Dr. Dolittle is a childhood hero, a professor/naturalist who loved animals and communicated — talked — with them. There is a great children’s book called “The Story of Doctor Dolittle.” If he were now on the lecture circuit sharing lessons he had gleaned from the animals, here are some weight loss tips he might mention.
There’s no doubt that humans are a lot more intelligent than most of the animals out there. Nevertheless, we can learn a lot from animals when it comes to food and our relationship to food and eating.
Did you ever see a wild animal that was obese? I doubt it. Even if there is plenty of food in their environment, they will stop eating when they have had enough.
Just about the only time that animals get fat is when they are fed by humans. This includes pets and some wild birds living on our scraps, like pigeons or ducks.
Pets can get fat if they are fed on the wrong foods. It’s important not to feed them on leftovers from the dinner table or give them a lot of treats.
Most of us don’t know much about pet food and our choices depend more on the marketing skills of the producer than what is good for our pets. It’s worth taking the time to research what is the most nutritious food for your pet.
Pets, like humans, will also tend to overeat if they are bored. Often times, living in a house or an apartment can be quite boring for them, so they get fat.
In fact, this is also true of us. Watching TV all day with little or no interaction with other people is a surefire recipe for obesity, alcoholism and other disorders.
If you want to keep your pet healthy, there are three other things that are just as important as food. Those are:
1. plenty of contact with other people and animals,
2. plenty of exercise, and
3. plenty of new experiences or challenges in your pet’s life (and yours – variety will help you stick to your diet).
Does your own life include all of those factors? If not, you have some steps (literally) to take to use these weight loss tips and get on with your healthier life and lifestyle.