I decided not to make “Lose weight” one of my official New Year’s resolutions, because let’s been honest, losing weight is always number one on my to-do list, no matter what time of year it is. I’m particularly unhappy with my weight these days. I’m up like 15 pounds since I’ve moved here. FIFTEEN POUNDS! That’s a ridiculous amount of weight to have gained in only 8 months.

So how did I do it? You can read all my excuses here, but it’s pretty simple – I didn’t join a gym as soon as I moved to New Orleans, and I’ve been allowing myself to eat anything I want. I’ve also been drinking a lot more. Overall I’ve been leading a somewhat unhealthy lifestyle, and it shows.

It has been difficult to get back on track. I joined a gym (Planet Fitness) two weeks ago, and while I’ve been going every day, I’ve also been on a bit of a margarita binge lately (they’re so good!). So I haven’t lost any weight. But at least I’ve stopped gaining. I’ve been eating healthier, but I know that if I really want to lose weight, I need to be much more strict about what I’m eating and drinking. Ugh, it’s so annoying!

On a positive note, I finally quit smoking! It’s been about two months. Cigarettes are ridiculously cheap down here, so ever since I got here I had been smoking more and more. I had planned to quit as soon as I moved down here, but that didn’t happen. Once my grandmother passed away I started to see things differently (life and death and illness), and after one or two half-hearted attempts I was finally able to quit.

So yeah, even though being healthy has been a struggle for me lately, I know that quitting smoking was more beneficial to my health than any diet would be. I’m pretty happy about that.