Diet? Nutrition? Featured on The Athlete's Plate!

I'm #5 in front.  Coach Belt is off on the right
he was also the school's x-country coach
and always tried to get me to run on the team.
It was during soccer so not going to happen. Plus
I always complained about running in high school.
10 years later my dad saw him in town and told him
I was running a marathon in a few weeks.  My dad
said he almost fell over.  HA!  I would have
liked to see that.  Coach Belt was awesome.

I've always been "a jock" and loved sports and such.   In high school my favorite sport was basketball.  I have great friends and fond memories of ruling the halls of Orem High school, flipping a coin to decide if we would make it to class or if we should "rebel" and hit the local gas station for a giant sized Mountain Dew instead.  Often if the results weren't in our favor it would turn into one of those coin tosses where you say "two out of three", "three out of five" and on and on until you get the desired result.  We'd jump into the old beater car and we were off.  44oz Mountain Dew and maybe a bag of cheetos for lunch, sounds good to me.  After the last school bell rang around 3:30 pm it was off to the designated practice depending on what season it was (Soccer, basketball or softball).  Several hours of running, jumping, shooting, kicking and hitting later it was home for quick shower, an attempt of homework, scarf down whatever mom had saved from dinner for you and off to pass out on the bed.  The next morning, wake up usually at the last possible second so you didn't have any time for  breakfast and repeat the previous days activities.  In my four years of High school I did not eat in the school cafeteria 1 time, zero, zilch, nada.

Mmmmm, Mt. Dew.
Lunch of champions.

 Despite my frequent "coin tosses" and class ditching in high school  I managed to pull decent grades and it was off to college.  My college days were busy like most college students I suppose.  18 credit hours of classes per semester while working part time and trying to date as many players from the football and baseball teams as humanely possible. This did not leave a lot of time for "cooking".  Most days would involve me grabbing a bagel and my book bag and I was out the door not likely to return until late that evening where I again reverted back to the high school habit of "quick shower, shove some random food in, attempt some homework and pass out on the bed".  I remember one day in particular that I was standing in the hall waiting to go into class and became somewhat light headed, I leaned against the wall and next thing I remember is waking up with a bunch of people looking over me.  Apparently I passed out and slid down the wall.  My professor happened to be among the witnesses and took it upon himself to bring me a cup of soup every day for class (not in a creepy way but in a really kind grandfatherly way--seriously so nice).  He also "lectured" me on the importance of eating.  Food=No passing out and living.  No food=passing out and Death.  Okay that was a little dramatic, it didn't really go down like that.
I want to add a note of caution here.  I did not have a eating disorder by any stretch I was just a lazy, busy student so I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I eat....BELIEVE THAT....plenty but not very nutritiously.
Fast forward to marriage, kids and now I'm in this role of "mother" and "stay at home mom", "homemaker" and it falls upon me to keep these people fed.  Ughhh.  I love reading some of your blogs like Cotter's Crunch, The Hungry Runner and of course Athlete's Plate who all offer these amazing nutritious recipes that sound so delicious but at the same time as I am reading these my eyes start to glaze over and I go into a catatonic state thinking "that just sounds exhausting" and they do these productions every day?  Wow.  I'm impressed.  Really I am.  Cooking is not my happy place and unfortunately it isn't Travis's happy place either.  If he comes home from work and their isn't anything on the table he looks at me and says "So are we eating out?" To which I reply "YouBETCHA!" and we're off.  Luckily he is a mellow husband and contrary to what people think about stay at home moms he doesn't expect me to be barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen at all times.  On the contrary I'm usually wearing shoes and I'm at the mall.  I like to eat yummy food just not make it all the time.

So Anyway, to make a long story longer.  I was reading Sean's blog over at In Clean Air--A running philosophy and he had just been featured on The Athlete's Plate.  If you don't read Sean's blog you really should.  He is like that "voice of reason" that God forgot to give me.  Just cool, calm and collected.  His posts area always positive, uplifting and motivating and I was nominated by him for

THE ATHLETE'S PLATE.

How perfect is this?  Talk about someone who needs serious help in the menu department.  One of my MAJOR goals this year is to try to eat healthier in order to have more energy and lose about 10 pounds.  I'm within the "normal" weight range for my height but we all know how those weight ranges work.  There is a range of about 20 lbs and right now I'm closer to the high part and would rather be closer to the low part.  Plus I think if I can lose the weight it could help me get faster and eating better will help me have more energy.  To see what the Amazing Jason came up with for Yours Truly Click HERE for all the recipes.

Thank you so much for Jason for creating these wonderful dishes for me. 

 I really appreciate it.

Thank you to Sean for nominating me.

Is your eating as jacked up as mine?

Are you looking for some healthier food choices?

Do you need to change your eating habits in order to reach your goals?

Does the inside of your refrigerator look as boring as this?

It's not that it is all that bad it's just not that exciting.  You have your veggie drawer, fruit drawer, yogurt shelf, milk, ravioli, assorted processed cheeses with the staples of Diet Coke and Diet Mt. Dew and every condiment you can think of in the side door.

Then do I have a deal for you!  Leave me a comment letting me know if you would like to appear on  the Athlete's Plate and I will choose a winner on Sunday night.  If you have already been featured on The Athlete's Plate let me know as well as I would love to see what dishes Jason came up with for you. 

(Sneak Peak)

Reece's Raspberry Pancakes

Hopefully these dishes will help kick start me to being a healthier eater, better homemaker and faster runner!

Happy Running,

Adrienne