JANUARY is almost over. New Year’s resolutions — gone. Weight loss goals — gone. Diet — gone. But the controversy surrounding the flood control projects keeps on going like the Energizer Bunny.

So, Pinas is prepping for Easter then? You know, bunnies.

But first, there’s Valentine’s Day, and the Chinese New Year on February 17.

Seventeen — there’s my favorite number again. And Spotify has a playlist of songs with 17 in their lyrics.

ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”: “You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen.”

The 1975’s “Girls”: “Bite your face to spite your nose/17 and a half years old.” “But she can’t be what you need if she’s 17.”

Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen”: “All alone, on the edge of 17.”

Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen”: “I learned the truth at seventeen.” “At seventeen I learned the truth…” “It isn’t all it seems at seventeen…” “Exceeds accounts received at seventeen…” “At ugly girls like me, at seventeen…”

The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There”: “Well, she was just seventeen/You know what I mean.”

Avril Lavigne’s “17”: “We were living our dream/It was you and me/And we were seventeen.”

The Cars’ “Let’s Go”: “She’s winding them down/On her clock machine/And she won’t give up/‘Cause she’s seventeen.”

Paul Anka’s “Puppy Love”: “And they called it puppy love/Just because we’re, we’re 17.”

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”: “I saw him dancin’ there by the record machine/I knew he must a been about seventeen.”

Frank Sinatra’s “It Was a Very Good Year”: “When I was seventeen it was a very good year/It was a very good year for small town girls and soft summer nights/We’d hide from the lights on the village green/When I was seventeen.”

I learned the truth not at the age of 17, but on December 17, 2015. It has been more than ten years, and here's hoping the lesson learned that day will stay with me forevermore.

If you’ve already forgotten your 2026 goals, the Chinese New Year on February 17 will be the best day for a reset.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to reboot my low-carb diet. The best approach is to return to your plan at the very next meal. If you need a reset, just keep going — stopping completely won't help you reach your goals.

I’m hoping I can finally transition to carnivore this year. That’s the stricter diet that I’ve been trying so hard to follow since October 2024 for better healing. That’s one year and three months of trying so hard as of this writing. Whew.

Low-carb isn’t a diet you stop once you’ve lost weight. Weight loss is just one of its pleasant surprises. That’s why when people tell me to stop dieting because I’m already slim, I just look at them confused. I’m here to lower my blood pressure. The weight loss has been merely a bonus. People go low-carb for healing.

I think it would have been more difficult to go on a diet at seventeen. With no blood pressure issues to manage, the word ‘dieting’ wasn’t even in my vocabulary.