Bea Loozer

Congratulations to Toni, who reached her weight goal recently. Everyone in the Golden Goalies is either working on reaching a goal or working to maintain an achieved goal. So it’s time to celebrate Toni and others, each of whom is working on her own goal.

Maybe it’s also time to use the internet to see what doctors consider to be a normal goal for your height.

I’m talking about the BMI, which is a tool that can be used to see where we, as individuals, stand in relation to weight standards. BMI stands body mass index, and it’s a measure of weight health.

A BMI chart shows body weight in inches and height in pounds. If you are interested, you might want to look at a chart. Or you might want to go online and search for BMI calculator instead of a chart. For the calculator, you just plug in your height and weight. Whether you use a simple calculator or look at a body mass table (chart), your BMI gives you some information on how you are progressing toward weight health.

The BMI number simply tells you — based on your height, no matter what it is — whether your weight is deemed normal or a less pleasant term. We might not love the word normal, but in this case I prefer it to obese. I remember when my husband was in his early ‘30s and his doctor asked him how long he had been obese. Yow! We had never considered him obese, but that’s the term the doctor chose. And I’ve been there too. Just now I used the BMI calculator and plugged in my current height and my old weight — basically what I weighed a few months after moving to Sun Lakes with its many opportunities to eat out. Yes, maybe because of all that enjoyable restaurant dining I was in the obese group. I don’t like that I was labeled obese, but actually it is no shame. It was just a wake-up call. My BMI was over 30. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is normal.

(Note: this is something we can choose to do as individuals — not a Golden Goalie routine task.) If you do check your BMI, you might also find it helpful to check your waist circumference. Looking at both BMI and waist size can make you aware of your risk for developing obesity-associated conditions. Having most of your fat around your waist rather than your hips can indicate a higher risk for heart disease and type two diabetes.

I’m pretty sure I’m not depressing our members. I say that because Golden Goalies are a committed bunch. We are making progress, and that’s not depressing. Like me, we might start out obese, but we’re closing in on normal or even, like Toni, have achieved it and plan to stay there even if it isn’t our favorite word.

Join our group for support, encouragement, shared wisdom and some good laughs. Weigh-in is between 7:00-7:40 a.m. in the Mirror Room of Sun Lakes Country Club. The meeting starts after weigh-in next door in the Friendship Room. Contact Rita at 895-2559 for more information.