About 2 years ago, I decided I needed life insurance. We priced out a number of plans, looking at a 30 year term. At the time I started this shopping process, I looked at the things that influenced life insurance rates… family medical history, being overweight, being a smoker. Although I don’t smoke, I was overweight and do have an undesirable family medical history. However, there was something I could do about it! 4 months of running, aerobics, and weight training later, I was down 20 lbs. The fear of having to pay more each month over 30 years was enough to motivate me.