Thanks for the reply!
Rice is the staple food here, it's eaten at almost every meal. Just about anything, from bacon to kimchee (pickled cabbage) can be eaten with it. I normally have two bowls or so for dinner and one for breakfast and lunch. As for drinking, I'm going to go cold turkey on most non-water items
As for ellipitical machines, I looked around the local gym and there was one, standing forlornly by itself off in a corner. The eight treadmills there were all being used. So I suppose I could give that a try, although I also want to do water exercises.
I first started gaining weight around 4 years ago when I first moved to Korea. As of last year, I had gained 65 lbs, thanks to bad eating habits (You won't believe how cheap the junk food is around here), lack of exercise (my mom always made me swim daily, 72 laps at the YMCA which was a mile), and now I'm trying to lose all this crap I'm lugging around with me.