I moved to Los Angeles in October 2016 and spent the following five months eating and drinking whatever, whenever. I’d justify my unhealthy food choices by saying, “Well, I’m new to this city, so it’d be wrong not to try all the local dining options,” and my friends would be like, “Chris, you’re eating Panda Express, what are you even talking about?”

I’d eat 90% processed foods, with a salad thrown in there once in a while, as if some occasional lettuce could negate the mountains of unhealthiness that’d come before it. To give you an idea of how deep-fried and takeout-oriented my diet was, take a peek at some of my GrubHub history:

I’d also been working out sporadically since moving. On good weeks I’d make it to the gym four or five days, but other weeks I’d only go once or twice. This inconsistent effort combined with my takeout-based diet led me to being more out of shape than I ever had.