Kelly Trepp, Author

A year ago, I was preparing for the holiday season weighing about 15 pounds more than I currently do. I was proud of myself for having lost 15 pounds up to that point, but I knew I had a lot further to go. I did not have any set goals other than to look great on my wedding day. I modified my goals as we got closer to the big day. I focused on being fit, rather than being skinny, incorporating weight training into my everyday work outs. I decided that weight was just a number on the scale, and that I should measure my success by how I feel. Shortly after the wedding, I made a commitment to myself to push further than what I thought I was capable of and to complete a half marathon. The thought of completing a half marathon was daunting, but if I did not try, I would never know. With a few 5ks under my belt, I signed up for a half marathon and created a training schedule . With training for a half marathon, as with most things in life, you have to be prepared to adapt. For example,...

First, let me start off with saying that I do not condone daily weigh-ins. As I have written before ( Choosing a Healthy Goal ), choosing a fitness goal measured by how you look and feel is far more important than limiting yourself to a number on the scale. Furthermore, your body weight may fluctuate anywhere from one to five pounds at any given point in the day. That is why it is important to only weigh yourself once a week at the same time of day. For me, that's Wednesday morning before work. So this morning was the first time I weighed myself since our return from the honeymoon. I weighed myself immediately upon our return, but we'll not discuss that here. It was unsettling. The first week after the honeymoon, I kept telling everyone I was on the newly married, "letting myself go" diet. It worked and I enjoyed indulging myself on the honeymoon and for the first few days we were back, but then I found myself feeling lethargic and all and all, not very healthy. ...