"Healthy" Meat?

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eckabad
eckabad Posts: 49
in Food and Nutrition
I love meat. all kinds. (except fish... which is growing on me, but I'm still really picky about it...) beef, chicken, turkey, pork, yum! however, I feel like I'm always surprised with the amount of calories meat has in it. Does anyone know off the top of their head what is the "healthiest" meat to eat?
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  • tinad120
    tinad120 Posts: 267 Member
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    I don't there there is really any unhealthy meats- except for really fatty ones.

    I usually opt for chicken breast, no skin, lean ground beef, ground turkey as staples.

    Everything in moderation is fine.

    ETA: 8 oz of chicken breast is approx 240 calories, and that is a HEALTHY sized meal.
  • eckabad
    eckabad Posts: 49
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    Oh, And sauces. that's something else I have a hard time with. on sandwiches, everything I ate was dipped in some kind of sauce. BBQ, Ranch, some kind of grilling sauce, always a sauce. I LOVE it! any good low(er) Calorie sauce Ideas, or even subsitutes? Or even just fresh sandwhich Ideas? I eat so many salads and sanwiches I'm kinda getting burned out on the "usual"... any ideas?
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
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    Emu meat is fairly high on the healthy meat list.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    I don't there there is really any unhealthy meats- except for really fatty ones.

    I usually opt for chicken breast, no skin, lean ground beef, ground turkey as staples.

    Everything in moderation is fine.

    ETA: 8 oz of chicken breast is approx 240 calories, and that is a HEALTHY sized meal.

    There is nothing wrong with fat.

    Eating fattier cuts of meat when you have room in your macros for a higher fat content is perfectly fine.

    As far as sauces go, just start measuring them. Jack Daniel's Original BBQ Sauce is 45 cals for 2 T. That's quite a bit of sauce for not too many calories. A-1 is also pretty low cal. Sriracha sauce is only 5 cals per tsp.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    Offal is amazing for you.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    It really depends on what else you are eating and the source of you meat. In general, when it comes to land animals, the leaner the meat the better and white meat over red meat. But grass fed beef is arguably healthier than cheap non-free range, non-organic poultry. When it comes to fish, smaller fish usually have less mercury. Oily fish, which are often larger, have more healthy omega 3 fats.
  • buzzcockgirl
    buzzcockgirl Posts: 260 Member
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    I agree with above poster- boneless, skinless chicken breast is good, as is ground turkey breast (make turkey patties with chopped up bell pepper and onion in them...delicious!) I mean, they're both low in fat and cals - there is only about 30 cals per oz. of the chicken breast. 3 oz is PLENTY to add atop a salad.... Turkey pattie can be lunch- 140 cals .
    These meats are lean, but not super high in iron...so if you want iron - opt for a lean cut of beef. But I always stick to poultry. And as for sauce - you're right... most are high in sugar, cals, fat. I just season the hell out of the chicken breasts before grilling. Weber grill mates makes a wonderful garlic/red pepper shaker... I just put alot of seasoning on. 0 cals, 0 fat.
    And for salads- my absolute new fave dressing is from Trader Joes: Champagne Pear Vinaigrette w/ Gorgonzola. 2 TBS is only 45 cals and 2.5g fat !! And I hardly ever need 2 whole tbs on my big salads.

    Good luck!!
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    I love meat. all kinds. (except fish... which is growing on me, but I'm still really picky about it...) beef, chicken, turkey, pork, yum! however, I feel like I'm always surprised with the amount of calories meat has in it. Does anyone know off the top of their head what is the "healthiest" meat to eat?

    Honestly, I believe that what is healthiest is to eat a variety of different types of meats.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Oh, And sauces. that's something else I have a hard time with. on sandwiches, everything I ate was dipped in some kind of sauce. BBQ, Ranch, some kind of grilling sauce, always a sauce. I LOVE it! any good low(er) Calorie sauce Ideas, or even subsitutes? Or even just fresh sandwhich Ideas? I eat so many salads and sanwiches I'm kinda getting burned out on the "usual"... any ideas?

    I love sauces too. You could learn to make your own so you control the ingredients and sugar/calorie content. Mushroom sauce, for example, is good on .. well .. everything, and extremely low calorie. Mustard has less calories than mayo. Frank's Red Hot Buffalo sauce is a good low cal sauce for chicken sandwiches.

    Also, try experimenting with fresh herbs instead of sauce. They had a lot of flavor for virtually no calories.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Oh, And sauces. that's something else I have a hard time with. on sandwiches, everything I ate was dipped in some kind of sauce. BBQ, Ranch, some kind of grilling sauce, always a sauce. I LOVE it! any good low(er) Calorie sauce Ideas, or even subsitutes? Or even just fresh sandwhich Ideas? I eat so many salads and sanwiches I'm kinda getting burned out on the "usual"... any ideas?

