Oldskooler Ramblings

What do you get when you combine:

• a love of computers, video games, movies, and television,
• a penchant for soft drinks,
• and no athletic motivation whatsoever?

You get a very fat nerd, that’s what. When I graduated high school, I was 6’2″ and 125 pounds:

(Click images for full size.) I hope this doesn’t sound vain, but I thought I looked pretty good for a nerd. Today, however, I am twice that age, and sadly, twice that weight:

It’s causing me health problems, as my knees and back are constantly bothering me. But more disturbing, it’s causing me social and emotionial problems that I can barely talk about with anyone, even my wife. Every day I avoid looking at myself for too long; I dress myself in baggy sweatshirts and jeans; I never stand up straight; I avoid looking people in the eye; I even avoided a major MobyGames function because I was ashamed to be a “spokesman” for MobyGames looking the way I do.

It’s got to change, and like all New Year’s resolutions, I resolved to do something about it. I have to, or I’ll just keep on being miserable. Melissa has been in Weight Watchers for two months now and is doing great; more importantly, she’s exercising every day and has improved her health so much that she no longer needs one of her prescriptions. It’s fantastic — now I need to follow suit.

So how does an overweight nerd shake 20-year-old habits? Gradually. I’ll talk about the little steps I’m taking in a later post.