Pass It On!!!

When I started running I had no idea how to properly fuel my body.  I relied on low calorie foods and getting the most food for my calories.  I was doing Weight Watchers and wanted the most food for my points.  I quickly came to realize that those foods were not going to fuel my runs and had to start doing some research.  I found out that the foods I needed to eat were not always going to be low calorie or low fat but were going to have lots of nutritional goodness that my body could use to keep going.  I asked a lot of questions and luckily had patient people in my life that didn't mind the multiple emails asking what to do next.  I figured out some great nutrient dense foods that would give me awesome energy.  I then started running further and longer and had to start looking at what my body needed before, during and after my runs.  I again asked a lot of questions and again was met with a lot of patience and great answers.  I was also given lots of little samples of things to try before I went out and spent a bunch of money on things I might not like.  I was and still am grateful for all of that.

Last night a friend who has started going to a boot camp class asked for some advice and I was so very happy to be able to share some of what I have learned.  I sent her some treats to try today and she liked them.  She jokingly said that she would pay me to make more of the little bars I sent.  I love helping people and love that I can finally be someone that people come to when they have exercise and nutrition questions.  I definitely don't know it all and need to practice more of what I preach but I have come a long way over the past 3 years and would certainly make the old Selena sit up and listen.  I think she would be very shocked and maybe even a little proud:)

Who Knew?

I think everyone knows I have struggled to find my motivation to work out over the past few months.  I have been better than my pre-running days but have slacked a lot and struggled to get back out there.  I knew I needed to change things up a bit and perhaps find a new exercise to throw into the mix.  I still really love running and the way I feel during and after but I'm having a hard time remembering that in the wee hours of the morning when I need to get up.  Add to that the fact that Adrian doesn't get home from work until 10:30pm most nights and I just haven't been getting out as much as I should.  Tonight I decided to get my running clothes on and run the track at the high school where Adryanna has her soccer practice.  She practiced, I ran, it was wonderful.

The thing that no one knew was that I might actually like swimming.  I really suck and have never been taught how to swim properly but how hard is it really?  Oh yeah, really hard.  Luckily the basic motions are not rocket science and I can get by.  I learned this weekend that swimming burns incredible amounts of calories and who can complain about an exercise that is in water and keeps you somewhat cooler.  I decided that through the summer I will play around with swimming lengths at my mother in law's house every chance I can get and in the fall I will look at lane swimming times at the YMCA.  We'll see where things go from there.  I have never aspired to be a swimmer and certainly don't envision myself doing crazy things like triathlons (you have to ride a bike for that, bikes and I don't really get along well).  For now I will enjoy my new activity and see where it takes me.

Our garden is doing very well still and we have started to get cherry tomatoes ripe enough to eat.  We cut down one bunch of celery but will wait a few more weeks for more.  The stalks aren't very thick yet but they taste good.  Our broccoli was delicious and there are a few baby heads of broccoli growing now.  Pretty soon I will be having toasted tomato sandwiches with homemade mayo(Adrian makes it so much better than the store) for lunch.  I'm super excited for that!!!

Gardener Extraordinaire!

Back in May we ordered a giant bag of black earth and went shopping for plants.  We have lived in our house for 5 years and every year I have planted a veggie garden.  Most years that garden has half succeeded.  This year I was determined that it was going to be awesome.  I did a bit of research but went mostly with the knowledge I have from my grandfather.  He lived three minutes from where we do now and he had the most beautiful gardens imaginable.  Armed with the memories of his gardens I decided what I wanted to plant and off we went.  I think I mentioned in a previous post what we planted but in case you missed it (or I am wrong) we planted: cucumbers, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, broccoli, celery, peppers, swiss chard, snow peas, yellow beans and left from previous years we have raspberry and blackberry bushes.  When we were finished we had teeny tiny little plants in the garden.

Teeny Tiny!

I've spent the last two months checking and watering those plants and tonight I am pleased to say everything has done quite well.  The only problem we have had are pests.  Something has eaten my snow peas to the point that they are not going to produce anything and something stole three out of our four broccoli plants.  Everything else is beautiful.  We will be eating most of our veggies from the garden for the next few weeks.  We had yellow beans yesterday and when I looked tonight there are enough for us to have them again on the weekend.  The broccoli that didn't get stolen is just about ready to pick and I understand we will get a little more from it once it's cut.  The celery is almost ready to start using it and I've had several salads from our lettuce.  Last night I made a swiss chard and quinoa dish to take for lunch today.   I'm looking forward to all the wonderful tomatoes to ripen.  This year I am going to can some and have Adrian make some sauce that we can use all winter long.  Of course several tomatoes will have to be used to make toasted tomato sandwiches!!!!

Here's the broccoli now:)

 I'm very happy with my gardening adventures and have learned a lot for next year.  The broccoli leaves got quite large so I will have to give them a bit more room next year and I planted my tomatoes a little to close together.  I learned that beans do much better at the back of my yard as opposed to the side where I have planted them in the past.  Usually they don't get very big and they get burnt.  This year with more shade they have beautiful green leaves and loads of beans.  The rest I'm growing for the first year and they have grown perfectly.  I often joke that my grandpa lives in my backyard guiding me while I do these things.  I suppose if you think about it most of what I know about gardening comes from spending time with him in the summers so even though he is no longer with us his knowledge lives on:)