Jake's Diet Updates for 2014 - Dealing with a Loss

I haven't posted in a while. The winter was yucky for exercising. It was very cold in the mornings, and the ice on the sidewalks made it slippery, which hurt my hips and knees too much to walk a lot.  But we didn't get much snow, so it was just cold.

Then it got warmer during the days, 60 degrees or higher! Great for walking in the morning... but something happened....

Dealing with a Loss in the Family Pack

My Mom and Dad went on a short trip in April. Zoya, Atom, and I stayed in a dog hotel. It wasn't a bad hotel, we had our own room to share, and it was big. With a chair and beds and blankets to snuggle on, fresh air, walks every day, plus time to play in a fenced yard -- we got to play with the small dogs, no big scary ones to make me nervous. It wasn't a long stay, only about a week, and everything seemed fine. But the last night we were there, we all went to sleep but Zoya never woke up.

Mom and Dad were very sad. Zoya was my big sister for about 10 years... she was only about 12-years-old, or so we thought... but Mom says that sometimes animal shelters estimate ages as young as possible, to give dogs the best chance for adoption. They told us Zoya was about 2-years-old... and that was in 2004. In reality, she could have been older. She never got white hair like me and Atom have... she always looked like a puppy... Mom joked that Zoya "moisturizes so she stays young"... I don't get that... must be a person thing.

Adjusting After a Loss

Anyway, so now it's just Mom and Dad, me and Atom. Our Pack feels a little small... Dad always said "no more" but after Zoya passed away Dad said "Okay, probably more... but probably not until we move back to the States." I don't know when that is... Mom said it depends on work and school situations for her and Dad, so I guess we'll see.

It's an adjustment when a Pack gets smaller... everything is quieter. Zoya was always the loudest at barking... and she was always afraid of stuff, but I miss that. For the first month, Atom kept sleeping on her bed in the bedroom every night. I wanted to sleep there too so sometimes we shared. He misses Zoya too, even though he's younger so he only knew Zoya as a big sister for 6 years. It's still all he ever knew, so he's been sad.

Getting Better After a Loss

I think things are getting better now... we're still sad. Mom is still sad sometimes, but she puts on a strong face for us so we know everything is okay.

Everything will be okay... As long as Mom and Dad are around, I know everything will always be okay.

Jake's Diet: Progress and Disappointments

So far, I've been able to go for a walk most days over the past few weeks. I'm carrying my Outward Hound Backpack with every walk, though I do not always carry stuff in it. Mom makes a decision based on how I'm walking if I can carry stuff or not. She insists that the backpack alone is enough to make me feel like I'm "doing something."

I do feel better, though. I don't think I've lost much weight yet but I am feeling better.

It has rained a lot the past week in Germany and so Mom walked me one morning in the rain but if it's raining too heavy we don't go. It's not worth getting sick, especially since it's cold now.

Diet Expectations

I don't expect to be a stud.... ever.  I was a good looking Beagle when I was a puppy and a younger dog but let's face it... I'm "fixed"... No one's looking at me for "breeding stock" so I don't think I'll ever get that "stud appeal" no matter how much I exercise and diet.

Mom estimated my starting weight at about 55 lbs. I was 45 lbs about a year ago in Virginia, but Mom had surgery again and with the move and spending almost two months in a hotel.... Mom thinks that I was about 55 lbs. because I was about as heavy as one fully-loaded BowFlex SelectTech Weight... give or take. 

That's HEAVY for a Beagle! No wonder my legs and knees and hips have been bothering me so much! And my back too... ugh....

Anyway...

I need realistic expectations so if I aim to lose 10% of my starting body weight, at my next weigh-in I should expect about 5 to 5.5 lbs lost. 

Which brings me to my disappointments...

Diet Disappointments

Mom ordered my Dog Scale and it was shipped 21 August.... it's now 13 September. Apparently, it was shipped "parcel post" which is not what we though. We had ordered from the company before and they shipped Priority Mail, as we selected. This time, though... it's like they don't ship the scales Priority Mail so it was shipped parcel post and it'll take a long time to get here to our APO address. It's been like three weeks though, so hopefully in the next 1-2 weeks it'll arrive. Until my scale gets here I can't really check my weight so that stinks...

UPSIDE: I have a vet appointment on Monday to get checked out and make sure everything is healthy. They will weigh me then so I'll know on Monday what my weight is at the moment.... Maybe that's not an "upside" lol

Mom ordered the Hill's Metabolic Diet Dog Food on the same day as the scale. It was also shipped, and we specifically say that they ship Priority Mail. Other people here have said they use the same website to order their dog foods without issue. Yet my order is still not here yet. That is a real disappointment because the Metabolic Diet Dog Food is what I'm counting on -- the research Hill's (makers of Science Diet) have done show that the Metabolic Diet Dog Food results in an average 28% fat loss in the first two months of use. Do you have any idea how much that would change my life?! 

But it's not here yet... so I can't use it... I've just been trying to avoid overeating with my current food, but it's a good food still.

Hill's Metabolic Diet Dog Food
Research suggests it will help me lose an average of 28% of bodyfat in the first 2 months of using it.
I can't wait! But it's so hard to get things "conveniently" when overseas... but that's "part and parcel" of having a Dad in the Service.

UPSIDE: At the vet appointment on Monday, I will be able to order the Hill's Metabolic Diet Dog Food once the vet checks that I'm healthy. I couldn't order through them because I need a prescription for the diet food and I had not been seen by the new vets yet. Mom had called Banfield where I used to go, and my old vet gave me a prescription for the food so I could order online. This will be cheaper too, once I see the vet here.... then no $25 in shipping fees! 

