Make Your Dog Your Diet Partner
What will it take to find a program that works and that is easy to stick to? Look no further than your friendly family pooch, who, by the way, looks as though he’s put on a pound or two as well.
A study, funded by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, which makes Science Diet and prescription diet dog food, found that when people and their pets go on a diet and exercise program together, both lost weight and were able to keep it off.
With two-thirds of Americans and nearly half of pets overweight or obese, Dr. Robert Kushner of Northwestern Medical School in Chicago set out to see if pets could help people lose weight and vice versa.
Kushner and Kimberly Rudloff, Chicago veterinarians, formed three groups for the study: 56 people, 53 dogs, and 36 pet and owner pairs.
Participants attended weekly counseling sessions on diet and exercise and were encouraged to walk at least 20 minutes and limit calories to 1,400 a day. Their progress was monitored for one year.
In the end, the pet and owner teams saw the best results as opposed to those who walked and dieted alone. Dog owners lost an average of 11 pounds or five percent of their body weight, in the first four months. The dogs’ lost an average of 12 pounds-15 percent of their initial weight. While the dogs saw slightly better results, the owners gained motivation to stick with a program because it worked for them and their pets, said Kushner.
We all know exercise and diet is much easier when we have a partner, but why is it that a dog seems to make a better partner than another person? Dr. Marty Becker offers these three suggestions:
Dogs take the drudgery out of exercise and make it a joyful routine. They find outside so fun and exciting that it is infectious, and provide good social support. They catch on to the routine quickly and may make you miserable if you try to skip a day.
Dogs take the focus off you. Studies show people feel much more comfortable walking with a dog as opposed to taking a stroll on their own. Walking the dog eliminates the self-consciousness that comes in walking alone and even promotes a feeling of confidence.
It’s a good deed. Many of the participants in the study confessed they never would have agreed to, or stuck with, an exercise program were it not for the fact that they were doing it for their dogs.
What better way to lose a few extra pounds and start exercising than enlisting the help of your dog. And really, who can call taking the dog for a walk exercise? It’s really much closer to play time than work. An added bonus-the “play” provides stress reduction for both you and your pet, which will promote further willingness to stick to the new, healthier lifestyle. So throw on some walking shoes, grab the leash (you’ve already got your dog’s attention!) and head on out the door. A happier, healthier, thinner you is waiting just down the road.
As an added bonus, the Alliance for Affordable Services offers Consumer Edge Members PetCare® Pet Insurance Programs that give you 10 percent off accident and illness coverage for your four-legged weight-loss buddies. Click here to sign up your pet for the Alliance PetCare® benefit.
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