Slimdude

Well, my wife decided to take me to the cheap movies at the Mall. We went to see Steve Carell in “Evan Almighty”. It was really really good, I thought. Much better than Bruce Almighty. We always sneak in our own snacks and drinks. I hate paying them for stuff that is bad for you anyway. Like Movie Popcorn is a bazillion calories right off the bat because of the sludge they pop it in… and that’s not even counting the “butter.” So there.

But yeah, the movie was good. A combo of “Dr. Doolittle” and “Field of Dreams” and “The Ten Commandments”.

Then we went to Target. I really like Target. But I always go back there in the stupid mens clothes sections and they have all those huge posters and pictures of all the dudes who are slim like I used to be but I’m not right now and it always kind of makes me sad. And looking around at all the people… I don’t want to make anyone feel bad but we in America really are losing the weight loss battle aren’t we?

Everybody I saw, men and women, kids and adults… we are all at least Chubby if not outright overweight. But you reading this blog right now, be proud and happy! Because you and I have decided to do something about it, haven’t we? I am not happy with my extra little 20 pounds. I do not like having my “belly”. And you don’t like your extra weight. Whether it be 20 pounds, or 50 pounds, or more than a hundred. Who cares how much it is? The point is, we are CHANGING THINGS aren’t we? Hell to the yes, we are.

My wife is making pasta tonight. She is using a low-calorie marinara sauce, whole grain pasta, and lean ground turkey. I will probably take about a cup and mix it with a huge bowl of mixed frozen (obviously cooked) vegetables. I don’t stack my plate with pasta. I try to think of Veggies as the main course of dinner and then everything else is a “side” or a garnish.

And of course I will pass on the bread.

My wife looked absolutely gorgeous today. My wife does not have a weight problem at all. She weighs around 125 and she eats whatever she wants in small portions. She really is someone who can have just a “handful of chips” or a “few cookies”. I admire her eating habits but I can’t emulate them. I have to have my portion control built in and I also like to eat more veggies and fruits than she does. I guess, if you think about it… I don’t really have a “weight problem” either. I only weigh 163, as of this morning. It’s just that I felt so much better when I was 20 pounds lighter. Dream weight territory. We all have it.

So. Let me tell you how I met my wife. More than 10 years ago I met her in 9th grade, and we started “kind-of”dating in 10th grade. By 12 th grade, we were exclusively in love and we called each other our Soulmates. Then my wife decided to join the U.S. Navy and she went to Illinois for boot camp and Pensacola for Technical School. After about 6 months, she got stationed to shore duty in CO and she asked me to move there with her. I did and then she got orders to Japan in 2001 and we got married.

We have had a lot of fun. She got out of the Navy in 2004 and I joined the U.S. Air Force and now I am stationed in Florida. We had our little boy in January 2006 and things are still overwhelmingly great on most days. But we both have our “Issues”… and combined with the moderate stresses of life, we decided to attend Marriage Counseling. We’ve been going about a month, and it has been great. A commenter asked if my wife would mind me writing about that on here… but when we first started going I asked if she would mind if I told people and she said she did not mind. We are pretty open about the fact that people should do what is required to improve their lives.

Hopefully this blog will serve as more than just help to me. Hopefully it will help me, yes… but maybe it will also inspire other people out there. Maybe men and women trying to lose weight will enjoy the things that I write.

Many thanks to my Mother In Law who lives in town and is nice enough to watch our son while my wife and I go to the movies.

After all these years, I think my favorite thing in the world is spending time with my wife. Whether that be going on a date or watching TV at night. I don’t think even my wife realizes how much it means to me when she watches TV right beside me and we comment on the shows together. I’ve told her many many times. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Tomorrow is back to the old grind.

—Matt

I am feeling better from my previous post ( see below). In some ways, I wonder… how will BuddySlim be any different from the many many times I have told myself I would finally get back to my former shape?

You know, when I got out of AF Basic Training, I was in top form. I was 140 pounds, and I had abs and I could do about 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, you name it…

Fast forward 3 years and I am probably in the WORST SHAPE of my LIFE.

In January 2006 my son was born and it was probably the happiest day of my whole life. But when I saw the pictures of me holding him, I was like “Who is that chubby guy?” I stepped on the scale and I was shocked to see “172″. I mean, I guess I knew I had let myself go. I was eating a lot of junk food, snacking into the night, barely exercising, you know… everything that leads to weight gain.

The first few months of 2006 didn’t exactly lend themselves to the process of weight-loss either, as the new responsibilities and stresses of being a father took priority. But in the Fall of 2006, I started making changes like eating better foods : more greens, more fruits, less “white stuff”, less sugar. And portion control. I am a guy who has to buy little bags and single servings. Or else.

