Sort of in the same boat Al...
But don't have any real answers for you...except a lot of effort for small rewards..
First thing is give up the booze....
Second is start to be aware of what you are eating. There are a lot of great & free sites on the web for calorie counting and advice.
I found this one sensible.
http://caloriecount.about.com/Lot of things in their database that you can buy around Udon. Pretty easy to understand & use...Weight & exercise tracking etc. Good at making sure that you are having a sensibly balanced diet, not just starving yourself..
You can do the whole 'Sharing experience' thing on it, but that is a bit of a step to far for me!!
Third thing is exercise... I have picked walking around one of the parks for that... It is a measured distance, so can time as well to see some sort of improvement.
Golf would be a good alternative I think for anyone into it.
I was reluctant to run as, being overweight I thought extra pressure on leg joints would probably do more damage than help. Once I get some more weight off it will get to the jog stage & then who knows...
I am not a gym person & there is not one close to me, but the free equipment at Nong Prajak is worth a go...but it gets very busy there late afternoon/early evening.
The initial results were swift & good...but I sort of expected that...now down to small improvements & if I have a 'play day off' the weight is back on in a trice.