green bean diet

[Mandy]

Someone had mentioned on a previous topic the use of a green bean diet. I would really love it if someone could tell me what teh diet is. Henry could stand to lose a little and if this diet would help him do that while filling his tummy it would be wonderful. Does anyone know what the diet is?

[Krista]

You substitute canned green beans -no salt added kind- for a portion of his kibble until at the desired weight.

From what i have heard you subsitute 1/4 of the normal kibble amounts at first, if that doesn't work, try 1/3 and so on up to 1/2 until they start dropping the pounds. I think thats how it works, but I've haven't needed it so far. Supposedly canned unspiced pumpkin works too.

[Mandy]

Thanks Krista!

We will try the green bean diet with Henry...hopefully it works! He doesn't have that much to lose, but I don't like him being even the smnallest overweight. He kind of had a triple whammy last year when he turned two, was neutered, and had a puppy come into the house (i.e. let's see how much puppy food we can steal behind Mommy's back). He's on a lite food and exercise program.

Unfortunately, Jakey loves the diet food and he doesn't need it! He is so full of energy that he burns everything off....wish I was like that! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif

Thanks for the green bean info. I will let everyone know how he gets along with it next month.

[Roxane]

Hi Mandy:
Krista is on the right track and made an important point, make sure the beans are salt free.
Greta and Baylea are both on the plan, 3 days a week. Greta for weight loss and Baylea to maintain her trim figure. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif
Rather than go by measurement, I eyeball the dogs and add what I feel would be appropriate for each one.
In addition I have done away with caloric "treats". Rice cakes, no salt added again, broken into small pieces are enjoyed as much as the "cookies" were.
Would have gone the raw veggie route but the two of them turned up their little noses when offered carrots etc. (Talk about spoiled and having "Mommy" trained!)
Hope you get the results you are after,
Roxane and crew

[Mandy]

Henry loves his new green bean diet (and his new green bean song). Thanks for all of the help. The mistake we made the first night was getting the green beans ready before feeding the boys.....they only wanted their green beanies! So we learned not to have the green beans out until after they have eaten their kibble. Jakey wants green beans too...but we are limiting his green beans because he doesn't need to lose weight.

We don't buy commercial treats such as jerky treats and such, but we do buy their cookies (milkbones). I think I wil lgo back to making their cookies (I know I have the recipee around somewhere). The boys love their veggies so we will probably switch to veggies for treats.

Thanks for the help. Roxane, what a great idea using the green bean diet as a way to maintain weight. Since the boys love it so much, we may just stick with it the way you have after Henners gets his weight down.

[Krista]

Jakey should be able to eat as many green beans as Henry, just don't decrease his kibble like you are decreasing Henry's. The reason this works is that green beans have much fewer calories than the kibble that you are replacing with them, yet the dogs don't go crazy because it helps fill them up.

It is similar to us humans eating a low cal salad or clear soup with a smaller meal. They can help fill you up so you don't eat as much of the higher fat/calorie food.

[Mandy]

I read the back of the green bean can and was shocked at how few calories there are. The reason we haven't been letting Jakey have as many green beans as Henry is because if we did that, he would refuse to eat his kibble....he is always after us to get people food and we are pretty strict about it.....veggies as treats only.....Many times I have to wait him out.....when dinner comes and he won't eat his kibble but wants people food....sorry buddy it doesn't work that way...he gets nothing to eat then and I try him on kibble again in an hour. A few nights he has really stuck to his desire for people food and it has taken me up to five hours to get him to eat his kibble.....but if I give in he would thin k he had me tied around his cute little paw.

[Meemoo]

Does it have to be canned green beans? Can they be fresh ones..do they have to be cooked?
Loren

[Krista]

From what I have read, they can be fresh and raw, but if you want them to absorb the nutrients in the fresh raw veggies you should puree them in a blender before feeding. I guess dogs can't really break down the cell walls of the veggies to digest the nutrients if you dont help a little. --Most of the veggies wild dogs get are already partially digested (since they eat the stomach contents of their prey) so that's how they absorb those nutrients.

I think Fresh would be even better for them than cooked, personally.

[Meemoo]

The only problem I have with the fresh...is that I'm not about the puree it..i'm lazy...hmmm..wonder if i can just cook them..boil them and then store them for a while...got to be better than store bought cans.

Loren

[Owen's Mom]

Actually, the time it would take for you to cook and then seal up green beans in batches would be longer than just throwing them in the blender or food processor. It would depend on what you wanted them to do, if you just want to use them as filler, to help loose some doggie wieght, then you should should cook them off and feed them whole. If you want them to provide some sort of nutritional benefit, then you need to puree them.

http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif


------------------
~~Amy & Owen~~
22.8 lbs of Black and Tan Standard Muscle!!
www.dachshundrescue.org

[Meemoo]

You have a point about taking more time to cook and store than pureeing them. I guess I'm looking for a snack that is low calorie and fills him up..although having nutritional benefit certainly doesn't hurt. I thought about putting some in his Kong while we are at work. Guess you can't have it both ways.

Loren