Kelly Trepp, Author

This is going to be a quick post, but I'm going to write it from atop my soap box. **ahem** Can everybody hear me down there? Okay, good... Despite the fact that I've been living the Paleo lifestyle for just under a year now, I still get all the questions of why, and the accusations of being on a diet. First of all, I'm proud of my hard work and find it insulting to be told I am on a diet. Child please!  Second, why wouldn't I live a lifestyle that makes me feel great, perform better, and improve my blood work? I suppose better than answering their questions, I could pose the same question to them: Why do you eat the way you do? Why do you eat processed foods high in sodium and preservatives? Why do you eat genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? Why do you drink liquid filled with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and calories? Why do you poison your body on a regular basis and inch closer towards modern, degenerative diseases which have been linked to your di...

And I've got lots to tell you about. As some of you know, my hubby and I were married on Oct. 1. As such, I've been remotely enjoying his company and haven't bothered to check in. We have a lot to do to get caught up, but I will be updating regularly again when things return to normal around here. Until then, here's a gooey wedding photo by The Blonde Photographer to gush over.

I see a fair amount of irony in the fact that I obsess over healthy eating and preach it to everyone I know, but don't always follow my own principles; the most important of them being to make sure I'm consuming enough calories. Bottom line: Nobody's perfect. I had my final dress fitting on Friday for the wedding (well, not quite final as the hem was incorrect and I have to go back one more time before picking it up, but I digress). I have been super organized and in go mode for the last month putting all the finishing touches on the wedding. Having taken off work Friday and the dress appointment being in the mid-afternoon, I took the opportunity to sleep in and make up for some of my sleep deficit. Unfortunately, I slept well passed breakfast and woke up just before lunch time and had to get on the road right away. I insisted we stop for lunch along the way. Chick-Fil-A , naturally, was my choice. I consider this to be the best fast food, as far as healthy eating goes. It...

I've been slacking in the updates here lately, and for that I apologize. As some of you know, I'm counting down the days until my wedding. Today we have entered single digits and it cannot come too soon! I'm ready to walk down the aisle, sporting my Essense of Australia gown, and flexing my muscles from all those push ups I've done in preparation for this day. But the countdown isn't over in nine days, nor did it begin with the proposal. The countdown I'm talking about is for counting calories. I mentioned before that I lost quite a bit of weight with South Beach Diet. I had even become a member of their site to plan our meals, chat on the forums with people in similar situations as me, and track my progress. Before long, I had plateaued and it became plain that cutting out processed foods and eating healthier carbs alone wasn't the answer. Yes, I took up running and became more active; but I found myself to be lethargic and having less stamina on days wher...

My first attempt at dieting came, as I said previously, when I realized the monster I had become. Eating every carb in sight, guzzling sodas filled with sugar and consuming as much pizza as the country of Italy in a single week. Ok, I may be getting carried away, but regardless, I determined the carbs had to be doing me in. So I turned to Google, **Angels sing** and Google turned me to the South Beach Diet . The basic principles of the South Beach Diet (SBD), as I gathered them from my quick google search, were to eat low carb foods until I felt full. I was intrigued. I did more research to determine that the SBD is more than a low carb diet. It's a lifestyle change. The three phases of the diet are designed to kickstart your metabolism, help you lose weight steadily, then maintain the healthier you. In the first phase, which I'll return to every now and again when I've had a particularly binge-full weekend, SBD cuts out sugars, including natural sugars found in fruit, brea...

In June of 2010, the love of my life, we'll call him FI (fiance), proposed to me on our vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The ring was everything I had hoped it would be. Beautiful platinum crossing band with inset crushed diamonds with a gorgeous center stone that was everything I had dreamed of. FI was making my dreams come true. FI with his beautiful hazel eyes, luscious eyelashes, masculine muscular build and swagger. And I, well, I was about 20 pounds heavier than I ever wanted to be and in a right state to pass out when attempting to complete a mile run. Let me back up a bit... I was a fairly active teenager. I played a lot of sports growing up, and I danced two hours a day through most of high school, give or take a few months due to related injuries. As you may glean from these blog entries, I'm a giant klutz. As a consolation of my active lifestyle, I was able to eat pretty much anything I wanted in copious amounts. Fast forward to freshman year of colleg...