Hi!

[Coldrun]

Hi!  I'm Andrew.  I'm 30 years old, and not happy with my weight or shape.  I'm over 250 pounds, I eat terrible food (pizza/wings, big cheese and rice bowls at Chipotle, ice cream, Hershey's, fast food nuggets, etc.), and rarely exercise.  Occasionally I'll watch my calories, and occasionally I'll bike or walk into work (about four miles so not too far, and occasionally I'll do some push-ups, but nothing systemic.

 

This is a problem. 

 

-I haven't dated in a few years.  Some people at my weight have no problem dating, but I'm fairly antisocial and looking as I do makes me feel really unhappy with myself, really self-conscious.  I've been this weight for a few years, though in my early 20s was around 180.

 

-I am incompetent in the kitchen.  I don't mean that I try to bake a cake and it comes out looking badly.  I mean that I know how to push buttons on the microwave and make toast, and if I'm really adventurous can make pasta.  This has also been a hindrance in my attempts at changing my diet.  So many things I've tried have basically said, "it's easy to lose weight!  Just make your own meals by cooking these five easy recipes that only take 45 minutes of prep work per meal!"  Not only this, but...

 

-It's expensive.  Eating out and eating in as undisciplined a way as I do has prevented me from building up savings.  God, that's ridiculously embarassing to type out, but there it is.

 

-I miss being active.  I used to fence competitively.  I'd love to get back to it, but I'm (again) embarassed to go back to the club I used to attend at my current weight.  I may pick it up again partway through my journey down, but I can't face it as is.  I know that it's been a couple of years since I've been there, but still.

 

-I hate being embarassed to see my family.  I live halfway across the country from my family, and I love seeing them, but it's always tinged with trying to physically hide myself when aroudn them.  I don't like having family visits shaded with physical shame for how I look, for how lacking in control I've been.

 

-Health.  I hit 30 years old recently, and don't want to be a health risk.  If I'm being honest, this one is currently down the priority list for me, but I don't want anything to happen to move it up the priority list.

 

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I'm sure there's more, but those are my main reasons.  I want to be 175 pounds, I want to run and bike and exercise regularly, and eventually get back into competitive fencing down the line.  I want to learn how to eat healthily in a way that doesn't require me focus on eating.  I'm going to try running/biking a bit, despite the onset of the Minnesota winter, and supplement it with that intro bodyweight workout which I like.

 

It's the diet part where I really feel a bit directionless.  I saw the paleo guide, but also saw that small changes are best, and going paleo would be about as dramatic a change as I can get.  There are small moves I can make towards there though.  For example, I often go to Chipotle and get a bowl with lots of rice, cheese, guacamole, steak, and peppers/onions.  If I get that but without rice and cheese, that's a step in a good directly. 

 

Beyond that one change, I am uncertain.  To avoid waiting for the perfect thing to come along an dintroduce itsefl, I'm going to start by just watching calories, capping myself at 2,000, but any advice given my real hesitation and incompetence around cooking is appreciated.

 

And to add a bit about myself beyond the fitness stuff: I have a cat.  I'm in grad school and work full time.  I am kind of a Blizzard fanboy, and like Diablo 3, WoW, and currently Hearthstone.  I like fencing, love watching sports of any kind (go Mets/Knicks/Wild/NYGiants!), love Buffy/Angel/Firefly/Dollhouse/Cabin in the Woods, and currently my favorite show is "American Horror Story: Coven."

 

So that's me!  Hi.