(an interview with Keto KickStart founder, Justin Lewis)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve probably heard about Keto. Keto is getting a lot of press right now and for good reason. Keto is a fantastic way to lose fat, feel great, and eat delicious food. People tend to like it when you put that combo together.

Here at Wicked Cutz we’ve been getting tons of questions asking if you can eat our jerky on keto, how to incorporate jerky, and which flavors are best. That’s why we sat down with Justin Lewis, he’s the founder of the Keto KickStart by ProCore Fitness and a top Sports Performance Coach who’s worked with everyone from NFL Wide Receiver Dez Bryant to Former UFC Bantam Weight Champion Cody “No Love” Garbrandt, just to name a few.

WC: Justin, thanks for sitting down with us. We’ll cut right to the chase, can you eat Jerky while doing a keto diet?

JL: (laughs) You do cut to the chase! Yes, you absolutely can. But you have to be careful. Most jerky is loaded with sneaky sugar and carbs.

WC: That’s what we were hoping to hear! Real quick, would you mind just breaking down what keto is for our followers who may not have researched it yet?

JL: Yeah, basically it’s a very high fat (70%+), moderate protein, low-carb diet that biases your body toward using fat for fuel instead of blood sugar. Because you’re running on fat you’re much more likely to burn off body fat while maintaining muscle. It’s awesome.

WC: Who is Keto good for?

JL: It’s great for anyone who wants to lose weight and feel great, from a sports performance standpoint it’s great for endurance athletes, plus quite a few of my jiu jitsu guys really like it.

WC: So how does jerky fit in to a ketogenic diet?

JL: Jerky can fit in well depending on the sugar and carbohydrate content. You’ve have to be careful because most the jerky out there sneaks in a bunch of sugar and other junk. One of the struggles for people doing keto is having good snack options. I have all our clients eating your jerky for a quick and delicious snack.

WC: That’s good to hear! If someone is doing keto and they want to eat our jerky what flavors do you recommend?

JL: Technically the two best choices you have are the Original Peppered and Korean Style BBQ. They only have 1g of sugar and 3g carbohydrate. But that’s if you’re being really strict.

WC: And what if you’re not being “really strict”?

JL: Yeah that’s a good question. People get too wrapped up around being perfect and you do have some room for “indulgence.” The BBQ Mesquite and Volcanic Jalapeno are good options as well. They only

have 2g sugar and 3g carbohydrate, so you’d be fine with those. If you’re not going over about 5g of carbs per meal you’ll be good.

WC: So Wicked Cutz is Keto approved?

JL: Absolutely, I’m all about it. It meets our nutritional standards plus it’s delicious, so it’s been a huge win for our clients.