shouldn't I eat as well as the cat?
 

A thought occurred to me several days ago as I made yet another commitment to myself to eat better.

We keep the cat on a pretty controlled diet. She eats a high-quality food with no animal by-products or other junk. She eats real food with healthy protein, fat, and carbs. I read the labels on every cat treat before I settled on one brand, again without junk. She does not eat people food. We feed her well to give her the healthiest life possible.

So why shouldn't I treat myself at least as well as the cat in terms of food? I want to be healthy and I know what I need to do to get there. Why is it OK to feed myself junk, even though I would never feed junk to the cat?

I know what the answer is; it's not OK. I deserve to eat the best possible food that I can. I just need to do it.

I tease my mom and dad all the time - mom in particular is really careful about what she feeds the dogs, and there are days when I'll come home and there's only frozen pizza and leftovers of whatever crazy cream based (and inevitably delicious!!) pasta dish my dad made over the weekend, and I have to comment about the quality of the dogs' diet!

This sounds like a brilliant heads-up moment though. I hope that you're inspired to look at labels for yourself the same as you would for the pets and I thank you for posting this, since I could totally relate!

Not only do my cats eat better, they get better medical care, they each have their own room, they get regular manicures and pedicures, they have no rules in the house and they have two parents that worry about their self esteem! Last Christmas, the cats got more presents than we did - not just from us but from friends and family! When we shop, the cats' needs are taken care of first! I certainly didn't have a childhood like that.

When I die, I want to come back as my cat!!!

Something is definitely wrong with this picture. I finally decided to take care of myself for a change.

This made me smile! When I started a huge weightloss back in 2002, one of the triggers was suddenly realizing that I weighed the food for my 6 dogs to the gram, while I stuffed any old amount into my mouth. Lightbulb!

Although I fell off the waggon, close to success and for 5.5 years, the dogs are still eating well! One died at 11, one died at 14 but the other 4, all aged between 14 and 15, are still going strong!

I'm laughing, too!

I'm right there with DoingMyBest--I'm just lucky that my animals let me live with them!

What a great point! I have not thought about that, but you are exactly right. I do the same thing with my cat. I wonder if anyone has ever asked her if she feels deprived? :)

For the longest time I used to joke that my birds ate better than us because I always made salads for them and stocked the fridge with veggies. I think they are the reason we started eating healthier. Seeing and preparing all the veggies made me realize we needed to eat better as well. Even our dog is on a natural "holistic" food. I think the human members of our home deserve the same care. I feel much better about the foods we eat now. There is still a frozen pizza, every Saturday night (kids request) but it is now served in smaller pieces with a side salad ;)