There's always a story isn't there, and I'm not sure there's any real purpose to this thread except maybe some support.
If you look at the stats under my avatar, you'll note that I've been a member for some time and have posted once or twice - some of you might even remember me.
Ten years ago, I rode lots and was a good weight. Cripes, five years ago, I rode lots and was a good weight. How things have changed. The real damage was done last year when I fell into a massive emotional hole. For some time, I've been eating rather too well, drinking with undue enthusiasm (never a rolling drunk fortunately) but last year, I basically stopped riding as much - I think I covered about 800 km, most of them in the first few months of the year. As a result, I'm now massively overweight (as opposed to "my jeans don't fit anymore").

But now I'm back on the bike. The bike shown below to be honest.

The more observant will note that I'm riding a Brooks saddle so my title is more or less accurate. You might also note that she's fixed gear. Lovely bike.

I've been driving to work then going for a ride - I'm currently doing a 20km (12.5 miles) loop with an average speed of around 22 km/hr (14 mph).

I'm 16 km from work so the obvious move is to commute, indeed, five years ago, I commuted every day. Why not now? Well, there's this ruddy great big hill in the middle, about 3.5km with an average of over 6% but one long stretch at 8% and a shorter stretch over 10% - I've never managed that hill in one hit on a fixed gear. Sod's Law being in operation, its uphill on the way home and the weather patterns guarantee there's always a head wind on the way home, all year round.

Again, there's an obvious solution - ride a bike with gears. I actually started doing that early this year, riding my beloved old Europa, a bike I bought new in the 1980s and have updated periodically since. I managed that twice before the frame gave up and she's now just hanging in my lounge room, never to ride again. Talk about losing an old friend. Buy another bike? Sorry, I don't have the money, I can't even scrape enough together to get another frame though, as Baldrick (from Black Adder) would say, I have a cunning plan, that cannot fail (except it is). I'll get there, I have to, but in the mean time, my only choice is to keep riding the fixed gear. I may even start commuting and just accept that I'll have to tackle parts of that hill using the 24 inch gear (two feet).

So that's where I am.
Overweight... but determined to do something about it before I develop health problems.
Drinking too much... but determined to turn that around.
Bike challenged, despite loving the only bike I currently own... but with plans to get another frame to take the components from the dear old Europa.

Oh, I should add that I am still not emotionally strong and while the meds help, there are no magic bullets with this ****.