Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

The following article from Associated Press says something that many of us already know: it’s easier to exercise and lose weight with a partner, and dogs make good partners.

• Dogs make good diet buddies

In a somewhat scientific study involving 92 people and 89 dogs, comissioned by diet pet-food maker Hill’s Pet Nutrition, they found that people with dogs did slightly better at losing weight and keeping it off than those without.

Curiously, the dogs in the study lost more weight overall than the humans, and the dogs had more energy and did not increase begging. Having someone much larger than you hold absolute control over your portion size is apparently a very effective diet technique.