u/Effective_Bluebird19

Sorry if this sounds stupid.

I’m meeting this girl this weekend. She’s my batchmate from college, and I used to have a crush on her back in college days. Now we’re in the same city for work, and she asked to meet. We’ll probably visit a temple first, followed by dinner at a nice restaurant.

I wanted to ask - should I hug her or just go for a handshake when we meet for the first time after so long?

Also, should I take any small gift or flowers, or would that be too much for a first meetup after years?

And any tips to make a good first impression without coming across as trying too hard?

Every other Reddit or Instagram post talks about this mysterious “male loneliness epidemic” as if men are suffering mainly because of relationships or lack of female attention.

Most men I know aren’t depressed because they’re single.
They’re stressed because they’re struggling to achieve their goals, support their parents, build a stable career, or afford the life they dreamed of.

For most men, pressure comes from:

• financial instability
• career struggles
• family responsibilities
• feeling left behind in life
• lack of purpose or achievement

Not from “not having a girlfriend.”

And even where loneliness does exist, reducing it entirely to romance feels shallow. Male friendships, purpose, work, fitness, ambition these things matter far more to most men.

Let me break this delusion, girls even if none of your male friends ever told you this:

>Not having a romantic partner is probably the last thing on the list of 100 things that make a man sad.

https://preview.redd.it/0cbdw0bpwwyg1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca771a64595ac3376a577b53f5275b6a67d32ef4

I started working out about 3 years ago. I went to the gym consistently for 4 months, then had a medical emergency in my family and had to stop for 4–5 months.

After that, I got back into it for 2–3 months, but again life happened and I was out of the gym for a couple of months. This pattern has pretty much continued since then.

From February this year, I decided I won’t skip the gym for more than a week, no matter what. So far, it’s been going great.

I wanted to ask how do you maintain long-term consistency, especially when life keeps interrupting?

Getting married this December, so I’ve been consistently working out since February.

I’m currently on the skinny side - 5’11” and 67 kg. My goal is to reach around 75 kg, with at least 3–4 kg of lean muscle (don’t mind putting on a bit of fat along the way).

Just wanted a reality check is this achievable in ~7–8 months, or should I scale down expectations?

Any tips would be of great help.