Do your pets motivate you?
DarkSinestra
Posts: 45 Member
My husband is taking this journey with me, and both of us cheer each other on, but I have to say my biggest exercise motivator and pal is this doofus.
Seeing that butt start to wiggle and that mouth stretch wide when she watches me strap on my exercise shoes fills me with second-hand excitement, especially since the vet told me pooch was getting a pudge. Knowing I'm doing something not only for my knees and hips but hers, too, makes skipping out on workouts a lot harder. For those of us taking our journeys with our pets, I'd love to see and hear how yours get you going!
Seeing that butt start to wiggle and that mouth stretch wide when she watches me strap on my exercise shoes fills me with second-hand excitement, especially since the vet told me pooch was getting a pudge. Knowing I'm doing something not only for my knees and hips but hers, too, makes skipping out on workouts a lot harder. For those of us taking our journeys with our pets, I'd love to see and hear how yours get you going!
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As much as I love my Baxter and my Coco, they're not very good for exercise (but Baxter is great for lazy days when any amount of work seems insurmountable! Coco the English Bulldog does not even want to hear the word "walk". Baxter the Basset Hound loves walks, but 1/2 a mile at a snail's pace is a workout for him. He loves it though.1
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This little girl gets me up in the mornings for sure! We take a walk early every morning and she also runs with me, but only 1-2 miles because she is super ADD and always gets distracted. My hubby usually walks her in the evenings. He immediately lost like 10 lbs right after we got her. I think puppies in general are great for anyone looking for some motivation to get out the door!
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My black lab would be more likely to slow me down and/or trip me.
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LadyBug loves her evening walks with me! Definitely a motivator even though in this picture, she was less than happy! haha!3 -
I have 6 cats who love to try and climb on me or trip me up when I exercise. They also get annoyed if I'm noisy when exercising and wake them up. That's cats for you2
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Unfortunately, my dog is getting up there in age...a short walk around the block at a snails pace is about as much as she can muster so not much of a workout for me.0
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I love my kitties, but they are indoor cats. I prefer to snuggle with them and they are not fast enough to run with me; they refuse to even get moving at all if I try to get them to walk with me... or they go in the wrong direction.0
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A dog can be so inspiring for exercise! I myself have a pair of very fat and spoiled kitties. I don't know if they have inspired me to get healthy and lose weight, but I can say this:
Back when I weighed at my highest, 290 pounds, I had several excuses, one being, "If I lose weight, my cats won't recognize me; my little cat won't be able to sit on me while I lay in bed, she won't have room." I like to read in bed, you see, and I lie on my side, and she would sit on my big belly and lay her head on my big hip.
Well, now I've lost 130 pounds, and guess what? My little cat really can't sit on me anymore, so she just has to sit beside me. And that's still pretty nice.2 -
My kitty is really good at getting me up in the morning to feed her but since I'm already up I might as well do my exercises.0
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We introduced our 6 yr old cat to on lead walks from her new pet carrier rucksack last summer. She really loves being out and about along country paths, unfortunately she hates the winter and the wet so we are tucked up warm till the spring comes. She regularly tells me to sit so she can sit on my legs, my lap was never big enough for her to fit on, she is larger/longer than many male cats and weighs in at 5 kg. Looking forward to better weather and more adventures.2
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omg yes. I have a German Shorthaired Pointer who loves to run, run, run, run, run. Winter is hard bc its dark when I wake up and its dark when I get home from work and we don't have a great place to walk. Spring Summer Fall is perfect bc its light when I get home so we can go out on the trails (~15 min drive). She loves it. We are both out of shape right now because of the weather! Few more weeks.......
