Our dog, Martha, has lost some weight. She’s ten and a half now, and has always been lean. A pit-bull and lab mix, she never weighed more than 40 pounds. For quite awhile, she was at 35. My husband, Paul, and I became concerned when she dropped to 31 pounds.
She has eaten the same amount of food for years—one and a half cups spaced out over three meals, plus some canned food, several small biscuits over the course of the day and bite-sized “trainers” for a daily activity I do with her and her brother dog, Aquinnah (aka, Quinn).
Despite her weight loss, Martha checked out fine at her yearly physical last spring, which included blood work. So we continued to monitor her. She seemed to stabilize, but she was skinny.
Then she went in for a teeth cleaning. The vet who performed that procedure included a dictum in his follow-up plan: Martha needed to gain weight.
Paul and I decided to give her slightly more food for several days, and then continue to increase her intake slowly after that.
But one morning, just after waking up, I had an epiphany. I thought I knew why Martha had lost weight. Perhaps a year ago, I had switched the dogs to a dry food that was mostly vegetables and chicken, with brown rice. She’d reduced her gluten intake and lost weight.
The problem was, she never needed to.
I’ve always fed the two dogs healthy food, including that last choice. But, evidently, Martha needed more carbs. Quinn, on the other hand, is a robust chocolate lab at age 13 and a half, probably because half the chicken and rice combo accounts for only half his diet. The other half is a prescription double-fiber meal.
Later that day, when I got up, I looked at the dogs’ canned food. It, too, was grain-free.
I smiled to myself. Over the past year or so, I lost quite a bit of weight. People asked me “how did you do it?” One time, before I could answer, the other person said, “You went off carbs, didn’t you?”
I didn’t. But some people do lose weight that way. Rice is a carbohydrate, but consider that Asians traditionally ate it at every meal. They did not have the weight problems of Americans, who ate grains at every meal.
So now I had another approach to try for Martha. After a few days of slightly increased portions of the “old” food, I would introduce another high-quality food that included grains. In the future, that would constitute maybe a third of her diet.
I had to wonder, though, if my own quest to lose weight had affected my family. The dogs used to get table scraps at dinner, for example. I’d save a bit of baguette or roll for them. But I rarely eat bread at dinnertime anymore.
When I decided I needed to shed some pounds, the first thing I did was buy smaller plates for Paul and myself. I think they were labeled salad plates. I heaped food onto his, because he is six feet tall and naturally slim. He can pack it away without consequence.
I used my plate to remind myself what a reasonable portion is for a a five-foot, one-inch person.
It worked. Not only did I eat less, my “stomach shrunk,” in the common parlance. I reached a point where I was able to recognize I had eaten enough, and would stop.
Paul began to joke that he was gaining the weight I was losing, because he would finish what was left on my plate. But when I got better at giving myself just enough, he got fewer leftovers. He began to lose weight.
So now I am back to using a standard-size dinner plate for him. I must say, he’s very happy about that. He’s also been eating a lot of ice cream this summer.
Meanwhile, I’m still dealing with the other reason for my weight loss: food allergies. Nuts, by law, need to be listed as an ingredient in foods. Sesame, my other allergy, doesn’t. This means I have to carefully read labels on everything. Sometimes I lose my appetite before I finish.
Eating out is difficult. I have to make sure that whatever I order is safe. I feel like I am putting my life in the hands of strangers.
Recently, in a bakery/cafe, I ordered soup, which the server deemed safe. But it came with bread, which can be a problem for me. Sesame hides in baked goods. Nuts are a frequent ingredient. Sure enough, when the server came back, he said the kitchen staff didn’t think anything would be OK for me, as they had baked something with walnuts in it the night before.
Cross-contamination is not usually a problem for me, but I was impressed by the staff’s diligence. Bottom line: I didn’t have the added calories from the bread. (Though I wouldn’t have minded them. I was hungry!)
It’s a good anecdote to tell when people say, “You’ve lost a lot of weight. Are you sick?”
Nope. I just can’t eat the way I used to.
But I’m making sure my little dog and my tall husband are.
Paul and I decided to give her slightly more food for several days, and then continue to increase her intake slowly after that.
But one morning, just after waking up, I had an epiphany. I thought I knew why Martha had lost weight. Perhaps a year ago, I had switched the dogs to a dry food that was mostly vegetables and chicken, with brown rice. She’d reduced her gluten intake and lost weight.
The problem was, she never needed to.
I’ve always fed the two dogs healthy food, including that last choice. But, evidently, Martha needed more carbs. Quinn, on the other hand, is a robust chocolate lab at age 13 and a half, probably because half the chicken and rice combo accounts for only half his diet. The other half is a prescription double-fiber meal.
Later that day, when I got up, I looked at the dogs’ canned food. It, too, was grain-free.
I smiled to myself. Over the past year or so, I lost quite a bit of weight. People asked me “how did you do it?” One time, before I could answer, the other person said, “You went off carbs, didn’t you?”
I didn’t. But some people do lose weight that way. Rice is a carbohydrate, but consider that Asians traditionally ate it at every meal. They did not have the weight problems of Americans, who ate grains at every meal.
So now I had another approach to try for Martha. After a few days of slightly increased portions of the “old” food, I would introduce another high-quality food that included grains. In the future, that would constitute maybe a third of her diet.
I had to wonder, though, if my own quest to lose weight had affected my family. The dogs used to get table scraps at dinner, for example. I’d save a bit of baguette or roll for them. But I rarely eat bread at dinnertime anymore.
When I decided I needed to shed some pounds, the first thing I did was buy smaller plates for Paul and myself. I think they were labeled salad plates. I heaped food onto his, because he is six feet tall and naturally slim. He can pack it away without consequence.
I used my plate to remind myself what a reasonable portion is for a a five-foot, one-inch person.
It worked. Not only did I eat less, my “stomach shrunk,” in the common parlance. I reached a point where I was able to recognize I had eaten enough, and would stop.
Paul began to joke that he was gaining the weight I was losing, because he would finish what was left on my plate. But when I got better at giving myself just enough, he got fewer leftovers. He began to lose weight.
So now I am back to using a standard-size dinner plate for him. I must say, he’s very happy about that. He’s also been eating a lot of ice cream this summer.
Meanwhile, I’m still dealing with the other reason for my weight loss: food allergies. Nuts, by law, need to be listed as an ingredient in foods. Sesame, my other allergy, doesn’t. This means I have to carefully read labels on everything. Sometimes I lose my appetite before I finish.
Eating out is difficult. I have to make sure that whatever I order is safe. I feel like I am putting my life in the hands of strangers.
Recently, in a bakery/cafe, I ordered soup, which the server deemed safe. But it came with bread, which can be a problem for me. Sesame hides in baked goods. Nuts are a frequent ingredient. Sure enough, when the server came back, he said the kitchen staff didn’t think anything would be OK for me, as they had baked something with walnuts in it the night before.
Cross-contamination is not usually a problem for me, but I was impressed by the staff’s diligence. Bottom line: I didn’t have the added calories from the bread. (Though I wouldn’t have minded them. I was hungry!)
It’s a good anecdote to tell when people say, “You’ve lost a lot of weight. Are you sick?”
Nope. I just can’t eat the way I used to.
But I’m making sure my little dog and my tall husband are.
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