Big Bertha and the Pug - Me & my exercise coach

[Scotty Hunter]

I am a big girl, a very big girl. I love pizza, pasta, salads, sausage, pies, cakes, candy, sodas, chocolate and pretty much anything edible...
The past 5 years of my life have involved sitting at a computer munching on chips or snack cakes and drinking soda while traveling the country. So I like to say I've added a few pounds from each of the 32 states we've visited. lol

Well, I finally broke down and bought a bicycle on the 3rd of this month, figured I would start very slowly by just riding around to get myself off my arse and actually USE my legs, give me something to occupy my time instead of just sitting at the computer with the contents of the fridge calling my name. I don't plan on cutting out the sodas and bad foods just yet, but AM limiting them. And I don't plan on turning into Barbie anytime this lifetime, but I figure ANY pounds lost will be a major goal. Actually, finding a bike that could hold me was the first goal met. lol


Anyways... my exercise partner is a little man by the name of Koda. A black Pug that was listed on a local classified a while back looking for a new home. When I first got Koda, he was pretty unruly and ornery. Christened the van by peeing in it the first night, peed on the cats toys, peed on his water bowl and food bowl outside, and peed on every single dandilion he could find in the area. I was almost fed up with it, to be honest with you.



The day I got the bike, Koda refused to stay quiet while I rode. He would bark and scream and whine as if he were being beat. Lunge at the end of his leash trying to get to me. Chased the bike as much as he could when I rode past until he hit the end of the chain or leash he was on.

Well, after a few days of that I finally decided to try a little test with Koda. I put him on a retractable leash and rode the bike slowly with him just off my right leg aside the front tire.

He was a totally different dog!! He put his head up, his little curly tail high on his back, and he stepped out as proud as can be. He's been keeping a great pace with me, a steady trot. He gets a little sidetracked if we pass other dogs in the RV park but we're working on his focus and it's going well.



We've been riding a few times daily for about a week now and we've had no mishaps or accidents.

Turns out anytime I walk even NEAR the bike, Koda thinks its time to ride. He's my little coach, pushing me to ride just a little more. Just one more time around the RV park.



Turns out the ornery little pee-machine is a great riding partner and exercise coach!

[Bonny Pearl]

LOL love it!

[Celtic Lady]

  That is so awesome. Thanks for sharing your story. Keep up the good work. It's a real hard thing to do... losing weight especially if you are prone to putting in on easy which I am one of.

My husband and I are both big people but we are working on losing weight and inches and toning up. He's lost close to 100 lbs in about a year and I've lost about 12 in the past 3 months. We changed our eating habits.... eating less and eating a healthier diet as we are both diabetics. If you are truly serious about losing weight and keeping it off simply dieting really doesn't work and exercise alone doesn't work either. My dad used to say "you can eat anything you like but in MODERATION" and "In order to lose weight you need to decrease your intake and increase you output." You have to change your life... so to speak. Eat like a diabetic. You don't have to deny yourself of everything you like just be choosy about how much and how often you eat it. Read labels and check the total carbs per serving (you'd be surprised at the true size of an actual serving). People really eat about 2 or 3 servings when they order meals out. Everything has bigger so we have gotten bigger. We took a food class for diabetics and learned alot. I was shocked and amazed at what I learned about the way I eat and what I eat and drink.

Best of luck to you and your little "Coach".

[Scotty Hunter]

Celtic Lady, I am the kind of person that can smell a cake and gain 5 pounds. I was born a big baby, have always been big.

I'm a bit stubborn in that I refuse to give up several things... like pizza, and sodas, and bacon. Oh how I love bacon. Deep fried bacon. Deep fried breaded bacon! Deep fried breaded bacon wrapped in onions!!....yeah, bacon is evil. 

But where I used to gulp down six 12oz sodas daily, I am cutting back to 1 or 2, substituting with water and tea. Won't cut them out completely or I'd go insane, but making a conscious effort to cut back on them seems like a suitable step for me.

Baby steps. Start with my 4-legged coach, then move into a more suitable eating habit, then squeeze into smaller clothes. lol!

