Golden Goalies therapy

Bea Loozer

Each Saturday, Golden Goalies have a therapy session, and we all appreciate members who step forward to offer one. “Therapy” is our word for a short session on a topic we’re interested in. Often these sessions relate to healthy eating. But “health” is a broad topic, so it’s not unusual to hear a member or guest share thoughts about mindfulness, step trackers, etc.

By the way, we rely on volunteers. Not everyone steps up to present a therapy. Anyway, here are two recent favorites of mine.

Paula told us about bio-markers, which could be called age-defying secrets. Here are a few bio-markers she described:

– body fat percentage

– basal metabolic rate (calories you burn when “doing nothing”

– aerobic capacity

– glucose tolerance/intolerance

– ratio of total cholesterol to HDL

– bone density

OK, this sounds like a lot to take in, but Paula made her points clear, and she had all of us engaged. I hope I understood her point about building oxygen saturation, and I believe I did get her point about putting on muscle rather than just losing weight. Kudos to Paula. And thanks for the laughs. 48 long!

In her therapy, Debbie shared a view of sugar as an addictive substance. She backed it up with science, but what captured my interest was how she brought it home by sharing stories. As we know, personal stories can have power. Without revealing personal family stories in this article, let me just share one way Debbie tried to conquer a sugar addiction. She made a pact with a relative to not eat sweets (or chips) for two months, which we think is how long it takes to break an addiction. I’ll spare readers the details, but those involved found it helpful to link staying away from sugar to a monetary reward. She shared specifics in humorous points about a serious topic. Serious? With diabetes in the family — yes, it’s serious. Kudos to Debbie for her efforts and for sharing her story in a therapy.

Join us to enjoy our company and some good laughs. You will also find support, motivation and shared wisdom. Weigh-in is Saturday from 7:00 to 7:40 a.m. in Room A-8, near the Cottonwood Library. The meeting starts after weigh-in. Contact Rita at 895-2559 for more information.