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eDog-6

MY NAME is TOM AND I AM AN OVER EATER

Posted on March 9, 2012 by
The Electronic Swagman

on the road at
Blackheath

current photos »

Woof

Well It had to come out. I have hinting at it in my last blogs. I AM A CHRONIC OVER-EATER.

I feel I can share it all now because I have just come back from getting weighed at the vets and I am 25.6 kilos. That's down from 29.9 kilos about 3 months ago. It hasn't been easy. I love food. I crave it. Even when I am shoveling breakfast down I am wondering where the next feed is coming from. When it's finished I chase the empty bowl around for 10 minutes with my nose in the hope of some more food. I look like a trained seal.

It gets worse every year. When I say I've lost weight it's not because I went on a diet, it's because each day Dad only feeds me one small bowl of fat-reduced chicken pellets for Dogs Prone to Obesity. Prone? I only have to look at a chicken neck and I put on a kilo.

I am always hungry whether I eat all day long or once a day. It doesn't actually give me enjoyment. I am just an over-eater and no amount of cognitive therapy or support groups will change that. There is no part of me that can say "Oh no thanks. I don't think I should try any more of the chuck steak." I'd eat the bull.

Anyway, I do feel better. Especially in my joints. It was getting so bad I couldn't walk or jump into the back of the Toyota. I felt like an old man being lifted up and down by Dad. Especially since we will be on the road full time soon.

Now I am chasing birds again and I don't have to listen to people endlessly saying:

"He doesn't look like he needs a feed for a month."

Then they would laugh and one of them would say "or a year."

They think it's funny but I think it's hurtful. Especially when they are usually built like a Sumo wrestler in the off-season.

So. Dad is happy and I am hungry but happy. We are back safe and sound from the trip. We had to wait for the waters to go down in some places and sloshed through in others. This is first time we got back and it felt a little less like home. The road is starting to feel like home now and that's good. We will have our camper soon.

Woof Woof

Tommie xx

Ps. Dad talks about Gundagai and his past life in his eSwag Blog.

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Kira

Hi Tommie. You are very brave. I have the same problem because I am a labrador. You have given me the courage to admit it as well. My Name is Kira and I am an Overeater.

Tommie

Hi Kira. It is embarrassing at first but when you accept it you will feel better. There's actually nothing you can do unless your owner stops over feeding you though. But acceptance is very good. Well done Tommie xx

Mischa - food obsessed pug

Good on you for getting a bit of the weight off and getting back to chasing birds. They really are irritating (the birds that is.) My name is Mischa and i am a pug and i am food obsessed. I am glad i am not the only one who chases the bowl around the concrete pavers after my mum feeds me. She has put me on a diet of home-cooked stew with no fat or salt or chemicals to speak of, and now i am a lean, mean snorting machine. I do chase the odd bird when we go to the beach. Yes, i am still hungry and food obsessed, and spend quite a lot of time checking the kids bedrooms for crumbs and old sandwich wrappers. But it's worth it to be able to jump, run and carry on with the family. And my skin allergies are cured as well (it's the home cooked food. Yummo!)

Tommie

Woof Mischa. It's interesting you know, even when I am overfed all I think about is food. Now I can run again I forget about it for a while. I am staying with a friend next week who chases balls with me. My Dad is away for a week. I am still hoping he forgets to tell them I am on a diet. woof Tommie xx

Noreen

Tommie - I'm not a dog but share your problem. I tell myself I am not greedy - I just like to eat a lot. My husband, Peter, doesn't eat a lot so I've resorted to asking him to plate-up our meals and give me a "Peter serving". It works as long he then locks me out of the kitchen. Cheers - Noreen

Tommie

Woof Noreen .. the kitchen locking out is basically Dad's strategy. It obviously works cross species...woof Tommie

Cleo the schnoodle

You ARE a fat boy aren't you? But so hot!

Tommie

Woof Cleo.I wondered when the offers would start pouring in. woof T

Jessie

G'day Tommie look I"m no saint and I admit to being a tad roundish but its not for lack of willpower which I always relegate to its proper place in the scheme of things. No, my problem is my Dad who I take for occasional walks and whose leftovers (as if) I would religiously eat if it helped though as I said I am no saint. I don't feed him so apart from prayer I don't have a dogs chance of setting him on a less rotund course. Cheers Jessie PS My friends call me curvy and I am currently unattached

Tommie

Woof Jessie ... It is kind of you to be so concerned about your Dad. But at Dog-a-Non for Over-eaters, I learnt that I had to put my own needs before my masters. Woof Woof - Tommie PS. I am currently unattached as well.

Trish's doggelganger

hi tommie i think you are very brave, braver even than your dad. people seem to hate fat people and fat dogs even more than other addicts these days. don't misunderstand me, i am not suggesting that any addiction or any addicts should be treated as a moral issue. have you read that new book, memoirs of an addicted brain? it's eally good. anyway, tommie, all the best with your journey xxx

Tommie

WOOF ... Thanks for your support Trish. Thing is, although I have plenty of time to read, I am usually too busy thinking about food to read about addiction. But I'll tell Dad about it. He is very interested in addiction. He used to run a program for drug addicts in the bush. I'll ask him to write about it. Woof Woof Txx

Julia

Ooh, yes please (ask him to write about it, I mean)... I'd be really interested. Jxx

Tommie

Woof Julia. I will. I think we are travelling north soon as well. That will bring back some memories for Dad. woof woof Txx