Introduction

Growing up, my mom had a special song she would sing for each of my brothers, my sister, and me before we went to bed at night. I almost always requested James Taylor’s Jellyman Kelly. He wrote the song after his five year old daughter came home from school one day with a poem she wrote about a funny, happy man named Jellyman Kelly who “sure loved jelly” and his partner Jenny Mulhenny who “liked to boil hot water.” One of my earliest childhood memories is of my mom scooping me up and singing this song to me to put me to sleep. If you are so inclined, you can enjoy the musical musings of a three-year-old Frances at this link: Jellyman Kelly.

Aside from the lyrical genius and catchy tune of this song, there was something else I felt I could really connect to at a young age: jelly. Who doesn’t love jelly? I was the kid who often requested to hold the peanut butter and just put a large helping of jam between two slices of white bread, please and thank you! I have been told that I singlehandedly polished off all the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving when I was two, and the next year was caught red-handed ingesting an *entire* stick of butter. Raw. Yep. 

As I got older, my palate expanded from simple sugars and fats to more complex ones. I was a pretty good kid and I ate what was on my plate. But if there were chips or candy or ice cream in the house, you could be sure I was the first to locate the target and destroy. The kitchen and dining room table are war zones out there when you have an older brother AND a younger brother with big appetites, and you have got to man your battle station. When my girlfriends and I would order pizza in high school, I usually had my own pie and order of Domino's Dots. (Does anyone remember those things? Yum.)

Lucky for me, I have been blessed with a speed-of-light metabolism and kind of a knack for the sport of running. At five feet and two inches, it is a good day if I am a hundred and five pounds soaking wet. My parents of course always encouraged me to eat healthy and provided all the necessary nutrition to do so. I was just always so little that pushing that extra cheeseburger or a half gallon of ice cream after a full meal is just what any good parent would do.

So taking care to eat in a healthy fashion to fuel my body and recover from my workouts never really seemed like a pressing issue, because it was not evidently imminent in my weight or appearance. Less than two years ago, my idea of a recovery meal after a real hard, grueling workout was to head straight for McDonalds to order the Big Mac Extra Value Meal with a chocolate shake on the side. Or two slices of Peace-A-Pizza’s barbeque chicken pizza with Hope’s M&M cookies to polish it off. Or two Potts’ cheese dogs with a bag of chips and a Rosenberger’s chocolate milk to wash it all down. But I digress (and I am just making myself hungry).

Last fall, I joined a new track club (NJ-NY TC) in order to take my running up a notch heading into the 2012 Olympic Trials on the track. I have always been very dedicated to the sport like any athlete pursuing a dream; I make positive choices every day to take me further towards my goal. I have addressed and improved upon all other aspects of my training: running, stretching, strides, drills, hurdles, strength, core, sleep, mentality. There is one last major piece of this puzzle that I have failed to address for long enough, and that is my nutrition.

A few months ago, I began working with one of NJ-NY TC’s sponsors, Pro-Activity, a local fitness, physical therapy, and wellness center near my home in Annandale, NJ. At Pro-Activity, a handful of my NJ-NY TC teammates and I are trained bi-weekly and are rehabbed as needed by their staff of trainers and physical therapists. Since training there, I have realized there is much still to learn for a professional athlete pursuing her dreams; especially when it comes to nutrition. In fact, since joining the ranks at Pro-Activity as both a client and staff member (I currently serve as a coach specializing in endurance sports), the team at Pro-Activity is responsible for helping me to realize that improving my nutrition is another way I can get closer to my goals. While my learning days will probably never be over, my colleagues, trainers, and therapists at Pro-Activity are so supportive of my (and my teammates) athletic and life endeavors, and always seem willing to share advice and knowledge to willing ears.  I believe they truly want to see us happy, healthy, and running to our full potential, and so it is through their example that I have decided to share along as I continue to learn, and only offer nutritional information and tips that I, myself will follow.

The transformation won’t happen overnight, but I am quickly beginning to catch on. For example, I have gone from eating two large Eggo waffle ice cream sandwiches and drinking hot chocolate for breakfast to enjoying a big bowl of oatmeal with milk, brown sugar, cinnamon and cranberries, a large slice of whole wheat banana bread, and a nice cup of tea to wash it all down. I have added raw veggies (sugar snap peas or red peppers) to my lunch and I have replaced potato chips with multigrain crackers and cheddar cheese. I am trying my best to drink plenty of water throughout the day and I am having fun exploring new and delicious dinner options.

This blog will document my journey to fuel my body to be the best athlete I can be. I will post new recipes, pictures, and tips, and I will let you know on how it is making me feel along the way. I am a work in progress, as you can see from this picture of Halloween candy I purchased to give out last night, but I am an eager student. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for my next post when I reveal how you can get the best bang for your buck when ordering from the Dollar Menu at McDonalds! (Just kidding…)