Monday, January 19, 2009

Gastrological gamble

I am a simple man.
Since I had kids, I am even easier to please.
A 3-year-old and two 20-month-old girls have forced me to give up many of the things I used to enjoy. I know I can't indulge in such hedonistic pleasures as sleeping past 6 a.m., a moment's peace when I get home from work or eating dinner sitting down.
Pleasures now come in the little things in life, like when I open one of the girl's diaper and I don't see something that looks like someone dumped a can of Hershey's syrup down her pants (unfortunately, it does not smell that way).
But now, this salmonella scare is making me question one thing I just can't sacrifice.
Peanut butter.
What do you mean peanut butter is going to make me sick? Or kill me? Or make me crap faster than flame from a rocket? I realize the jars are safe. But the jar is the puddin' in the pie. I want everything.
I stared at the Peanut Butter M&Ms, one of my favorite things in the world, in my cart Sunday as I was buying some lunch. I had just run eight miles, I sniveled to myself. I deserved them. But I kept thinking about cramping and death by potty (and all joking aside, people have died from this latest scare), and after a bit, I put them down.
So then I went over to the ice cream aisle just to look.
Ice cream just might be my biggest food vice. That or queso and chips. But I have basically given it up. It's fattening as hell, and every pound on my ass is one more minute in my races. We runners like to be lean, and I already have trouble being as lean as I can. Ingesting 850 calories in a bowl every night isn't a way to do that.
But I have been running a lot again, in preparation for two tough half marathons coming this spring, and I thought I deserved a treat, if I could something that sounded good. Hmm. Let's see.
Uh oh.
My favorite. Peanut Butter Cup. Double Churned, so it's half the calories, but you don't really notice that. Still....it's peanut butter.....
I am a poker player, so that means I am not a huge risk-taker. But I, like all poker players, do have a little gamble in me.
The bowl Sunday night was delicious. And so far, so good.

1 comment:

The NL Wife said...

I'm totally bucking the peanut butter scare thing and eating . . . think how many preservatives are in peanut butter M&Ms . . . how can they be bad.

I am giving up those peanut butter cracker things, though. Mostly because the orange crackers are a little scary.

You'll be fine . . . trust me.