Dieting is for the Dogs!

I have 2 dogs – a fat one and a skinny one. They managed to get there by following their own appetites and eating until full. I would usually “free feed” the dogs and they would choose how much they wanted to eat. When I saw the food bowl was empty, I would just fill it up. The older dog is the skinny one and is 5 years older than the fat one. This worked well until the new dog came. The new dog is named Maggie and she will continue to eat anything until it is entirely gone or she makes herself sick.

Maggie is a Norwegian Elkhound and is a small to medium sized dog. A year ago, when I took her to the Vet for her vaccinations, I was told that she was extremely overweight and that I had to do something about it. At the time she was 66 lbs. The Vet suggested that I buy their prescription “Reducing Diet Dog Food”. The food had a lot of bulk to it and fairly low calories. She would be able to eat the same amount of food, but lose weight at the same time. I checked out the dog food and it was over $100 per bag! I’m simply too cheap to more than double the amount that I spend on dog food.

I had been hosting Fat2Fit Radio for over 6 months at this time and a couple of things came to mind:
1. I’m a fitness professional, how can I have an unhealthy fat dog? It’s actually embarrassing – I mean, who is responsible for what my dogs eat?
2. Caloric balance works for every human and animal. There is nothing special about this law if you compare it to dogs. “Eat less and exercise more” actually works for everyone and everything.
3. The Vet was looking at making money by suggesting an expensive “treatment” instead of offering “lifestyle change” advice. I was surprised that the Vet didn’t offer to send Maggie to a “Fat Camp” for dogs.

Instead of going broke buying expensive diet dog food, I simply followed my own advice that I constantly give out on the show. Figure out how much you can eat at your goal weight, and just start eating like that thinner person right now. For me it was super easy. I looked at the side of the bag of dog food where it tells you how much to feed dogs of certain sizes. I started feeding Maggie the amount of food that a 50 lb dog is supposed to eat. I measured out her meals with a measuring cup every day and didn’t let her finish off the other dog’s food. I still fed her the same amount of treats that I always did.

Last week, Maggie went back to the vet for her vaccinations and check-up again. In one year, she lost 11 lbs. She was now down to 55 lbs! She lost 17% of her body weight in a year, without doing any sort of special expensive diet or feeling deprived or hungry. She is now in the normal range for her breed. I’m going to continue to feed her the amount of food that a 50 lb dog should eat and eventually she will weigh 50 lbs.

A year is a long time and people or animals can make huge improvements in their health in that time. I was really suprised at the amount of weight that she had lost in the last year and I realized that weight loss isn’t “rocket science”. Eat like that thinner person (or dog) that you want to become and you will eventually get there and stay there for the rest of your life.