I've caught feelings for a coworker (in another department, but there's only ~25 people on staff and I see her almost every day). I think the chances that my interest is reciprocated are fairly low, but a) I'm oblivious enough that I probably wouldn't recognize if she was interested, and b) I struggle with self-confidence all the time.

We're friendly, maybe even friends, and I don't want to jeopardize that. I also generally subscribe the idea that getting involved with coworkers isn't a brilliant idea. The thing is, I really like her, have felt this way for months, and I really feel like the dating pool where I live is pretty damn shallow so I worry that excluding someone I really like just because we work in the same building might leave me with no one at all.

I have been trying to work on myself in terms of appearance, fitness, etc. and it has been slow going, to say the least. My belt is looser but I still have a gut, I am seeing gains in terms of how much I can do at the gym but the needle is barely moving for weight. I'm not quite making myself miserable in terms of dieting, but I am trying to eat less and healthier and I'm definitely missing a few things I would like to have more of. And it's frustrating because it doesn't even really seem like it's paying off that much.

I bring up this last part because I have been telling myself that I should wait until I am happier with how I look before I shoot my shot, but it feels like that time could be a long way off, or not at all. And a conversation I had with my coworker last week made me realize she was actually dating someone for a couple months recently and broke it off. It doesn't sound like it was serious or long-lived, but I didn't even know at the time and it has me wondering if maybe I should go ahead and ask her out soon, because I'd hate for this to be yet another time in my life when I didn't say anything and then somebody else swooped in and it was too late.

I've always struggled to ask women out in person because in addition to fear of rejection I also don't want to bother them with unwanted attention, and thus I've tried to stick to online dating. The problem is that online dating is such a dumpster fire now that I no longer feel like I have any real hope of meeting someone that way.

What would you do in my position? Should I ask out my coworker and risk awkwardness and rejection, or keep my peace and look elsewhere?