On venison.

One of my clients is an avid hunter, and he recently sent me home with a bowl of venison chili.

My dad is a hunter, too. Although I suspect he's in it more for the sport, not exactly the meat.

Perhaps I should have warned you before sharing that picture. There's something quite sad about it, and also disgusting. But I'm proud of my pops for snagging that 7-pointer. However it won't convince me that venison is all that. Despite the hunting, we never really grew up eating venison. It always got turned into jerky and summer sausage, which I'm not too big a fan of in beef form anyway. This always surprises people, my lack of interest in venison. They say it's a healthy meat, and I'm all about eating healthy, but still. Venison is Bambi and I'm not sure I'll ever get over the sadness of that one scene (don't make me describe it). But really, it goes beyond the movie. Venison is an unknown in the sense that it isn't a traditional meat. (And by "traditional," I mean that you don't typically see it on a menu and you have to look a little harder for it at the store.) And I think that's what gets me.

I won't dive into the ethics of it all because my blog isn't a platform for that, but I will share with you what I've come to learn about venison. Nutritionally speaking, of course.

When you're living the fit life, it's very important that you understand every aspect of your meal. It's all about consuming to live, because when we live to consume, we end up eating things that aren't good for us. So let's understand venison: compared to beef, it's true what they say. Venison is lower in fat. Especially the saturated kind, which is the kind you definitely want to avoid. Three ounces of cooked venison offers up about three grams of fat, only one of which is saturated. Beef...15 grams of fat, six of which is saturated. When it comes to protein, it's a wash. Both offer just about the same amount, but the fact that venison contains a smaller amount of fat makes it the wiser choice. (Source) If you still want to know where the beef is (chuckle), just make sure you pick lean cuts when you find it. The leaner the cut, the less the fat. I mean, if you're trying to lose fat—does it really make sense to eat it?

Whether or not you eat venison (or meat, for that matter), it all boils down to one thing: protein. Any good diet needs an accurate amount to sustain the growth and repair of our tissue within. Make sure you're getting enough of it so that all your hard work isn't for nuthin'! Reference the following chart, which comes to you from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(Don't forget to check in tomorrow—I'll announce the winner of the YouBars giveaway!)

Question: Do you like venison? Are you getting enough protein? What foods do you turn to in order to be so sure?