Weekends we do try and get outside when we can. The last 2 weekends have been nothing but rain which equals muddy trails UGH1 -
My dog is a huge motivator for me. She starts winning and jumping around when the words "walk" or "run" are mentioned... she can be in the tad impatient side
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My dog motivates me not to snack, every time I reach for the biscuit box she gives me judgey looks until I give her one. As it would be cruel to give her too many treats it stops me from going into said box0
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OMG, so many cuties! I also have cats, and they are demotivators just like a lot of yours. hehe Snuggle time! Bedtime! Although one of them has learned to walk on a lead and really enjoys an outdoor ramble in nice weather.
Thanks for all of the stories and pics. Keep 'em coming! I love it. 1 -
I walk every single day with my Dexter boy! As soon as I get home from work it's like he knows! I get the harness and away we go! It relieves stress for me and energy for him! I truly enjoy walking with my buddy 2
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I have 2 pooches and 3 kitties. I walk my pups every day and because they are both working breed crosses they love to run and for a long time. But they are still young and get distracted easily. If i have a late day and can't take them for a long run than i get the saddest eyes and i can't stand that. My kitties are hopless. Nothing worse than doing yoga with a fluffy butt in the face haha
Pets are awesome.3 -
<<---- These two heifers are pampered divas!!!3
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My lab follows me around the house relentlessly if we haven't hiked. Lots of times I go just for her. She's finally learning to stay behind in my snowshoe tracks when the snow is too deep for her to get through.
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I have a Jack/Rat terrier mix who never gets tired of "walkies." He's a great little companion, other than wanting to stop and sniff the latest dog mail messages on all the lamp posts.2
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I've got 3 cats and a snake. Not really "motivational" types either. I use to have a cat that followed me everywhere but that was 12 years ago. My daughters tabby will follow part way and greet us .1 miles from the house and "lead" us back in, fretting the entire way.. other than that, she is only good for beating up other cats and dogs. I want a dog but if I have to move, 90% of places say no pets.. and while it's easy to hide cats, it's impossible to hide a dog.0
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My lab follows me around the house relentlessly if we haven't hiked. Lots of times I go just for her. She's finally learning to stay behind in my snowshoe tracks when the snow is too deep for her to get through.
Oh, my goodness, what a view! I'm jealous. We've been hovering in the high 50s to low 70s in the daytime here, except for one week of 17. 17?? What happened to you, Louisiana?
I love the idea of your pup following in your footsteps. Like King Wenceslaus and his servant in the song. lol1 -
I've got 3 cats and a snake. Not really "motivational" types either. I use to have a cat that followed me everywhere but that was 12 years ago. My daughters tabby will follow part way and greet us .1 miles from the house and "lead" us back in, fretting the entire way.. other than that, she is only good for beating up other cats and dogs. I want a dog but if I have to move, 90% of places say no pets.. and while it's easy to hide cats, it's impossible to hide a dog.
Hehe. No, I imagine not. I love when cats do that. "This way! Don't get lost!"
When I had an iguana, I'd take her out jogging with me on a figure 8 lead. Let her walk first, then put her up on my head and back. She'd hook her front feet in my French braid, her back feet in my sports bra, and we'd get to it. She was about 4 1/2 feet long. I know she loved the walks, because whenever she saw the lead, she'd head for the door.
What kind of snake? They're all so beautiful.1 -
Cat and guinea pigs here. Not good motivators.
The cat will climb on, under, around me when I am exercising sometimes. Otherwise she would prefer to nap on my lap.
The guinea pigs would prefer not to do things unless food is involved.0 -
My birdie pets only motivate me to eat even faster.2 -
My pets are cats so they are the ultimate de-motivators. They sleep all day and always look so comfy and I am always envious. And then they want to snuggle and I don't want to get up.0
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leanjogreen18 wrote: »My Aussie loves to walk/run intervals with me.
HEY! I also have an Aussie! She hates working out though. Lazy girl by nature, but she comes with me to the office and to the gym, so that's something. Also over the years I stopped buying dog food and she gets boiled chicken and carrots so in a sad way we're kind of on the same diet, haha. Your dog is beautiful...my girl looks alot like yours!1
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