Online - January 12, 2004

Keep Your Enemies Close

MyPetFat Weight Loss Tool

It starts like any other day: gym, commute, work … lunch date with Rita.

You enter the restaurant, spy her at a table, and are promptly overcome with terror. There, on the table, looms a grotesque, monstrous blob. You shriek and avert your eyes from the impending carnage.

“Oh, this?” she shrugs. “It’s my Pet Fat.”

Brainchild of the once obese Jay Jacobs, MyPetFat is a weight-loss incentive unlike any other. Intended as a reminder to dieters, it’s a replica of the enemy — human body fat — that must be toted along throughout the day, keeping you focused on your goal. Available in three weights (one ounce, one pound, and the frightening five-pounder Rita’s partial to), it’s helped many — including Jay, who’s lost 115 of his original 380 pounds — stay on track.

All in all, MyPetFat is designed to inspire and motivate. And it’s an all-purpose tool, compatible with any diet or exercise plan. Only, unlike your other pets, this is not cuddly, and it won’t do tricks.

Though it could probably be used to scare off intruders.

Available online at mypetfat.com.