Kelly Trepp, Author

So I am obsessed with food. No surprise there. It nourishes the body. It comforts you when you feel low. It gives you the fuel you need to get through a long run or a tough workout. Food. Is. Awesome. As such, I figured I would show you a little of what I have been eating this week, the second week of the Paleo challenge, with a few recipes sprinkled in. Please remember, I am not a photographer. But I hope these photos make your mouth water anyway. I started my week with these beauties: Dairy Free Almond Flour Pancakes (with blueberries) Photo Credit to The Urban Poser These pancakes freeze and reheat later in the week marvelously, so prepare generous portions! Sunday evening's dinner left me with leftovers to reheat for lunch. Hubby prepared the stuffed peppers from the book Paleo Comfort Foods. Photo Credit to Paleo Comfort Foods I also sampled a crust-less quiche from the same book. Feel free to get creative with the vegetables you include. C

Every year since we moved down to our little corner of the earth, Hubby and I have run the Leatherneck 5K to benefit the Semper Fi Fund to support injured Marines. If you have the time to click that link, you will learn that the Semper Fi Fund is an amazing foundation and you will see why we run each year. This year, I made it a goal to set a new personal record on the course. I also privately set the goal of placing in this race; Not necessarily this year, but at some point in my lifetime. Going into this weekend, I had no idea, and even doubted, that this year I would achieve both goals. The Leatherneck 5K is a smaller race; nothing compared to the tens of thousands of people I ran with at the Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon series back in March. The draw for the race is the cause and the beautiful scenery. The 3.1 mile course begins at one of the finest Naval golf courses in the nation and wraps down and back along the Chesapeake Bay. Many of the runners are active duty

So for a while, when I was planning our weekly meals, Wednesday became known as "Slow Cooker Wednesday" in our house. Since living a Paleo lifestyle is kind of a full time job and takes oober amounts of food prep (at least for me anyhow), I decided to bring Slow Cooker Wednesday back, Paleo style! Holy delicious pork loin! I don't have a picture because, well, I ate it already. My plate anyway. (The food that was on it, not the plate itself) And it's not amazingly attractive in the slow cooker itself. So, just, I don't know... use your imagination! I found the original recipe here . Sounds yummy, right? Too bad I really, really, really, was not in the mood for more tomato based foods. The meatballs we had earlier this week were delicious, but I did not want that acidity three days in a row. P.S. Those meatballs have some heat to them! Hubby made them earlier this week and I questioned his ability to follow the recipe, but apparently it really ca

Monday starts the new challenge of kickin' it old school. 2 million years-ish old school to be more exact descriptive. I'm talking about the 30 day Paleo Challenge that just began at my CrossFit gym . "What is paleo," you might be wondering. The word Paleo is short for Paleolithic, as in the paleolithic era .Think cavemen. The Paleo diet is more than just a fad diet (it has to be, it's been around for more than 2 million years). It's a way of living. Man, as he has evolved today, has survived for millions of years ( I know, I know, I'm repeating myself, but seriously if it's been around this long it can't be bad ) on a diet of food items that can be hunted or gathered. Basically, if you can kill it, pick it off a tree or pick it up out of the ground, you can eat it. The video below does a pretty good job of describing what foods are Paleo friendly. Another part of the Paleo diet is exercise. Cavemen didn't run 26.2 miles a day

It takes a lot of energy and hard work to follow a healthy diet and exercise routine. Aside from making decisions that impact your daily routine, sometimes your diet affects those around you. Sometimes it means offering up a new healthy dinner item that a family member or friend had never previously tasted and rocking their world at the possibilities of healthier food. Or sometimes it means putting off spending time with the puppy to put in more time at the gym. Or it can even mean asking your family to change their choice of restaurant for dinner so you have healthier options. It is not hard to imagine that spending all this time and energy on yourself can make you feel a little selfish, and even a burden on others, but it is important to remember why you expend these efforts. My reason? Aside from wanting to be healthy and stick around to love on my hubby for a long, long time and produce beautiful babies to love and care for... "Do you not know that you are a temple

When I was about 14 years old, I was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), a condition wherein excessive pressure is placed on a bundle of nerves that pass into the arm from the neck causing pain and weakness in the arm. I was a fast pitch softball pitcher and first noticed symptoms of TOS after pitching at an all day tournament. My arm swelled to the point that I could not bend my wrist, and although it's my favorite color, it turned a very unpleasant shade of purple. My parents took me to a specialist at Johns Hopkins Hospital , but little was known about TOS or its treatment at the time. They simply told me to remedy the situation by quitting sports. I played softball for another year after that, relinquishing the position of pitcher and taking on second base so I wouldn't have as much strain on my arm, but eventually I gave up softball all together. Three years ago, my younger sister found she had the same problem while playing softball in high school. Unfor