Paleo for your Pets Part 1

I have had my 7 year old Labrador on a raw diet of meaty bones, fish, organ meats and the occasional egg for approximately 4 years. Most people mistake her for a 12 month old pup due to her obviously abundant energy, physical wellness and general health. I want to talk today about the benefits of a natural bones and raw food diet for dogs.

Processed “food” (ie baked goods, biscuits and the like) that is high in grains, starch, carbohydrates is no better for our pets than it is for us. Dogs and cats did not evolve eating ground, cooked grains with a lashing of dehydrated meat powder dried into a biscuit. Their diet in the wild has never included cooked or soft processed meat, vegetables, or preservatives.  This article is going to be focussing on the benefits of a bones and raw food diet for dogs, and in future articles I will delve into natural diets for cats, horses, cattle, chickens and other common pets and livestock.

In this article I will explain the benefits to a bones and raw food, natural diet for dogs. I will talk about the health dangers of feeding processed food to dogs (both tinned and kibble), as well as cover some information on what to include in a natural diet and how to cover all your nutritional bases.

Why make the switch to a natural diet?

80% of dogs today will have gum disease/gingivitis by the time they are three years old. When was the last time you checked your dog’s teeth?

• Dogs teeth are designed to rip, tear and crunch. They don’t need to pulp their food like we do prior to swallowing. They are NOT supposed to eat soft foods!
• Our saliva has enzymes which start to break down the food, theirs is purely for lubrication. Dogs have stronger stomach acids than we do too. Feeding large, meaty bones is better for their health and digestion.
• The ripping, crunching and tearing also helps keep the teeth clean which helps prevent gum disease and gingivitis.
• Gum disease and gingivitis can cause all sorts of problems such as liver and kidney problems not to mention the awful doggy breath!

The downside of dry dog food/kibble

Simply put, grains (wheat, barely, rice etc) are not a natural food for dogs. Grains are used as a filler/substitute in dog food in a rather high percentage,  because they are cheap and readily available. They help bind the ingredients so they can be baked and dried.  A quick search of a well known Australian dog fod brand’s website reveals the ingredients in one of their standard adult kibbles includes wheat, barley, food colouring, antioxidants and preservatives.

Dogs don’t eat grains in the wild.  At most they may consume a small amount of green grain from the stomach contents of a kill. Dogs have no need for carbohydrates in their diet (the one exception is lactating bitches).

Some of the resulting physical issues arising from dogs on diets high in grain/carbohydrates include obesity, hypertension, fluid retention, musculoskeltal, vascular, renal, hepatic, CNS and cardiac disease, and finally in many instances cancer.

Even if their prey had been eating mature seed heads, by the time the grain is consumed, it has been ground to a paste and soaked in the juices of the herbivores intestines. A totally different product to the cooked and processed grains fed to dogs today.

Research also shows that dogs draw energy most efficiently when fed a diet containing low or no carbohydrate and instead draw their energy from fat and protein. So while it is ok to add a little bit of grains such as rice or pasta or porridge occasionally (such as in leftovers) these should not form the bulk or even a large portion of the diet. Insead the diet should consist mostly of raw meat and bones with some fat on them to provide the energy a dog needs in its natural form.

Tinned food is soft, full of additives to ensure a long shelf life. It doesn’t resemble meat in its natural form. Even if your pet is aged and unable to chew hard bones, at the very least you can try minced FRESH meat and ground bones

There are some basic principles I follow:

1) Feed a diet based for the most part on RAW meat, bones and organs (remember their natural diet would be prey animals)

2) aim for balance over time (say a week or so)

3) mix it up – feed a variety of foods

• Reduced doggy odour (both from skin and poop!)
• Reduced stool size and frequency (firm and chalky, not sticky and sloppy!)
• Clean teeth (therefore better breath!)
• Increased energy levels
• Better weight control
• Less vet visits
• Reduced/eliminated allergies (especially skin conditions)
• Improved coat
• Mental stimulation and enjoyment from chewing bones, tearing meat

Why bones?

Apart from the aforementioned dental benefit to eating bones, they provide essential minerals like calcium. Chewing bones is fantastic exercise for dogs. It is a great boredom buster too! Eating bones with meat and fat on them also gives the dog some fat for energy in the form nature designed it in. Bones are a natural part of their evolutionary diet, think of a dog catching a rabbit or other prey animal, they will eat it whole, as is! PLEASE only feed RAW bones to your dog. Cooked bones become brittle and are likely to splinter, causing injury. It is wise to avoid weight bearing bones like cow femurs simply due to the risk of breaking teeth on them! Give bones and carcasses that can be consumed (I will list suggestions in detail further on).

