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[mollya]

I got a package in the mail today: a case of gluten-free organic beef jerky. It's so much beef jerky that it came with a store display

Comments

[pene]

Oh my. You and E are such fighters. I can't imagine throwing meat at someone without actually being about to leave them forever. But I love that you are so normal about it.

Also I can't stop giggling.

[mollya]

That was definitely a low point of my marital behavior and I am not proud of it, but I feel that I have to include it for honesty.

[pene]

Sorry to laugh at your low points. (Is it funny to you now?) I do appreciate the complete set of colours you use to paint your marriage.

[mollya]

Now it does seem pretty funny.

[planet30]

You threw MEAT at your wife! Ahahahaha! Now that's a good fight.

[mollya]

I am quite ashamed of that incident and I made myself include it to be complete.

[mollya]

But in hindsight it is hilarious.

[planet30]

I'm proud of you that you included it! It reminds me of what is known in my family as "the Oreo incident." In 6th grade, my mom was still packing my lunch for me. Lunchtime was a period of ridicule, when my own personal set of mean girls would attack my hair / clothes / intelligence / nerditude / and the contents of my lunch. I would come home miserable and have screaming fights with my mom about how uncool my hair / clothes / lunch were and how it was all her fault. One night she was packing my lunch and she wrapped my cookies in pink saran wrap (which was totally a thing in the eighties.) I freaked out, anticipating the abuse I would get for this latest act of uncool - colored saran wrap! The horror!

My mom totally lost it! She was so sick of me picking at her for not being glamorous enough. Oh man - she picked up the pink-wrapped cookies and shouted "You don't like it?! Fine! FINE!!!!!!!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE ANY COOKIES!" And then she threw them on the ground and stomped on them. My brother and dad were there, and there was

[drinkingstars]

Coincidentally, just before I read this, I was on Facebook and my runners club page had posted a link to some new "paleo bars." They have buffalo, beef or turkey. It seemed like something out of science fiction to me, futuristic urban runners carrying foil wrapped pressed bars of "epic animals" (actual words from their brand copy) in their pockets and pretending they're just like paleo man.

[mollya]

Have you read the book Born to Run? It's about a tribe in Mexico where they are incredible long distance runners. They say that there are two foods that make it possible for them to run, some kind of corn thing and chia seeds. That book was part of what brought on the chia seeds thing that started a few years ago. No epic animals for them. The same author is one of the big proponents of barefoot running. B liked Born to Run and used quotes from it in his Bar Mitzvah.

[r_bomber]

If you did want to look at plant based protein sources for him as well, I can recommend Robert Cheeke who is a vegan bodybuilder. I've also bed told that "Thrive" by Brendan Brazier is good for runners too. No meat athlete gave me some good tips while training for my half last year too :)

[mollya]

I did a lot of reading about vegan distance runners before I ordered this meat. I'm convinced that it's totally possible for a healthy, committed adult to be a vegan endurance athlete ... but that's not what B is. He's a teenager, which mean he's growing and needs even more nutrition than an adult. (He grew five inches in the last year.) It also means that his brain chemistry is completely out of whack and he can't remember to move his laundry from the washer to the dryer, much less keep track of a complicated eating program. And, most of all, he's not committed to being a vegan. If he doesn't want to do it, he's not going to do it right. No matter what I put in front of him, if he doesn't want to eat it, he's not going to eat it. He'll just go get French fries after school or something. So grass-fed organic beef jerky plus vegan breakfast and dinner seems like the best of what is possible.

[r_bomber]

Yeah I figured you would have been all over the research, just thought I'd throw in these guys in case you hadn't come across them and were interested :)

[mollya]

The thing that struck me about the vegan athletes was how dedicated they are. Being an athlete is already such a huge psychological commitment, and adding a vegan diet on top meant that a lot of them seemed to spend the majority of their day taking care of working out and eating. We have friends with kids who are in college now, and their dad said something years ago that I think about all the time: The reason Bar Mitzvah is at 13 is that you can get your 12 year old to do things that you would never get your 14 year old to do. I tried to imagine getting B to do all the things those dedicated vegan athletes do... and I just couldn't. Back when he was a toddler, he would just eat whatever we gave him, but in high school he has so much personal autonomy it's not possible.