How Your Dog Can Help You Lose Weight
If you are one of those people that find it hard to motivate yourself to exercise like you should, enlist the help of your furry four legged friend, your dog.
Dogs love to go for walks. Even if you are not feeling motivated and up to a daily walk, your dog is still more than happy to follow you around with those puppy dog eyes waiting for you to give in and go.
The exercise is good for not just you, but your dog too. The last time we took our dog to the vet, we were told that she needed to lose a few pounds too. The vet then asked us how much exercise she got. I said since we live out in the country, she’s free to go run around as much as she wants to on our property. But he told us that isn’t the same as taking the dog out fo daily exercise like a walk.
So my husband, I, and the dog started to take a daily walk. I go along on these walks, but I don’t actually hold the leash. Our dog doesn’t actually belive in going for a “walk.” Instead, she prefers to go for a “drag.” We think she’d make a great sled dog since she always wants tension in her leash and will pull and pull and pull. It hurts my arm just to hold the leash so I make my husband do it.
At first the walks were only a mile in duration. Now my husband and dog, her name is Montana, walk three to four miles a day, walking for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. There are days my husband does not feel like going for a walk. But, Montana knows the routine at our house. After my husband walks in the door at night and has eaten she knows it is time for a walk. That’s when Montana starts to act like she glued to my husband. She follows him around the house, dancing around him, licking his hand when she can, wagging her tail, and looking at him in that happy “we are going for a walk now aren’t we” way.
We do our best not to miss any nights since the dog has become accustomed to the routine (and so have we). We only skip a night if the weather is particularly bad.
Has that walking helped? You bet. Our dog had lost two pounds and my husband had lost 10 pounds without making any changes to his diet or any other exercise besides those walks. I’ve lost more, but I’ve also been making an effort to eat better as well.
Now I’m not going to tell you to get a dog just so that you can have someone to make you walk every night, but if you have a dog, then take advantage of your exercise partner. It’s good for both of you.
And if you’re wondering where to get a good dog to take on walks, then head on down to your local humane society - they’ve always got great dogs looking for a good home that you can adopt.