Melissa “Melicious” Joulwan Takes Athlete Gruel To New Heights

Original flat-track roller derby league, Texas Rollergirls’ skater Melissa (skate name: Melicious) Joulwan has been a media darling in our sport since it’s beginnings. Melicious is part of the pioneering sorority of skaters who skated for TXRD before the world’s original league split, and went on to help form the world’s first flat track roller derby league, Texas Rollergirls.

You may remember her from a 2003 appearance on CBS’s The Early Show (modern flat-track roller derby’s first mainstream television appearance in the U.S.), ABC’s Good Morning America in 2004 in which she showed journalist Diane Sawyer how to be a rollergirl, or from the seminal roller derby documentary Hell On Wheels (I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: if you haven’t seen this film, stop what you are doing and watch it now. Seriousy - this is Derby 101, required viewing for anyone participating in our sport, and our history. Free at the link). Melicious was also the author of one of the first books ever written about modern roller derby.

Melissa Joulwan has since hung up her skates, but she remains a dedicated athlete, of a different kind. Some of us who are fans of CrossFit, or have taken up a Paleo Diet have re-discovered Joulwan’s fantastic writing in her newer food, fitness and life blog, The Clothes Make The Girl. Her generosity with her recipes and food tips has inspired thousands who are making healthy lifestyle changes, but still want to enjoy eating. No joke, using her Mayo recipe to make my own for the first time was a game changer.

If you are making healthier food choices, trying to learn to eat a vegetable sometimes, a convert to Paleo eating, or looking for new ways to spice up your Athlete Gruel, you’re in luck! Melissa Joulwan has taken her recent years of kitchen experiments and written you an excellent cookbook! Well Fed: Paleo Recipes For People Who Love To Eat is a revelation. Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s an in-depth review by the nutrition obsessed folks at Whole 9.

Want to take a closer look before buying? Here’s a free 30 page pdf sampler from the book! Thanks, Melicious, for showing us the way to tastier athlete gruel and renewed kitchen creativity for all!