Lose Pounds With Your Hound

  Kimberly Neiland and her dog,"Bear," are both fighting the battle of the bulge.

  Bear is 30 pounds overweight, and when the vet examined the dog, he felt an extra layer of jiggle where he should have felt ribs. Meanwhile, Neiland wants to drop 50 pounds.

  "I tried Weight Watchers, I was doing some online thing and was able to stick to it for about two weeks and then just kind of fell off the wagon," Neiland said.

  They're not the only pet and pet owner who have edged into a heavy zone.

  Over 60 percent of adult Americans are now overweight or obese, and an estimated 60 million cats and dogs in the U.S. are overweight or obese. That is 50 percent of the pet population.

  To try to combat the trend, the Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Hill's Pet Nutrition have teamed up for a new research study, a 12-month weight management program for people and their pets. The nutrition and exercise program aimed at satisfying pet owners, their heavy hounds, and their chunky cats will be run in the Chicago area, and is called People and Pets Exercising Together (PPET).

  Under the program, people and their pets eat together, exercise together, and weight in together, based on the theory that the buddy system will help pets and their owners lose weight. It calls for counting calories, and having pets and their owners exercise together for 30 minutes daily.

  Now Neiland and Bear will work on achieving their weight loss goals as a pair.

  "It will be something to entice me to get out and walk with him, and it's good for both him and myself," Neiland said.

  金柏林·尼兰德和她的宠物--一只名叫"熊熊"的猎犬，正在一起同自己的满身赘肉作斗争。
熊熊超重了30磅，当它进行体检的时候，兽医能感觉到它两肋上的层层赘肉在颤动，而不是摸到它的肋骨。不过与此同时，它的主人尼兰德也因为肥胖需要减掉50磅体重。

  尼兰德说："我也曾试过Weight Watchers这样的减肥网站，在网上做一些关于减肥的努力，但是我只能坚持两个星期左右，很快我就又大开酒戒了。"

  尼兰德和熊熊并不是唯一共同为肥胖所苦的宠物和宠物主。

  现在有超过60％的美国成人体重超标或者大腹便便，而且据统计在美国有6000万只猫狗也同样是超重或体态臃肿。这些肥胖的宠物占了全美宠物总数的一半。

  为了及时制止这种不健康的发展趋势，位于美国芝加哥西北纪念医院的威尔利斯研究中心和美国希尔斯宠物食品有限公司合作进行了一项研究，为那些肥胖者和他们的宠物制定了一项为期12个月的瘦身计划。这项名为"主人和宠物一起锻炼（People and Pets Exercising Together）"的计划将在芝加哥地区进行。该计划结合了营养调配和身体锻炼，适用对象是那些肥胖的宠物主以及他们的宠物--身材臃肿的狗或者矮矮胖胖的猫。

  在这项计划中，主人们要和宠物们一起进食，一起锻炼，一起称体重，而指导理论则是这种人和宠物亲密无间的生活方式有助于双方共同减肥。这项计划对参加者的卡路里摄入量进行严格限定，此外还要求宠物和其主人每天一起进行30分钟的锻炼。

  如今尼兰德和熊熊正准备共同努力，一起实现他们减肥的目标。

  尼兰德说："我很喜欢带着它（熊熊）出去散步，这对我来说诱惑无穷，而且对熊熊和我自己都有好处。"