Why Raw? And what about bacteria?

Dogs have a short digestive tract designed to process raw meat.  It is made so that food moves through quickly, too quickly for bacteria to develop. They are carnivores and are thus designed to eat RAW MEAT. They have much stronger hydrochloric acid in their stomach than humans.

Salmonella and e.coli are everywhere around us all the time. They are part of a normal, healthy digestive system. They are routinely excreted/shed in feces (both human and animal), therefore concern about bacteria is not a valid reason to avoid feeding your dog raw meat.

Essential Fatty Acids

Omega-6 and omega-3 are categorized as “essential” because they cannot be synthesized in the body and therefore must be derived from the diet. For dogs, fish/fish oils are a fantastic source of Omega 3. Cancer, arthritis, other inflammatory conditions, and immune system weaknesses are some of the most serious health problems associated with a lack of omega-3 fats therefore it is essential you include some fish or other source of these fats in your dogs diet.

The other essential fatty acids – Omega 6, come from linoleic acid and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). Linoleic acid is found in sunflower, and safflower oils, while GLA is found in evening primrose and borage oils. Dogs don’t need anywhere near as much Omega 6 however. The GLA oils are especially useful with arthritis, diabetes and skin disorders.  There are supplements available with the correct ratio of Omega 3:6 for dogs which are an option if you have a dog with skin disorders or arthritis. It is better though to derive all nutrition from the food itself, in its original form where possible.

Getting Started

Start scouring the meat aisle at your supermarket, that section with all the weird organ meats you normally skip, is usually a great place to get dog supplies. There will often be bags of offcuts which are perfect and usually under $3! Talk to your butcher, deli, fish shop, find out what they throw out or can sell you cheap. You can often get a 10kg bag or box of chicken frames for $5 or so at the butcher or local meatworks, then just freeze them or share a box with your other dog owning friends.

You don’t have to buy everything at once, each time you are out shopping just get another package/bag to add to your stash and portion it into the fridge or freezer. A one or two week supply can be made up of a combination of meat and bone types. I have a lucky dip system going on and just reach in and pull out whatever comes next usually!

Shopping List Suggestions

• Bones (beef brisket, chicken, lamb necks, roo tails, ribs/flaps) look for meaty covered ones, anything you can get your hands on!
• Carcasses (chicken frames)
• eggs
• sardines
• fish (whole)
• organ meats (liver, heart, kidneys,tongues, eyes, brains – anything!)
• prawns (keep the heads, dogs love them!)
• rabbit (whole/part)
• Pig trotters

A typical week and a half might work out like this for my Labrador:

Monday: Chicken carcass

Tuesday: Tin sardines and handful chicken necks

Wednesday: 1 egg, lamb heart

Thursday: Chicken necks and beef brisket

Friday: Lamb neck and kidney

Saturday: chicken carcass and some leftover vegie scraps

Sunday: beef briskets and 1 egg

Monday: Chicken wings x 2, drumstick x 2

It’s just a matter of considering portion size with relation to the size of your dog and managing that appropriately – cut it back if your dog is gaining too much weight, and increase a little if they are getting a bit ribby. I try to feed in a way that mimics the bone, fat, meat, organ meat ratio a dog would have if it was eating a carcass for a meal or succession of meals.

What I eat

A lot of my clients quiz me regularly on what I eat. I often feel this is to find out if I too make mistakes, and am indeed human, so they don’t feel so bad! I have decided to write about my own diet today. It isn’t perfect and it is a constant work in progress. For me, the way I eat maintains my bodweight, gives me enough fuel for training and I don’t feel it is much of an effort to prepare the meals we eat daily.
By no means am I posting this as dietary advice or hoping anyone will copy what I do. Just providing a little insight! My husband and I did a 2 month trial without meat, which went very well, however I am still not sold on the benefits of being 100% vegetarian, and will continue to research more with regards to the benefits of eating animal based proteins and the arguments against it. I did feel better not eating any meat at all, and I struggle to force myself to eat it at all now (and before the trial). For this reason meat tends to be a once a week thing for me, however I will eat fish 2 or 3 times a week, and eggs almost every day.

Breakfast: EVERY DAY: fresh homemade juice (zucchini, celery, carrot, apple, spinach/silverbeet, beetroot) then one of the options below.

• Boiled eggs x 2 (with or without multigrain bread. (I limit bread to one serve a week usually)
• Fruit salad (home made/prepared)
• Leftovers from dinner
• Baked Beans with or without multigrain toast (depending on if it’s a bread day!)
• Can of Tuna

Morning Tea: I don’t always have time if I am out however when I do, it’s one of these options.

