Thanks, you've made good progress yourself!

My biggest issue with exercise was monotony, so a family member recommended that I try CrossFit. Started going 5 days a week and never looked back. I'm not culty about it, but I love it. Having a different workout every day keeps things from getting boring.

I was also eating like absolute garbage. Red meat, carbs, and sweets galore. No greens. Lots of bad snack food. The only thing I had going for me was that I'd already cut out all sugar drinks besides alcohol. So I just decided to cut alcohol entirely, as well as introduce healthier carbs (like whole grains) and more greens/fiber. Lots of salads. I still do red meat, but it's more infrequent, and I gravitate more towards poultry and fish.

I didn't count calories in the beginning because I just wanted to focus on the two big changes, exercise and diet modification. Once I had those down, I was losing so fast I never bother counting, and I still don't. I'm currently working on strength, especially in Olympic lifts, so I count my macros (protein, carbs, fat) instead.

My advice to anyone that asks is to find whatever consistent exercise you can do. If that's CrossFit, great! If not, that's fine, too! Just find literally anything you can power through consistently and do it. And consistency is the key. I can't tell you how many times I didn't feel like working out, but I maintain the attitude that "moving is better than not moving", so I still go, and every single time, I end up glad that I went. People are always like "Ah, man, exercise is hard." Nah, dog. Exercise isn't easy, sure, but it's the consistency that's hard.