My dogs vet told us that he needs to lose 8-10 pounds. At first I thought, really? He’s been the same weight for years, but they pointed out that he hasn’t. He’s gained 8 or 9 pounds in the last four years. Might not seem like much, but he should be about 80 lbs and he weighed in at 90 two weeks ago, and is now at 88.3. He’s already lost 2% of his body weight! How did I do this? Research. Research. Action.
The vet explained to me that in order to prevent future injuries to his hip, and to keep him younger longer, the weight loss would play a greater role in his life than anything, including hip replacement, which thank god he doesn’t need…yet. So I immediately took to the interwebs and started researching anything and everything I could do for my dog to help him lose the weight. We’ve since switched him over from free feeding to scheduled meals, weighing all of his food, and a special grain free diet. Now that his hip is healed, he’s also back to going on longer walks. I would do anything for this dog, he’s been with me through so much!
So I was talking to a friend last night about how her and her husband are thinking of switching their dog over to grain free foods since my dog is doing so well on it. And she mentioned “isn’t it amazing how we make them stick to a diet like their lives depend on it?” She’s also over weight, and HELLO, she’s 100% right. The vet wants my dog to lose 10lbs, you can bet your sweet ass I’ll do anything and everything to help make that happen.
The dog has no control over his food, I weigh/measure and purchase his food for him. I was feeding him a high end premium food before thinking that I was doing the right thing, but am now feeding him a 6 star grain free food that is supposed to really help him get to his normal lean weight. I even have his calories calculated out so we know how many of his now tiny-tiny little treats he’s allowed to get after walks.
Why do I not do all of that for myself? Is my personal worth and health worth less to me than my dogs? My actions would say yes, I’m worth less in my eyes than my dog. How effed up is that? I feel like I spend the majority of my time watching what I eat, but I seem to do enough damage on the days I’m not as focused to undo the hard work I’ve put in. That wouldn’t be good enough for my dog, why is it good enough for me?
Just some Friday thoughts, ha!
Yesterday was another marathon. By the time I left work I had only had breakfast and a Fiber One bar. I had 24 points left and knew there was no way that I was going to cook dinner after having been at work for 12 hours. So I hoped on Chipotle Fan (awesome site if you like Chipotle) and built my dream burrito. Then modified the ingredients until it was at 24 points. I counted all 24 even though I only ate about 3/4 of the burrito. Probably better to over estimate on those sorts of things!
Tata for now,
Scale Warfare
POINTS® Tracker entries
Thursday, October 14, 2010
| Morning | |
| 1 item(s) Sesame bagels | 5 |
| 1 oz Philadelphia Neufchatel Cream Cheese | 2 |
| Subtotal | 7 |
| Midday | |
| 1 bar(s) Oats & Chocolate | 2 |
| Subtotal | 2 |
| Evening | |
| Chipotle Flour Tortilla – Quick-added food | 6.5 |
| Chipotle Rice – Quick-added food | 3 |
| Chipotle Pinto Beans – Quick-added food | 2 |
| Chipotle Barbacoa – Quick-added food | 4 |
| Chipotle Tomato Salsa – Quick-added food | 0.5 |
| Chipotle Corn Salsa – Quick-added food | 1.5 |
| Chipotle Cheese – Quick-added food | 3 |
| Chipotle Sour Cream – Quick-added food | 3.5 |
| Subtotal | 24 |
| Anytime | |
| No entries for this meal time. | |
| Subtotal | 0 |
| Food POINTS values total used | 33 |
| Food POINTS values remaining | 0 |
| Activity | |
| 30 min Walking the dog | 2 |
| Activity POINTS values earned | 2 |
You make such an interesting point about what we do for our dogs vs. what we do for ourselves in terms of eating properly and losing weight.
The only difference is, the dogs have absolutely no control over what they’re eating – they can’t decide to eat something in addition to the food that we set out for them. We can. We have choice, and with that choice it’s sometimes difficult to eat perfectly because we have cravings (mental more than physical) and disordered eating habits.
Here’s hoping that you don’t have to work any marathons today.
This is SO true – we DO prioritize our pets, our kids, our spouses/S.O.s, work – almost EVERYTHING over our own health! And if we can do this successfully for everything/everyone else, certainly we can for ourselves, so why don’t we? The eternal question. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and I hope this sparks a new resolve and determination for you to NEVER put yourself last on the list of priorities!
Wow… I had no idea how many points were in a Chipotle burrito! That’s crazy!
You and your friend are totally spot on about our pets’ diets. My cat is 14.6lbs and she should be under 12. She doesn’t get a lot of treats and I measure her food and give it to her at pre-assigned meal times, so I had to switch her food over too. The funny thing is that I was worried she’d hate the new food or feel hungry all the time, but she really seems totally okay with it all!