• Piece of Fruit (mango/apple/peach/nectarine)
• Nuts (Almonds, cashews, macadamia) approx 1/4 cup
• Can tuna

Lunch:

• Grilled Fish with salad (lettuce/rocket, cucumber, tomato, celery, baby spinach, snow peas)
• Wholegrain burger with vegetarian egg based patty, tabouli, sprouts, cheese, peanut satay sauce) from local wholefood takeaway.
• Boiled eggs x 2 and a piece of fruit
• Can Tuna and a piece of fruit
• Large salad with cottage cheese or ricotta or Tuna.

Dinner: I won’t be able to list absolutely everything here, however will include the main meals we have most often. I will come back and update this list as I think of/try more meal ideas.

• Vegetarian bolognese with gluten free pasta (lentils, tomato, herbs, zucchini, carrot)
• Grilled fish with steamed vegetables (pumpkin,carrot etc)
• Lasagne with gluten free pasta sheets (meat and or lentil based sauce)
• Mushroom risotto
• Slow cooker vege or chicken curries plus small serve white rice
• Pan fried chicken breast with steamed vegetables
• Peanut Chicken Stir fry (peanut butter, coconut  milk, chicken, rice, carrot, broccoli, onion, curry)
• Pizza (definitely only on a cheat day (usually about once a month)
• Vegetarian stir fry with egg and rice noodles

Supplements

I try to take spirulina however it has panned out to be a weekly thing, only due to the horrid smell and taste. I bought pure powder and found I can’t drink it mixed in anything, in any quantity, so I am trialling putting it into capsules. The smell usually overcomes me before I finish so it isn’t going so well!

Udo’s Oil (Omegal 3,6,9 Blend). This is liquid gold. I won’t go into the benefits here however it is something I strive to have about a tablespoon every day of, whether mixed into juice, or poured over salad with some balsamic vinegar as a dressing.

LSA – goes on salad or anything I think it will taste ok with, about 1 tablespoon per day.

I don’t take protein supplements anymore, and it hasn’t adversely affected my strength, muscle development or energy levels.

Drinks: Water – I drink a glass every time I’m fiddling in the kitchen. I probably consume around 2 litres a day. Only other thing I drink is our juice we make in the mornings.

What I avoid

The following is a list of what I don’t buy, because if it is in my house, I will eat it.

Muffins, biscuits, cakes, pastry, alcohol, lollies, soft drink, anything with preservatives or additives, ice-cream. I hate coffee so that never ever happens!

We allow one “cheat” meal per week, which is usually hot chips and fish, or Pizza. I don’t “need” this, but at the same time I don’t feel it has damaged my health or efforts at all.

There are definitely aspects of my regular meals that I don’t like and know very well could do better on. I have a heap of Paleo recipes now and am going to gradually move over to being as close to constantly Paleo as possible. My goals are as follows:

• Reduce/eliminate dairy
• Eliminate grains completely
• Try to eat a bit more meat (currently probably 1 meal a week has any type of meat, fish maybe 2 x a week)

Well thanks for reading. I’ve found it quite therapeutic and helpful to record all of this information and it is motivating me to take a closer look at what I can do to make some more improvements daily.

How to initiate an exercise habit

A common theme I’ve seen lately, particularly in time poor, full time workers is an inability to prioritise exercise and therefore successfully integrate it into their schedule on a permanent basis. My aim with this article is to combat the most common reasons and excuses people put forward when I ask them why they are not exercising regularly. By the time you finish reading this article I hope you feel an urgency to get started right away and take that first step. Unless you are an experienced athlete or have a sporting/fitness background, I strongly encourage you to get some assistance at least to start with. Correct form and programming are skills that will set you up for life and keep you safe. Doing a couple of sit ups and running around the block occasionally is not what I am talking about. Regular, intense, challenging exercise that improves your fitness and overall wellbeing is the bare minimum.

It is imperative that you exercise. It is as simple as that. Everyone knows it, everyone knows why and yet hardly anybody does. The rates of overweight and obesity point to a lack of physical activity and bad dietary habits in both the adult and child population, and I will have a vent about the nutrition side of things in another article. In 2007, the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that 67.4% of Australian adults are overweight, ranking 21st in the world. And a 2005 WHO study found that just over 20% of Australian adults are obese, which is expected to rise to roughly 29% in 2010 if current trends continue.