So I lost about 10 pounds. More or less I have hovered around the 160s since November of 2006. I kind of let the holidays carry me away and I never really got back on track. Only maintained.

Then my back started acting up and an MRI this past spring revealed I have some discs in my neck that are damaged. So I am on painkillers and muscle relaxers and I have to be careful with my exercise. It’s a lot of walking, low impact aerobics and some circuit resistance training with light weights. But nothing too strenuous. This Friday (the 17th) I will finally have my initial appointment with the local spine doctor. I hope they can fix my neck / back.

So anyway, after about 2 and a half years of vowing to take off the gut… and failing over and over… last night I was surfing the Net and I found BuddySlim and decided “what the heck…” I’ll give it another shot.

I would love to be 140 again. To be able to fit into all my slim clothes again and my uniforms without sucking in and being uncomfortable all day long. I’ve set my first mimi-goal at 155 because I honestly believe if I work really hard this first week I can lose about 8 pounds. Because you know some of that weight was all the food from last night’s binge.

After that, I’ll be happy with 1-4 pounds per week.

I don’t know how long it will take to get back to 140. It’d be nice to get there by the beginning of November. But I’ve been struggling for two years, why hurry now?

Oh yeah and the guy who seems to have started this whole site, I was checking out his own site at Celebrity Diet Doctor and I really like it. He really cuts through all the dieting myths and bullcrap and at the same time the celeb stories are kind of inspiring.

Thanks to the folks already stopping by my Blog and leaving comments. I think it will really help.

So far today I’ve had some coffee with sugar free cocoa (NESTLE), a south beach cereal bar, a Boca Burger on whole wheat bread and an apple. I’ll probably have some popcorn later, a cheese stick and dinner will be fish and veggies I think. It’s a fairly low day in calories but I’m just not that hungry because of the binge.

I also went for a 5 mile walk. And I e-mailed my wife about this site.

—Matt

Ugh. I can’t believe it’s Sunday morning already. It looks like it’s gonna rain. I’m battling a slight case of the “blah”s… only because I binged again last night. I keep telling myself it will be the last time but it never is. But I’m still hopeful that today will be a new day.

I think my wife is also battling the “blah”s. I can tell it could easily turn into one of “those days”. I am considering telling my wife about this Blog. The only bad part is sometimes… what if I write something that she’ll get upset about? That has happened before. Stuff that has nothing to do with her, she’ll take it so personally. I don’t like hiding stuff from her. Journals and Blogs and Online Chat Rooms. But then it comes down to, what do I do? Censor myself? I think there is a way on WordPress to enter a PRivate Blog entry… so that may be an option.

My wife and I go to counseling once a week. It really helps, in my opinion.

We are trying to buy our first home and she is stressed about that. Also one of our cats is dead and another one is missing. And she is upset about that.

I found out through an e-mail one of my distant aunts just died of cancer. I probably will not attend the funeral.

Sorry to have this be such a depressing post but that’s the way things are this morning.

Tomorrow should be better.

This is the story of me, Matthew Carver, a*k*a “SlimDude”.

It is about 3am in the middle of the night. Why am I starting yet another forum, another “weight-loss” plan, another promise to myself to finally lose 25 pounds?

Because I am sick of “starting over.” More than that, I am afraid if I don’t stop, I will gain even more weight and my health will deteriorate even further.

Late last night I binged… again… sandwiches with frosting and chocolate chips, cereal and milk, cookies, Hot Pockets and a Microwave Pizza. Candy.

I am sick of it.

I want a new healthy lifestyle. I want to be able to not binge at night. I want my abs back.

If you met me now, you’d probably not even think of me as fat. Maybe a little chubby. That’s all. At 163 I’m hardly obese. But you’d never guess that just two years ago, I looked very much like my chosen avatar for this site, Mr. David Beckham, all slim and athletic. I had a flat stomach. I had cheekbones. I looked almost like a page out of GQ magazine.

But now, two years later… my junk food habits, my lesser activity, my family and work obligations, and most signifigantly my bingeing habit, have led me to put on about 20 extra pounds.

I actually started out the year 2006 at an all-time high of 172 pounds. I have since lost ten. But this final 20 is kicking my ass, royally.

And so I turn to Buddyslim.com, I dub myself “slimdude” and I hope this time I can finally shed the 20 pounds that is making me miserable. I’m sick of feeling chubby and bloated after a binge. I’m sick of wondering where my abs went. I’m sick of sucking in to fit into all my uniforms and SlimDude clothes.

I hope that by November, I will be back to my SlimDude self, and no longer in disguise as “slightly chubby dude”.

—Matt