It's like the freshman 15 all over again.

I remember when I first moved to Austin. I, like most other girls entering college, gained my freshman 15. Of course, back then, it wasn't really a problem because I was actually underweight. I worked so much and was so active in so many clubs that all the junk food I ate back then didn't even compensate for the calorie intake I probably should have had. (Oh how nice those days were.)

But again, the freshman 15 wasn't a big deal because I needed the weight. I just don't really want to go adding to that too much.

So remember how I said I'm probably going to eat the city of Austin? That's not faring too well for the belly.

It's not noticeable to most people (glad I got over that phase of obscenely tight clothing), but I'm starting to see the effects of a week and a half of Tex-Mex and home-cooked meals. So I just went to buy running shoes.

In Prague I was eating food that was terrible for me but I was also walking a lot. Prague is a very pedestrian-friendly city and so I got a lot of exercise by getting lost (semi-on-purpose).

Here, I drive everywhere. That's definitely one of the things that most European cities have over the States — public transportation and the ease with which you can get nearly everywhere.

So I'm going to have to be careful with this. I didn't have a six-pack or anything, but I wasn't in too bad of shape. In fact, between leaving Taiwan and getting to Europe, I lost a jeans size. That's impressive and probably the result of hiking, kayaking, walking, toting a 12-kilo backpack, and eating mostly rice and veggies.

I don't really mind putting that little bit of weight back on because I still felt pretty comfortable with my body, but I realized that with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I might be facing more than just putting a couple of pounds back on.

So here's to working out.