Slimdude

Hi. My name is Matthew Carver. I’ve decided to start a MiniJourney on this here BuddySlim thing. I see that there are a few guys here and there but mostly women. The ladies. That’s okay. I’m not ashamed to admit that I need to journal and watch my calories and everything. First, let me explain about my weight history:

I used to look very slim. I am about 5 foot seven inches tall. I used to think that was Average Height for a guy until I joined the Military. Now I know it is a little on the short side. I am also very small framed. Anyway, the reason why I chose David Beckham as my Avatar is because his body shape is very similar to how I used to look. He is not all buffed out like Arnold or Sly. He is slim and toned. I used to look like that. I used to have a really great diet and I used to be very active.

These days, I am less active, both due to time available and some pain issues that keep me from intense exercise.

In 2005 for some reason I started down a dismal path of eating junk food and almost never exercising. Talk about falling off the wagon! I dove headfirst. Thankfully I caught myself only up by about 30 pounds… in January of 2006 I weighed 172 pounds. While not terrible, it was hard to see myself in pictures. “Who is this chubby guy?” I would think to myself.

In 2006 I lost about 15 pounds, but I put some back on, so now I am at about 160 and I’m looking to reclaim my “young 20s / high school weight” of 140. Hopefully by November.

How do I plan to do this? I have read a lot of diet books, and it seems all you need is the basics:

*I will eat Three Healthy Meals per day, plus two or three snacks. Total of about 1500-1800 calories per day. Mostly lean meats and proteins, low-fat and non-fat dairy, whole grains, lots of veggies, some fruits, and perhaps some low-fat non-fat sugar free treats here and there as well as the occassional Rum and Diet Soda. I will eat my breakfast and I will stop eating 2-3 hours before bedtime and I will stop bingeing on fat, carbs and junk in the middle of the night.

*I will exercise for an hour every day, whether that means Strength Training, Walking, Aerobics, Yoga… whatever… and then I will do my best to “be active” … play with my son, take the stairs, walk after dinner, you get the picture…

It seems so easy. Less calories in. More calories out. And slowly the belly should dissapear, and I will be SlimDude once again. Hooray!