“I’m a vegan.” Though you are seeing those words on the internet, I am fairly certain you have a mental image of the girl you ascribe them to. She probably has long hair, perhaps in dreadlocks, and there’s not a doubt that she drives her Prius to Omega for summer vacation, right? Wrong.

People can be monsters, and I don’t mean in the Lady Gaga sense. They can be downright vicious to others without even realizing the irreversible damage they cause in the process. Though I keep it hidden away in a corner of my mind, I have a lot of memories of this kind of often subtle ruthlessness. I spent most of my young life as “the fat girl.” This is what I remember.

Growing up, all the kids in my class had plenty of fodder to make fun of me. I was overweight, my hair was terrible, and — the nail in my social coffin to be sure — I always had ugly cell phones.

Whether you are still feeling bloated from everything you ate on the Fourth of July or you’ve been hitting the Dublin Mudslide a little hard to beat the heat, you may feel totally disgusted with your bikini body summer eating habits right about now. No worries! Redeeming yourself is a lot easier than you think.

One of my favorite movies is the 1954 version of Sabrina. It’s a beautiful romance only enhanced by crisp black-and-white film and the charm of Audrey Hepburn. Her character, the fledgling Sabrina Fairchild, leaves Long Island to study cooking in Paris and comes back a glamorous woman. But what always bothered me about the movie is what signals the transition: Sabrina cuts off her flowing pony tail. I mean come on! That’s the only difference?

I am destined to be big-boned. That practically became my mantra throughout high school as day after day I sat next to my beautiful, svelte friends and felt like a blob. While I clearly couldn’t metabolize chocolate-covered pretzels and pizza like they could, looking back I realize that even I slimmed down just by correcting a few errors in thinking.

An old proverb reads, “It is unpleasant to go alone, even to be drowned.” So true! Especially when you are diving head first into a workout regimen at the gym. But does having a gal pal at your side boost your productivity or slow you down with bad energy? Read on to find out!

We’ve survived another year of 8 A.M. lectures and caffeine addiction. Our drunken immunity has been tested like never before. What is our reward? For most of us, a summer job. And for many of us, a summer job in retail.

Through my long and trying journey, I’ve come to learn that both losing weight and gaining weight can be fantastic feelings, so long as you are changing your body for yourself.