Day 42 & 43-Deer meat and overdosing on gravy

Happy Sunday all!

I am combining 2 days worth of blog posts. Yesterday I took my final exam for my graduate school course. That took up most of my day and I had a retirement party to attend too so it didn’t leave me much time to post.

My friend Jerry Trew recently retired from Huntsville Police Department. Last night, friends and family threw a retirement party for him. Jerry, April, Scott, Morgan and sweet Layla are such nice people. You always feel like family when you visit. I appreciate people who are real and treat you like they have known you all your life.

They had some of the most delicious food. Barbecue, burgers, potato salad, baked beans and something I never thought I would like or want to eat-deer sausage. I have never eaten anything so good. I could have eaten the entire platter of deer sausage. I’ve had deer before and could not stand it because it had such a wild taste. If someone hadn’t told me this was deer sausage I would never have known.

Lane told me deer meat is one of the healthiest meats you can eat. Deer is very very lean and if cooked correctly tastes better than any other meat out there. He is right! So ladies, when your man hits the woods during deer season don’t get offended that he is gone all day. Keep your fingers crossed he brings home enough meat to fill up your freezer.

So after last night’s deer discover, I wanted to know the nutrition facts on this beautiful yet tasty animal (no offense to my vegetarian friends).  Here’s what I discovered.

Deer meat is a low-fat source of protein, vitamins and minerals. One serving (3 oz.) of deer meat provides over 20 percent of many essential vitamins and minerals. Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) percentages are for adults under age 50. Percentages may vary for children, teens and older adults.

One serving of deer meat contains 134 calories. Like most meats, deer meat contains no carbohydrates or fiber.

One 3 oz. serving of deer meat contains only 2.7 grams of fat, which is less than the amount contained in most cuts of pork, lamb and beef. Only 1 gram of this fat is saturated fat, while the rest is monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. One serving also contains 95 mg of cholesterol, which is 32 percent of the maximum recommended daily amount.

One serving of deer meat contains 26 grams of protein. This is over 50 percent of the DRI of protein for women and close to 50 percent of the DRI for men. This protein is composed of 17 different amino acids, including over 10 percent of the recommended daily amount of threonine, leucine and lysine.

Deer meat contains many essential minerals, with 3 oz. providing 28 percent of the DRI for copper, 27 percent for phosphorus and 20 percent for selenium. One serving also provides significantly more iron than a New York strip steak, which provides only 18 percent of the DRI for men. A 3-oz. serving of deer meat, on the other hand, provides 48 percent of the DRI of iron for men and 21 percent for women. Deer meat is considered a source of heme iron, which is an iron source that comes from an animal product. The DRI for computed with the assumption that 75 percent of the iron intake will come from heme sources such as deer meat, as the body more easily absorbs it.

Deer meat is also a rich source of some B vitamins, particularly riboflavin. One serving contains over 40 percent of the DRI for riboflavin. Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, is essential for fat and carbohydrate metabolism, oxygen utilization and cell growth. One 3-oz. serving of deer meat also contains 41 percent of the DRI of niacin for women and 37 percent for men. Niacin is used for energy metabolism. One serving provides over 10 percent of the DRI for thiamin as well.

Now you may be asking what did I eat and how much? I went to Jerry’s with a little over 900 calories. I did eat a good breakfast and I had a protein shake for lunch. I never went hungry but I figured Lane and I would eat dinner. I ate 2 deer sausage links, roughly 3 ounces of barbecue meat with a very light amount of white sauce, about 1/2 cup potato salad and unsweet tea. I don’t know how many calories and I don’t really care. The food was delicious and I had plenty of calories to spare. Thanks Trew family for such a great time. Congratulations Jerry on your retirement too!

Friday night Lane and I went out to dinner. We have a restaurant in Meridianville that we just love. I was so hungry for something other than fish and chicken. I ordered a salad and a hamburger with fries. I ate all of my salad, only 1/2 of the burger and less than 10 french fries. I’ve been on a diet so long that eating something not necessarily on my good food list just didn’t taste the same. Pre-diet it would have been no issue to eat all of that food. Present day diet, I can’t get that much down. Maybe my stomach has shrunk some??

Lane likes gravy. I mean Lane LOVES gravy. He has a gravy tooth I think 🙂 He ordered mashed potatoes with white gravy, a hamburger steak with swiss cheese, mushrooms, onions, also smothered in white gravy and a cup of gravy on the side (which he used to dip my french fries in to eat) a salad with an over abundance of ranch dressing and fried okra. I didn’t even bother to count the calories on that one. ha! Bless him for being a good sport and allowing me to post about his food choices. Lane is not really a good role model for healthy eating but I’ll give him credit…he likes baked foods and veggies. He just likes his sawmill gravy too (can’t say I blame him. yum!)

School is over for me this term. I’m skipping the next one to take a mental break. That will allow me to get some exercise in. Now that the weather is warming up I so want to go outside and play. This week my goal is to incorporate 30 minutes of something physical at least 3 times. I am hoping that moves me off my plateau and allows more weight loss. Let’s make it a goal to do this together. If you are a beginner or a novice let’s all try to do something to break a sweat and get our heart rate up.  I want toned arms with that pretty muscle tone curve in them. That is my goal this week to work on my arms and abs. What troubled area do you plan to tackle?

Hope you have a great day! If you had a bad week and didn’t eat like you should have Monday is a new day. Join me on my weight loss journey and let’s do this together!

Elizabeth