I’m not going to rehash the plethora of in depth information that is already out there pertaining to the benefits of exercise and the health risks of being inactive. You can google to your hearts content and I doubt you will ever run out of websites to read on those points.   Just know this: exercise = energy, strength, bone density, weight control, good blood pressure and no exercise = the opposite. What I AM going to do, is give you a swift kick up the butt and hopefully make you feel ashamed enough to start respecting your body and your life more. I want you to understand your body as a biological machine that is made up of the very same molecules that surround it in nature. There are certain checks and balances that need to occur or systems will fail. I will not sugar coat this. I am done stroking people’s egos and avoiding hurting their “feelings”. If you get offended by what I write here, I dare say it is because I have hit the nail on the head. You don’t need another person in your life agreeing with you when you whinge that the clothing shops don’t stock anything above size 12. Your friends and family are not going to snap you out of this, they have probably been unconsciously enabling your behaviour.

As you continue to read, please give yourself a gentle, yet effective slap on the forehead every time you start brewing another excuse, when you start saying “but for me.. its because…” I know so many of you feel trapped because you are in a job with set hours, set wages and have families to support. I am here to tell you that while all of those things are valid temporary barriers to your success, they are able to be broken down systematically and it all starts with changing your mindset. Every time you start with an excuse, after the forehead slap, please initiate some action to remove that barrier. Examples:

I can’t afford it.

Really? or is it not a high enough priority? Could you afford $50 – $75 a week on a trainer or some decent group training or martial arts classes if you:

* stopped buying processed food

* stopped smoking

* stopped buying magazines

* stopped drinking

* cut out coffee

* reduced how often you went to the movies or hired dvd’s?

* limit eating out

* take lunch to work

* find someone to share a 2 on 1 PT session with

* forego your facials, nail infills, gambling, coke with morning tea.

If you can afford the internet to read this, it is a good sign you can afford some physical education on how to exercise safely and effectively. Heck get a slower connection if it means there is some more dosh there to put towards extending your life. Go through your cupboards and EBAY anything and everything you haven’t used in the last 6 months. Do the numbers, make it work. Find a way. If your life was at risk unless you found the money, I can guarantee you will find the money. Guess what, YOUR LIFE IS AT RISK! When it comes to spending on my health, I baulk at nothing. I would rather spend $80 on a set of gym rings to increase my strength and stability than blow it on a dinner and movie. Invest in your body. PT/Gym membership/home equipment/ is a hell of a lot cheaper than cancer treatments, liposuction, heart surgery, blood pressure medication, needles, insulin, wheelchairs and nursing home fees.

PRACTICAL TIP: Start cutting out anything from the list above that you are wasting money on. Instead of buying it, put what you would have spent in an envelope and do this every month. At the end of each month you should have enough money to cover your costs.

Make a decision now to invest in your health. Simply going walking and doing a few push ups won’t cut it. You might need to:

* purchase a gym membership

* Join a local outdoor personal training group

* take up a sport

* learn a martial art

* Educate yourself online (even if it means paying to access certain websites/information) with regards to programming for no equipment (try keywords like “gymnastics conditioning exercises” “bodyweight exercises” will help here)

* Buy a proper pair of running shoes and actually use them, a lot

* Buy some books

* Find a Personal Trainer

* Buy some equipment. Just one thing at time and grow your stash as you are able.  A lot can be done with a truck tyre, kettlebell, skipping rope and olympic bar set.

At the very least, invest in your education by whatever means for a few months and then if you do have to go it on your own for any length of time, you have enough knowledge to exercise effectively. I personally have a gym membership, as well as a full setup at home. I have both because often I enjoy training in solitude, so I can focus and get in the zone.  But sometimes, I need that extra push that training in a busy gym full of watchful eyes gives me. For me, the results I get from a 1 x week session at the gym, out of my comfort zone is worth the $13 it costs me per week.

I don’t have time.

Yeah you do. You are sitting here online now reading this, therefore, you have time. Experience the pain, I mean high, of training with intensity. I’ve done workouts in 5 minutes that quite seriously were the hardest workouts I’ve ever done. You can do high intensity training from 5 – 20 minutes 5 or 6 days a week and get extremely measurable results. I personally train using the Crossfit methodology. I have a toddler, housework, multiple home businesses, a husband to cook for, clients to train and a horse to work. I don’t miss many sessions and I hardly ever train for longer than 20 or 30 minutes. I’m the fittest, strongest and leanest I have ever been.  If you have children, line them up on chairs/prams/highchairs/bikes and have them scream at you to run faster, get those burpees done, pick that weight up, punch that bag. Make them up a little session to join in with. What better lesson can you give than to show them how important exercise is? They will take great pride in being your “coach”. Give them a whistle and a stopwatch. I resorted to buying my 22 month old son a portable dvd player. I now work out to The Wiggles. He happily sits in his high chair for a few minutes while I bang a workout out in the garage under his watchful eye. He actually started deadlifting a 4kg kettlebell (with perfect form) of his own accord yesterday so it must be rubbing off on him.

