Is learning how to use a firearm safely and effectively a difficult endeavor?  No, not at all!  But you do have to concentrate on the fundamentals in order to get them right.

The vast majority of my students lived through a terrifying ordeal, and they seek me out in order to develop the skills needed to keep history from repeating.  They are dedicated to the process, even driven, but their mind keeps wandering.  Bad memories keep popping up when they should be concentrating on getting the gun handling down.

(Picture source.)

My job as a firearms instructor is to impart the knowledge they need, which means that I have to make an effort to break my students free from their funk.

I do this in various ways.  Crack jokes, show enthusiasm and energy during the lessons, and mix things up so there is always something different being presented so the student has to think on their feet.

One of the simplest ways to keep them relaxed and concentrating, however, is to have a bowl of snacks within reach.  Not only is food comforting, and so will help them put bad memories on the back burner, but it also provides a bit of sensory stimulus to keep the mind focused.

My upcoming pair of students are a husband and wife team.  I found out while talking to them that she lives with a genetic condition which prevents her body from processing protein efficiently.  Intake too much and bad things start to happen.

She pointed out that various vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower, as well as most leafy vegetables such as lettuce, make up the bulk of her diet.  It probably wouldn’t be too thrilling to show up with a bowl of raw cauliflower if she eats it every day.

The problem is that the vast majority of snack foods are packed with protein.  It is, in fact, a major selling point.  You might be munching away on high calorie nibblements in order to stave off boredom, but the manufacturers want you to know that not all of those calories are empty.  You are building muscle at the same time!

So ferreting out low- or non-protein snacks has proven to be an impossible task.

Of course, I don’t have to show up with snacks.  It is not one of my core responsibilities, after all.  But this is something of a challenge, and all of my regular readers know what happens when I’m presented with a challenge.  The problem is that I am not having a lot of luck meeting this one.

So I decided to do what I always do when faced with a stumper: Ask my loyal and wicked smart readers for suggestions!  You’ve never let me down yet, and I’m sure there are a few nuggets of info you are privy to that have escaped me.

My upcoming student and her husband will undoubtedly be reading this, and she mentioned that she started a few support groups online in order to help others who have to live with the condition.  I have little doubt that she is pretty well informed already.  But one never knows.

So, any ideas?