Cause sometimes you need a reminder of how far you’ve come.Excuse the weird-ass face, and I kn

Cause sometimes you need a reminder of how far you’ve come.Excuse the weird-ass face, and I know it was a bad picture, and I’m not just like, TRYING to emphasize “I was so sad and feeling so terrible then because I was smoking and drinking and eating poorly!!!” because I wasn’t, I felt great… this was one of the only pictures I could find where you could really see how bad my acne had gotten.When this picture on the left was taken, I was smoking like, a pack a day, sometimes more. I was going out drinking nearly every night. I think at the point this exact picture was taken, I was already ¾ of the way through a bottle of tequila (that I had drank all by myself). That year there was a period where I went through an entire bottle of tequila a week. I was eating out for every meal, and eating delivery on the nights I wasn’t eating out. To be fair, I was in my in-between phase living part-time with my parents (whose kitchen was being renovated) and part-time with my then-gf, full-time out of my car. I was not exercising, save maybe a walk through the woods once every other week. I was sharing a twin-size bed with my then-gf so wasn’t sleeping so well. I smelled from all the smoke and the lack of washing my clothes and self. But I have to say, I was happy. I had met someone I fell totally in love with, I was out partying with friends constantly and I loved it!!! I still miss that. I was eating foods I loved and not feeling any sort of guilt about it. I was going to a freaking all you can eat pizza buffet twice a week with my best friend, like, how could I not have been stoked??? BURGER KING HAD RELEASED CHEETO FRIED MAC AND CHEESE BITES, IT WAS SO GREAT! Right after that picture was taken, I went and drunk passed out on the lawn and just took a nap right there. (The neighbors actually came over to ask if I was okay….)But on the right, I’m also happy. I’m just focusing on the things that make me happy that also make me healthy. I can still go get food with my friends twice a week, just maybe the pizza buffet a little less frequently. I can still go out partying with my friends, I’m just drinking diet coke instead of nearly an entire bottle of tequila. I am going bike riding instead of sitting at a bar day-drinking… both activities I love, but one that makes me healthier. I am going to pole during the week instead of getting drunk at a bar…. again, both activities I love, one I think I now enjoy more than the other. I am in three separate plays, and go to rehearsal 2 days a week, soon to be 3, instead of sitting at home on the couch watching Netflix eating a box of pizza rolls after, you guessed it, being at the bar. I am going bouldering with my friends instead of sitting at a restaurant drinking. I just put that exact pullover I’m wearing on the left in a give-away bag. I haven’t called off sick from work for being hungover in two years.I have quit smoking (IT IS NOT EASY PLEASE DON’T EVER START IT SUCKS SO BAD AND THE WEIRDEST THING IS TO JUST KNOW “OK I’VE GOT THIS NOW I JUST HAVE TO NEVER DO IT AGAIN FOR EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE”), and I have quit drinking, as of two weeks ago. I may bring the drinking back eventually, but I know it’s a problem for me and I know it does nothing but hurt me, so for now, goodbye booze. I am happy, just like I was before, but now I am also healthy. And that’s pretty neat. -- source link

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