Ode to string cheese

String cheese has become a valuable tool in my struggle to completely overhaul my eating habits. If you are on a low-carb diet, and are okay with some dairy, then string cheese can be a godsend.

It's almost impossible to find any food that "qualifies" when I am out and about. There is literally nothing that McDonald's makes that I can eat, and I mean that in a good way. This is not too big a problem if I am only running a few errands. But if I am spending a large portion of the day running errands, or if I am visiting friends out of town, then I need to pack food that will be durable, filling, and easy to eat in the car (i.e. not requiring silverware and not messy). Just peel off the plastic wrap and eat. (I never peel it into actual strings. Too much bother, and I just don't care.)

String cheese to the rescue!

String cheese does not particularly need refrigeration in the short term (although it can get sad and wilty on a hot day). And better still, it comes in convenient pre-portioned packages. This is terrible from an ecological perspective. But for a dieter, pre-portioned food is critical. It helps rein in the snacking beast, and it makes it easy for you to track your intake.

And finally, string cheese is one of those very rare foods where you really can't tell the difference between the regular and low-fat versions. This says less about how good low-fat string cheese is than it does about how bad regular string cheese is. It pretty much all just tastes like incredibly bland mozzarella, regardless of the actual contents.

String cheese, with its high protein content, is a great filling and portable way to fuel a low-carb diet. I just wish it wasn't so expensive!

Image courtesy Flickr/sarmoung