Diet Updates

So where it stands today, I have done 30-60 minute walks most days, at least 4 or 5 days a week, and a couple of long 60-90 minute walks too.

 

I wait outside because the bakery an cafe and grocery stores don't allow dogs inside, but most other places allow me to go in.

All the towns and cities here have flags showing the name at different places throughout... 

Lately I've been seeing kids going to school while I'm on my walk. They think I'm cool with my backpack :-) 

A "No Pooh" area...

I have needed my pain medicine only once in the last month... and Mom only gave it to me because she didn't want me to be sore after Zoya knocked me over the edge of the stairs outside and I fell into a bush... don't ask, it was embarrassing.

I'm still waiting for my scale and my Hill's Metabolic Diet Dog Food to arrive, But once I can start the food, I am certain my weight loss progress will become significantly more dramatic. I can't wait!

And last, but not least, I am still hopeful that I'll make enough progress by my birthday to get a real birthday cake! 

Jake's NEW Beagle Diet

Hi Everyone!

It's been a while and I really apologize for that. You see, we moved. I'm now living it in up Southern Germany -- WHAT?! Yeah, you heard me :-)

My Dad got transferred here so we moved. I had to get another microchip. I don't really like them, but they're important so I went along with what Mom said. Zoya and Atom were getting them too anyway, so it wasn't so bad.

I do NOT like flying much at all. If Beagles were meant to fly, we'd have wings! 

This is me at the boarding hotel in Virginia. Zoya and I hung out there on the day the movers came to take all our stuff.

At the vet in Virginia. This is actually the place on Fort Belvoir, they had a better price for more microchips and they had all the paperwork we would need to travel with the military orders.

After the vet, we had to kill some time while the movers finished up so Mom took us to a burger place in Reston, VA to have lunch. I just hung out a bit, it was hot. You can see in this picture I was gaining weight again :-(

In the car after the long day...

Mandatory bathroom pictures with my brother and sister at the vet

At the burger place... 

In the car...

Mom was laughing because Atom is so little but he was concealing me for a minute in the picture above! 

So we got to Germany in May, and we had to spent almost two months in the hotel. It wasn't so bad, but it wasn't easy. We only had one room and with Mom, Dad, Atom, Zoya, and me... that's not much space. I had a bed though, so at least I was comfortable. Zoya didn't like it. Whenever Mom and Dad would go somewhere, Zoya would keep walking around all nervous and then she'd bark at everything. It's like... relax, Zoya... they're coming back!

Finally able to stretch! Hello, Germany! 

She's always like that though. She's adopted...

I mostly slept...

I have a lot of pictures on this other website that my Mom manages for our bigger family, and some of the pages are "private" because of something they called OPSEC. I don't really get it, but she did say that the pictures of me and Zoya and Atom are mostly "public" so it was okay to put a link on my blog to that site. If you go to the top here, you'll see I added some things. The one that says "Jake in Europe" will bring you to the pictures of me :-)

You may have noticed I changed my blog a bit. The truth is, I suck at dieting. Mom had to have more surgery and then she was struggling to workout and I didn't want to bother her when she didn't feel well so I didn't do much for exercise for a few months, and then we were moving and Mom and Dad were so busy so I just tried to help any way I could.

After two months in a hotel, I'm glad I didn't gain too much extra weight! I'm heavy though... too heavy. Together with my crate for traveling on the plane, I was less than 75 lbs (we can tell because of the price of my "ticket"), I think the total was about 64 lbs, but I really don't think the crate weighs over 20 lbs so no matter how I look at it, I really need to work on myself for a bit.

I keep slipping with my back legs and it's like I just lose my balance and I'm not strong enough to prevent falling so Mom keeps struggling to help me and I want to help myself.

I'm getting old, people! 

I have a birthday coming up in November, I'm going to be 10.... 10!

I'm too heavy...

I just want to be healthy...

Mom said that if we work together, I can lose weight and feel better, maybe by my birthday. So it's August 16th, 2013, and my 10th birthday is November 1st, 2013. I was born in 2003.

What we tried before just wasn't enough. I did lose about 5 lbs -- 5 lbs I surely gained back -- and so we know that measuring the food, walking each morning, and trying to add massage (to work out the fat!) wasn't enough for my Beagle body.

Mom did some reading and she thinks I should try the Hill's Metabolic Diet. I hear her say all the time "Diet's like that don't work! What you need to do is eat well and eat often, exercise, and hydrate!" But she says this is different. Mom's smart... she helps other people lose weight and she helped herself lose weight. I didn't know my Mom when she was that fat, it was before I was born, but she said she "used to be very fat and now only a little fat" haha

Hill's Metabolic Diet

Mom also thinks a regular walk would help even if I fall a bit here and there because of my weight and my legs giving out. I don't want to get hurt, though! Mom understands... Dad too. Dad actually had surgery on his knee before and so he knows all about pain and struggling. Dad gets me.

So the plan is to work on a walk schedule, find a way to change to the Metabolic Diet, and to emphasize the "newness" I changed my blog a little and I added NEW to the title.

For the next few days, maybe the next week, I'll share some info about obesity and dogs and weightloss, nutrition, and some things we're ordering to help me with my weightloss. During that time, Mom and Dad will help me make a schedule for my workouts and Mom's going to take my measurements and pictures again so we can start fresh.

Mom got me a new backpack to help with my weightloss plans too!

I'm just a Beagle, but I can do this! Thank you, in advance, for supporting and encouraging me and thank you to all the fitness people that encourage and inspire me through my blog and also through Instagram. Mom said I might get my own Instagram for this so please stay tuned and when we make that Instagram account, I hope you follow me there too!