If work hours are making it hard, be one of those lunatics who actually uses their entire lunch hour/half hour (instead of staying at your desk) and change into some training clothes and have at it. If you don’t have showers at work, it may be better to do the hard yards and get up early before work and train then, or immediately after work. I’ve had shift workers in Police and Military jobs who work ridiculous hours still drag their asses to training because it was a priority to them. Do whatever it takes. Talk to your boss, maybe you can arrange a trainer to take all of you in your workplace on a daily 30 minute session. The positive results in productivity from doing this will be evidence enough to your boss that it is a wise idea.

If you honestly can’t see a way to make time, email me a detailed schedule for your day/week and I will personally assist you in finding a way.

I find it hard to stay motivated.

Whats that, did you just slap yourself on the forehead? Good. When people say this, they are really saying “I haven’t made a commitment. I don’t care”. It is an excuse, plain and simple. It’s pathetic, and it isn’t a valid barrier to success. Do you turn up to work every day? Do you eat every day? Do you brush your teeth, do the shopping, go to the toilet? Read the newspaper, vacuum the floor, mow the lawn? Do you feel “motivated” to do any of those things? Do you have to sit there and have a mental battle about whether you should or not? Of course not, they are just part of your daily routine that you know you have to do. Exercise is a necessity to maintain health and life. Don’t feel that you have to be bubbling with excitement about it, just plan your time for the week or month ahead, tell everyone in your household and stick to it.  If you can continue to go to work every day without fail but can’t convince yourself to exercise, you are just making excuses. It is such a small window out of every day and the results you get from being consistent will help drive you to improve further. Once you start actually training you will be able to muster the intensity for what is ahead, it’s just that first step of getting into your gear and driving to the location, or going into the garage and making a start. Feel guilty if you miss a session, but don’t quit because you did. Just pick up where you left off and keep going.

My personal motivation tool is to post my session results (weight lifted, time taken, comments etc) to various online sites such as livejournal.com, Crossfit, Twitter and Facebook. Every day, every session. For all to see and comment upon. Keeps me responsible and when I am training, I do keep in the back of my mind I will have literally hundreds of people casting their eyes over what I have done. If I don’t post, people ask why not. It helps you stay on track. Try it! You don’t have to love training, just love what it does for you.

An active life = a life lived.

Please, if nothing else, keep this in mind:

* Living in nursing homes sucks

* losing the ability to walk, drive, wipe your ass and shower yourself sucks

* being a burden to your children/family because you can’t take care of yourself sucks

* spending 20 years of retirement wishing you stayed in shape so you could at least go walking sucks

* dying earlier than you have to sucks

The reality is, a lot of age related degeneration in mental and physical capacity has been proven to be reduced/prevented with regular physical activity throughout life. One day, you too will be in your 60′s, 70′s and hopefully 80′s and 90′s. You don’t have to spend the golden years of your life in front of a T.V screen and playing bingo. It will probably be the one time in your life you have the money and time to go on adventures and experience all those things you were too busy working or raising children to do in your younger years. Plan ahead, make exercise a habit now. Be one of those 85 year olds who goes skydiving or climbs a mountain! It’s been said before, but I will say it again. Use it or lose it.

Your body is a biological machine. For it to function optimally, it needs quality fuel and to have the engine turned over every day. If you neglect to do regular physical activity, things will start breaking down in the system, and affect other related systems. You were born with limbs and a heartbeat for a reason. Be thankful you have this body and start damn well respecting it by taking care of it. This vehicle for your consciousness is the only way you can experience life. You only get one chance.

A call to action

If you are still with me, by now you have an understanding on how to combat the most common barriers to getting started and consistent with scheduling exercise into your daily routine. The only thing you have to do now is make a commitment.  As soon as you leave this website, the next thing you need to do is start searching for your local facilities, sports clubs or trainers. Compile a list of anything that you are interested in. Start sending some emails or making some calls. Arrange a trial session or a tour of the gym. Do something tangible immediately. Don’t put it off till tomorrow. Do it right now.

This article ended up being significantly longer than I anticipated. As I was writing I realised how passionate I am about helping initiate that change in behaviour and attitude in as many people as possible. While I enjoy coaching people in a face to face environment, I’m excited that I can affect the lives of many more people through my writing.