Why are so many Schutzhund folks... - Page 10

Girls, do whatever you have to to get to your ideal weight before you get any older. I've been there, done that myself. The older  you are the harder it gets. Exercise as often as you can. Walking is great, it's free, and it gives you a whole new look at the neighbors backyards and wash lines. You'll be amazed when you see who wears thongs.  When I was younger I too thought it was not  a biggie to be 10, 15, even 20 lbs overweight.  I was stocky, and plump. Fat?  Naw, not me.

As I aged I found out how wrong I was when I bottomed out and was diagnosed with glucose intolerance,  high blood pressure and high cholesterol all due to too much weight. I was at crisis level and had to change my entire lifestyle to lose those extra pounds.  Now I weigh 25 lbs less, walk 15 to 20 miles every week and watch my diet. This is not a pat on the back for me, just meant as a wake up call to those who need to lose a few pounds. Sooner or later you will have to either lose those extra pounds or end up taking drugs that have some profound side effects or worse, having a stroke or heart attack. 

Good luck, it's hard but you can do it.

I was once a smoker myself, MI GSD, and was still overweight, so that doesn't work for everyone. I'll bet you do more to keep trim than smoke. I don't blame you for not appreciating the criticism about your smoking from those who are obvioulsy killing themselves with food. I think their complaint is the secondary smoke offends them and some statistics seem to support the claim that it endangers those who inhale it. We reformed smokers are the worst, I hate to smell it myself, but I wouldn't complain about someone smoking a cigarette in the outdoors. That's really a bit too much even for me  .

Yes I hear it is harder to loose weight the older you get! I use to be like a rail, I actually wouldn't want to be that thin again, and alot of people still consider me small. I don't because I know how I use to feel and the extra weight does slow ya down some. I still am very active though. I walk the dogs a couple miles a day and also move sprinklers, let the horses in an out, when needed fix fence with the help of a chainsaw etc. If I didn't do this stuff daily I can't imagine what I would look like. I also quit smoking some 25 years ago. The smell usuallly doesn't bother me unless its so much you can see it, like in a bar. I also remember the days as a kid if you want the horse you care for it! I mucked my horses stall daily, fed twice a day before and after school, hauled a bucket(s) of water from the neighbors which was closer than our house.

Oh I agree Blitzen.  Even though I'm a smoker, I don't like to smell it while I'm eating in a restaurant.  That's why I go outside.  What irked me is that this woman had to walk over to me to get into my secondhand smoke and chew me out.  That was her choice, not mine!

MI GSD, you should have bopped her over the head with a bag of her  own potato chips 

I have been fighting with my weight or should I say that my mom and the doctors have been fighting with my weight since I was six. They had me on every new diet pill and starvation diet that came down the pike.  That is when dexatirm still had speed in it.

I have always been active. More active that most of my friends. Starting as a teenager I have been working horses and dogs daily. I loved eventing and at one time was keeping two horses conditioned up for it.

This whole time I was being told how fat I was and how I had to starve myself more.

The only time I lost significant weight was when I was doing arobic exercise daily till I passed out. Not healthy. After quite a few months of that I couldn't bring myself to do it any more.

The last few years I've had some set backs, a concussion, pnuemonia twice and some other major injuries. Everytime I start to get some condition back it seems that something else comes along to sideline me for a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

I still eat less and healthier than my friends. I park at the far end of the parking lot when I shop. I use the stairs not the elevator.  So on. 

I work four to six dogs a day as well as all the kennel and stable stuff and lessons. As a friend of mine said 'If you work a dog and don't sweat, you didn't work a dog.'

I have always been made to feel like I am less, because I am not in as good a condition as people around me who don't even workout at all. It is very disheartening to be working your a__ off and still not be able to keep up with people that don't even have to try.

On TV you see overweight people goring them selves and it makes me sick. I have never eaten like that and yet people see me and think I do.

I am not saying this stuff to complain but maybe to try and get people to look at things differently. Instead of saying,  'Why are so many Schutzhund folks overweight?'.  Why not say 'Look at how many people Schutzhund gets outside and exercising.'  If people are getting titles on their dogs, that means that they are doing tracking and obedience on days other than club days which means they are not just sitting around doing nothing.

One diet I tried this winter and seemed to work for me (I have tried 'em all) was the Low GI diet. I got a book with recipes and followed it about 90% but did some cheating most everyday. I lost on an average 1 lb a week, some weeks a bit more. What was nice too was I was never hungry. I actually didn't exercise to much on the treadmill either(kinda cold out here in winter) and it worked pretty good. But has spring approaches paperwork (stress ) , and actually the lack of time to cook right and skipping meals then finding myself so hungry I shove anything in my mouth makes maintaining weight loss difficult never mind trying to loose it. Even though I am more active I guess I eat more.....

Anika:

I remember those dexatrim days too! .  Good for you for having the courage to put forth such a well written, honest & heartfelt response.  I never had a weight problem until I turned 40. I could eat anything I wanted  & cosequently developed some really poor eating habits.   Now I am 50 & it has become much harder to deal with the battle of the bulge.  It's very discouraging, even more so when pointed out to us by "well meaning" individuals who are so concerned for our health.

The civilized countries such as USA, Canada,Europe and many others at this time in history are very wealthy in comparison and our food is in abundance for most everyone.  Even many poor people on welfare are very fat, no lack of high fat and calories in our diets. You control your weight by eating properly.  Myself i may have some luck in genetics but i have controlled my eating since my twenties and still wear the same size clothing, exercise helps but will not overcome bad eating habits. But nothing wrong with our gaining alittle weight over time but all of us need to control our eating and regardless of how overweight you are having dogs and training them is good for you especially if you love doing it.

DR

its about time someone said something intelligent.  Stop eating all the damn twinkies, ladies!  The next time you super-size your double quarter pounder, walk your ass in and get it.  Don't use the drive thru!