. Then yesterday, we had some friends visiting, which called for another feast, but this time eating up the leftovers.

Four days of belly stuffing.

I started this month at 179 pounds. My goal is to finish it at 172. I had actually gotten down to 170 at the mid-point of the month, but gained most of that back. So now, I've got three days left in this month to trim off 7 pounds. It can be done, but really tough.

I haven't published many jerky reviews because of all the feasting we've been doing, plus the fact that I had been fighting the flu bug too. I hope to get things back on track now.

Tongue Sores Are From a Cold

2008-12-24T18:09:00.001-08:00

It's funny, I noticed a vegan blogger write about this beef jerky diet blog of mine, seemingly worried that I'm not eating a nutritious diet.

Well, who on this Earth eats a 100% nutritious diet 365 days a year anyways?

But the blogger goes on to suggest that the tongue sores I got recently were from eating too much beef jerky. They were actually from a cold virus I had been fighting the past week.

The blogger said that they read my whole blog, but apparently didn't read the most recent entries.

Buffalo Wild Wings and Chili

2008-12-23T13:24:00.000-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 171 pounds, up one pound from my last report Sunday.

Sunday I prepared a can of chili, with some salsa, cheese, and Cholula sauce added, and then used it as a dip for some tortilla chips. I also had a couple lemon bars that my wife made. Later that evening I ate some more baby carrots left over from Thanksgiving.

Monday I felt good enough to jump on my motorcycle to meet a buddy of mine. We took a short ride to a Buffalo Wild Wings in Murrieta. I gobbled down 12 wings with my favorite sauce "Asian Zing". I had two beers and a bloody mary. I also helped my friend eat down his plate of loaded nachos.

Today I'm sticking to the beef jerky diet.

Tongue Sores and Beef Jerky

2008-12-21T06:47:00.000-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 170 pounds, no change from yesterday.

Actually, I drank a bottle of water about a hour before weighing myself, so I'm guessing I was actually around 169.

Still getting over my cold. Felt better yesterday, but was just tired and weak. I had a bag of Bridgford teriyaki jerky laying around, a 3.65 oz bag, and ate the contents. That was all I ate, aside from a quart of apple juice, and some water. I ended with the runs later on that night; I'm not sure if it was the jerky, the apple juice, or just the effects of the cold virus.

This morning, I feel a lot better. I still have some residual coughing, and those damn tongue sores. Those sores seem to increase the misery factor by two times. They made eating jerky rather painful, I think it's because jerky requires a lot of chewing. It also leaves a lot of meat fragments in my mouth, requiring the use of my tongue to clean them all out. I ought to get back into writing more jerky reviews, but I think I'll wait a couple more days.

Getting Over the Flu

2008-12-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

Weighed in this morning at 170, down one from yesterday.

Was sick all day yesterday, and didn't eat a thing. I did, however, drink down two quarts of orange juice, and a quart of apple juice. Otherwise, my appetite just wasn't there.

Still kinda tired and weak, but the body is starting to feel better. My throat is still sore, I still have coughing attacks, but I don't seem to have the runny nose and watery eyes now. Need to get some food in me.

I still have lots of jerky here to eat, so I'm thinking of getting back into the swing of writing reviews. But right now, I'm still tired. And I just don't have the appetite for jerky right now. I want something hot. I keep thinking "breakfast burrito", and then going back to bed.