I've always been the chubby one, the one with the pretty face. I can't even count the times someone told me "If you lost a few pounds ... "

After high school, I worked at my college gym and the local sports club, which kept my weight in check, but not great. I never hit the appropriate BMI. Things went from bad to worse, when I was struck with a debilitating mental illness. I had to drop out of law school for a year. The medication I was put on made me so comatose that I could barely carry on a conversation, let alone engage in physical activity.

As I've recovered and reclaimed my life. The hardest thing to reclaim has been exercising. Some of the medicine made me bloated and gain weight, which would make me think why bother. Others made me lose weight, and at that point I thought I didn't need it.

Now, that the amount of medication I am on has been reduced from six to one, my ability to concentrate has returned and I am rediscovering my love of reading. I think it is time to rediscover my love of exercising and lose the weight four years of illness has caused me to put on.

My motto for 2007 will be: Healthy in Mind, Healthy in Body!