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Weight-Loss: A Lesson from Cats and Dogs
Posted on Oct 26th 2009 1:00PM by Jonny BowdenFiled Under: Jonny's Take, Diet & Weight Loss
Jonny Bowden, author, nutritionist and weight loss coach cuts through all the misconceptions about diet and fitness to help you transform your body, your health and your life.
If you happen to be the guardian (I hate the word "owner") of an animal, go to your kitchen and check the calories on the nutrition facts label for his food. I'll wait.
Back already? Surprise: There was no such nutrition facts label, was there? In fact, manufacturers never put the caloric content on the label of dog food or cat food. They do, however, tell you how many cups or cans to feed your animal companion, and guess what -- it's always more than they need. I think the exact same thing is going on with us two-legged folks.
Now granted, I feed them very expensive, high-nutrient food. But guess what -- they don't need that much of it. Just like us. Lesson learned, anyone?
I believe -- and this is just my opinion, but when I go to nutrition conferences, I find it's widely-shared among health professionals -- that most people think they "need" far more calories than they actually do. Calorie calculators available on the Internet (many based on the classic Harris-Benedict equation) will give you a calorie amount that is too high by at least 200 calories. For example, I put in the following data at one well-known site for calculating calories: Woman, 35 years old, 5 feet 3 inches, 145 pounds. The calculator told me I needed 1,706 calories to maintain my weight. Maybe. But my professional experience tells me that's a guaranteed recipe for weight gain.
When I talk to health professionals around the country, the formula that keeps coming up for weight loss is really simple: Take your goal weight and multiply by 10. Our 145-pound woman who wants to lose a couple of pounds would be well-advised to aim for no more than 1,450 calories, and that's with exercise!
Most people have no idea of how many calories they should be consuming, let alone what they are actually taking in. While calories are not -- repeat not -- the whole picture when it comes to weight loss, they still count. Try the goal weight times 10 equation and see what you get.
And before you tell me you'd starve on so few calories, let me point out that every species studied so far has extended life by cutting calories by about 25 percent.
Remember, it's a lot easier to feel full and satisfied -- and get all your nutritional needs met -- if you eat the human equivalent of my dog's expensive chow rather than the cheap supermarket brand. That means high-nutrient foods like lean proteins, tons of vegetables, healthy fat (no trans-fats) and some fruits. Barcode foods? Not so much.
As my friend Barry Sears has said many times, it's simple. Most men will lose on 1,500 to 1,800 calories and most women will lose on 1,250 to 1,400.
Try it.
For more tips on weight loss, nutrition and health, please visit Jonny Bowden Solutions.
Plus, check out Pawnation's cat weight-loss blog.
Photo: buildscharacter, Flickr
I came across a very interesting piece of information the other day, which I've since verified with my veterinary sources: The average cat needs about 200 to 400 calories a day. Why should you care? Let's go to the video tape.
Back already? Surprise: There was no such nutrition facts label, was there? In fact, manufacturers never put the caloric content on the label of dog food or cat food. They do, however, tell you how many cups or cans to feed your animal companion, and guess what -- it's always more than they need. I think the exact same thing is going on with us two-legged folks.
Now granted, I feed them very expensive, high-nutrient food. But guess what -- they don't need that much of it. Just like us. Lesson learned, anyone?
I believe -- and this is just my opinion, but when I go to nutrition conferences, I find it's widely-shared among health professionals -- that most people think they "need" far more calories than they actually do. Calorie calculators available on the Internet (many based on the classic Harris-Benedict equation) will give you a calorie amount that is too high by at least 200 calories. For example, I put in the following data at one well-known site for calculating calories: Woman, 35 years old, 5 feet 3 inches, 145 pounds. The calculator told me I needed 1,706 calories to maintain my weight. Maybe. But my professional experience tells me that's a guaranteed recipe for weight gain.
When I talk to health professionals around the country, the formula that keeps coming up for weight loss is really simple: Take your goal weight and multiply by 10. Our 145-pound woman who wants to lose a couple of pounds would be well-advised to aim for no more than 1,450 calories, and that's with exercise!
Most people have no idea of how many calories they should be consuming, let alone what they are actually taking in. While calories are not -- repeat not -- the whole picture when it comes to weight loss, they still count. Try the goal weight times 10 equation and see what you get.
And before you tell me you'd starve on so few calories, let me point out that every species studied so far has extended life by cutting calories by about 25 percent.
Remember, it's a lot easier to feel full and satisfied -- and get all your nutritional needs met -- if you eat the human equivalent of my dog's expensive chow rather than the cheap supermarket brand. That means high-nutrient foods like lean proteins, tons of vegetables, healthy fat (no trans-fats) and some fruits. Barcode foods? Not so much.
As my friend Barry Sears has said many times, it's simple. Most men will lose on 1,500 to 1,800 calories and most women will lose on 1,250 to 1,400.
Try it.
For more tips on weight loss, nutrition and health, please visit Jonny Bowden Solutions.
Plus, check out Pawnation's cat weight-loss blog.