    Just measure out your sauce and dip the meat in it, one bite at a time. It goes farther that way.
  • tlacox1
    tlacox1 Posts: 373 Member
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    Oh, And sauces. that's something else I have a hard time with. on sandwiches, everything I ate was dipped in some kind of sauce. BBQ, Ranch, some kind of grilling sauce, always a sauce. I LOVE it! any good low(er) Calorie sauce Ideas, or even subsitutes? Or even just fresh sandwhich Ideas? I eat so many salads and sanwiches I'm kinda getting burned out on the "usual"... any ideas?

    I use boneless chicken breast, boil it with Saltgrass 7 seasoning (the more, the spicer), shred it, and mix with light miracle whip. Three ounces of meat on two slices of whole wheat bread = 190 calories. 21 Carbs, 6 fat, 21 protein and so good!
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    I love meat. all kinds. (except fish... which is growing on me, but I'm still really picky about it...) beef, chicken, turkey, pork, yum! however, I feel like I'm always surprised with the amount of calories meat has in it. Does anyone know off the top of their head what is the "healthiest" meat to eat?

    Honestly, I believe that what is healthiest is to eat a variety of different types of meats.

    Yes. Dietary, natrual fat/satfat is good for you.
  • schondell
    schondell Posts: 556 Member
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    Look for low sodium/low calorie/lower fat versions of your favourite sauces and choose leaner meat, or try skinless chicken breast or extra lean ground turkey
  • Missjilly1025
    Missjilly1025 Posts: 146 Member
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    Oh, And sauces. that's something else I have a hard time with. on sandwiches, everything I ate was dipped in some kind of sauce. BBQ, Ranch, some kind of grilling sauce, always a sauce. I LOVE it! any good low(er) Calorie sauce Ideas, or even subsitutes? Or even just fresh sandwhich Ideas? I eat so many salads and sanwiches I'm kinda getting burned out on the "usual"... any ideas?

    I love mashed up avocado on things.
  • BritneysStuntDouble
    BritneysStuntDouble Posts: 849 Member
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    Ask a urologist.

    Rimshot.gif
  • tlacox1
    tlacox1 Posts: 373 Member
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    Oh, And sauces. that's something else I have a hard time with. on sandwiches, everything I ate was dipped in some kind of sauce. BBQ, Ranch, some kind of grilling sauce, always a sauce. I LOVE it! any good low(er) Calorie sauce Ideas, or even subsitutes? Or even just fresh sandwhich Ideas? I eat so many salads and sanwiches I'm kinda getting burned out on the "usual"... any ideas?

    I use boneless chicken breast, boil it with Saltgrass 7 seasoning (the more, the spicer), shred it, and mix with light miracle whip. Three ounces of meat on two slices of whole wheat bread = 190 calories. 21 Carbs, 6 fat, 21 protein and so good!

    Oh, and three ounces of this is actually quite a bit so you may not put that much on yours.
  • MurphysLawTD
    MurphysLawTD Posts: 310 Member
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    Oh I know!!! I'm used to eating ground turkey tacos, but my boyfriend picked up some amazing grass-fed ground beef so I made tacos out of that one night. When I logged, I was shocked to see it's was pretty much twice the calories of turkey, same amount, prepared the same way. I'm no doctor but I think increased calories from things high in protein are OK. In moderation, of course!
  • almonds1
    almonds1 Posts: 642 Member
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    Emu meat is fairly high on the healthy meat list.

    For a second I thought you said Emo .... opps
  • rmhand
    rmhand Posts: 1,067 Member
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    The less you use sauces the less you will crave them. If they fit in your macros and are worth it to you then feel free to keep them. Another option is to use herbs and spices - lots of flavor for next to no calories.

    Salsa is a good flavor full stand in for some things and its pretty low in calories.
  • RunsOnEspresso
    RunsOnEspresso Posts: 3,218 Member
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    Oh, And sauces. that's something else I have a hard time with. on sandwiches, everything I ate was dipped in some kind of sauce. BBQ, Ranch, some kind of grilling sauce, always a sauce. I LOVE it! any good low(er) Calorie sauce Ideas, or even subsitutes? Or even just fresh sandwhich Ideas? I eat so many salads and sanwiches I'm kinda getting burned out on the "usual"... any ideas?

    I love mashed up avocado on things.

    I add avocado to almost anything.

    I've found I like to add 2 tablespoons of hummus to my sandwiches instead of mustard, butter, mayo etc. It's like 70 calories and helps keep me full longer. And there are a lot of flavors so you can mix it up.

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