[Celtic Lady]

Sam, I know where you come from on giving up on certain foods. I'm the same way but I have found that if I cut down on how much I eat I can still have what I like. For instance, I love ice cream and I love steak. Every Friday night we go to Chili's and I order my steak and my usual side dishes. Afterward we go to Baskin Robbins and I order my usual cone. Now because I know that I will be having alot of carbs that night I watch the amount of carbs that I consume earlier in the day (for me I'm allowed 10 carbs per day). I just don't make myself feel guilty for having something I like.

This link from WebMD shows portions for the different food group. 
http://www.webmd.com/diet/printable/portion-control-size-guide
It'll surprise you.

[Tink]

Thank you so much for sharing your story!  I am not lying when I say it actually made me teary eyed reading it.  I love how yall are motivating each other!!!  Consider yourself (and Koda) added to the list of people I admire! 

[DonaCatalina]

That was a great story. Thanks for sharing. I love pugs anyway but its great you found something constructive to do together.

[Jade Sapphire Emerald]

That made me smile! Such a cute story! Keep it up, and Koda seems like a good motivator!

[Lady Christina de Pond]

i know you don't want to give up soda I was a sweet tea nut i nearly always had sweet tea all the time at work thats what i drank at home everywhere i had sweet tea but when i stopped drinking sweet tea and more water i dropped some weight so slowly start changing one of your sodas a day out for a bottle of water. that will help also

[Mairte]

I can understand where you are coming from!
I am so glad you shared this story. Koda is adorable.
My "coaches" are an Akita cross and a German Shepherd.
Nothing better to get you out there and going!
Keep up the great work.

[Scotty Hunter]

Thanks for the replies all!!

Pugs are my heart breed, and Koda sure is a unique boy. We have an AKC female pug too, but she's more of a lapdog than anything! She hates to exercise. haha... she's actually due in 3 weeks with AKC puppies, so expect some pics later on of the future puggy butts.


Koda is getting more and more sure of himself everytime we ride and has been hugging the front tire, which makes me a nervous wreck because I am terrified of running over his toes!! So my mom and I are working on a little bar that can secure to the bike that will hold him away from the wheel a couple feet, and also so I don't have to hold his leash and can keep both hands on the handlebars.

Koda also decided yesterday my set pace is too slow for him, so he started running full out trying to literally pull me faster! That little stinker!! I kept telling him we are going fast enough and he looked back at me like 'come ON mom you are too slow!!!"   Maybe after we get the bar rigged up to hold him off the tire we will go a bit faster for short bursts or two.

Heres some more pics of Koda from the other day. I'll try to have my mom get some more photos in the next few days, its a bit rainy and foggy today so we probably wont ride.


Toodling around the RV Park.


Wide load view. lol. We're working on our right-hand turns, still need practice on those.


Koda gets a bit impatient when I stop or go too slow. Here he is letting me know his disapproval. lol

[Magpie Flynn]

I'm going on a weight-loss journey myself this summer and your story is really motivating! Best of luck to you and your adorable coach! 

[DonaCatalina]

Yes thank you for the continued motivation. I am trying to shed some pounds and do some lifestyle changes also.

(and more pics of puggy butts are welcome)

[Hausfrau Monica]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Sam!

Keep it up! I am with you and the others too.  It has been made very apparent to me that I must get my weight and health under control.  Motivation from everyone here is greatly appreciated.

One thing that I have found interesting is to wear a pedometer.  It isn't about "what" the number is or how "high" the number is...it is about making that number bigger every day.  Doing just a bit more each day to add more steps.  There is no goal that isn't reached (very demotivating) if you set yourself a certain number that you can't reach.  It is just a little better each day.  There are map programs on the internet too that you can log your step count into and visually see yourself moving.  Say from one end of Canada to the other (for me)...coast to coast.

I would be pleased to be someone to bounce food ideas off of as well, since I am a chef.  Ask away...let's work out things together everyone.

[Hausfrau Monica]

No comments in a week.... How is everyone doing?

Sam, did you get your bike fixed up so that it is safer for Koda?  How are you doing?

I have had a slow week with lots of rain so I haven't been able to get outside to work in the garden but we have four days of faire this weekend that I will be working at so I will be on my feet a lot and I have the promise of some more work the middle of next week.