Reed Dunn, Senior Recruitment Marketing Manager

I was among the millions of Americans who ate far too many treats and carbs – almost an entire pan of baked macaroni and cheese in two days, for example – throughout the holidays spanning Thanksgiving through the New Year.

Right now, I’m battling a weight gain of about 8 to 10 pounds. That’s frightening to me, especially because I went into the holidays having recently completed the biggest fitness goal of my life, finishing my first half marathon.

But I’m not alone.

A coworker shared a column with me earlier this week from the December issue of Human Resource Executive that stated every normal-weighted person will gain about a pound between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve that, wait for it, they will never lose. Never.

My first irrational thought was this: “Well, I gained 8 pounds, so I must be at least 8 times heavier than a ‘normal-weighted person’ …” Then I realized this statistic cited from the National Institutes of Health suggests that one pound is one normal-weighted people will never lose. In other words, I’m likely to lose the other seven to nine I packed on to my body.

Still, even gaining one stick-with-you-holiday-pound a year is going to add up over time.

I changed my behavior a couple of years ago and was able to drop a significant amount of weight. My behavior change, which included healthier eating and regular exercise (the things everyone tells you to do), has kept the weight off.

Now I’m on to new fitness goals and working to make sure I can push myself to the next level. After crossing the finish line on Dec. 4 at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas, I decided I would definitely be signing up for additional races.

When I returned to Seattle, I immediately registered for a half marathon in New Orleans. That race is in March. Last week, I added a Portland half marathon to my 2012 schedule. This week, I realized it’s time to make sure I’m getting back on track with a comprehensive running and weight lifting schedule.

I didn’t stop running after Las Vegas, but I did cut down to only three- and four-mile runs with weight lifting routines that have been much less intense than what they were prior to that race. That’s just not going to cut it with less than two months until my next half marathon.

I’ll be race ready, I’m sure. But there’s no time to waste, especially if I want to beat the odds and knock off that excess holiday pound that most people can’t lose.

Reed Dunn is senior recruitment marketing manager at Alere Wellbeing. He discovered a passion for running, completed his first half marathon in December 2011 in Las Vegas, and now is working toward new running goals.