%archive_title% — BJC Health Connected Care

Monica Kubizniak explains the Glycaemic Index

By Monica Kubizniak, Dietitian

Monica Kubizniak is a dietitian at BJC Health.

BJC Health provides a connected care multidisciplinary team philosophy to deliver positive lifestyle outcomes through a holistic approach to those with degenerative & inflammatory arthritis, tendon injury and lifestyle diseases. Our clinics are located in Parramatta, Chatswood and Brookvale. Contact us.

This blog focuses on arthritis-related diseases, healthcare in general, and our Connected Care philosophy.

Why Body Composition testing is better than your weighing scales

By Suzy Oglesby, Exercise Physiologist

At some point in our lives most of us experience a “health kick” where we get the urge to curb our eating habits and pound the pavement in the pursuit of physical perfection. It may be summer time motivating us to sculpt our beach body, or simply not quite fitting into our favourite jeans that gives us the subtle nudge that we need to drop a few kilograms.

Whilst we may initially ‘feel’ the benefits of our health kick, there is only so long we can keep going without physically seeing results.

Unfortunately for most of us our progress monitor is the trusty bathroom scale, and while our clothes seem to be loosening the scales are telling us a different tale.

At this point many people will accept defeat and resume their former ways. What we don’t know is that our health kick is actually working by changing the composition of our body i.e. our fat and muscle mass.

Muscle and fat have different densities and hence replacing the same mass of fat with muscle will not change our weight but will reduce our measurements. So while the scales didn’t necessarily lie to us they didn’t give us the bigger picture either that would have boosted our motivation to continue.

Enter the DXA body composition scan!

A DXA scan not only gives an accurate measure of body weight but also gives us valuable information about the composition of our body such as our body fat percentage, our lean tissue and bone weight. While some of the more expensive scales will give a reading of body fat percentage, their accuracy is significantly affected by our ever changing hydration levels. In addition their methods involve calculations rather than absolute measurements of the different tissues that make up our body.

Traditionally underwater weighing was seen as the most accurate method of determining body fat. However in recent years the DXA body composition scan has become the gold standard.

DXA scans are unique in that they employ a 3 tissue (muscle, fat and bone) system of body composition assessment, unlike most other methods which use a 2 tissue model (muscle and fat). While the DXA scan does involve radiation, the levels are extremely low – in fact you will get more radiation from a flight across the country than you will from the scan.

So the next time you hear the fitness fairy knocking on your door, book in at BJC Health for a DXA body composition scan and stay on track this time!

Suzy Oglesby is an exercise physiologist and a bone density technician at BJC Health.

Stop Press: Stopping recurrent fractures after suffering a fracture from weak bones (osteoporosis) is a priority. We have launched our Refracture Prevention Program at our Parramatta clinic to stop bones breaking.

Nature’s Superfoods reduce Cholesterol

Mission accomplished (target weight reached)

By Errol Lim, Physiotherapist

It all started some 6 months ago when I said to myself: “You need to lose some weight. You will continue falling ill if you don’t do something about your lifestyle.”

The whispers from the angel on my shoulder were finally getting through. It was not like I led a life of excess, I was just like anyone else with the responsibilities of work and family. However, sleep deprivation, poor diet and an inability to exercise without falling ill were “my excuses” for the state of health I was in.

The change needed was a change in mindset and then setting a goal. Voicing my goal to my friends and family then made me accountable.

The next step was to get a team around me whom I could trust and I knew was going to help me achieve my mission of losing weight, reducing my blood pressure and stop catching viruses.

Eating well has been the biggest challenge. The team involved here was of course led by my dietitian, Monica Kubizniak but it also included my wife, my mother and friends whom had to understand the reasons for my new and unusual eating habits. Their support was vital through this journey. The unfamiliarity of certain foods recommended was the initial block but now what I eat has become habitual and I actually like it – amazing!

The fitness training though tough 6 months ago, has been what I look forward to each week. Stepping it up to two training sessions a week has been easy with the outcomes being tremendous. I have really enjoyed being pushed and have learnt alot about how hard my body can perform safely. For this, I am very grateful to Jai, my personal trainer.

Apart from everything I have mentioned, I attribute having the mindset as the most important. In order to achieve this, I needed to feel somewhat healthy. The defining point was the decision to sleep early each night when my kids went to sleep allowing me to get a solid 7 to 8 hours each night. This meant waking up fresh with a clear mind to start my day. Prior to the past 6 months, I was struggling with numerous viruses over the past 2.5 years since my son was born mainly due to a lack of sleep. When I made a commitment to sleep more, I felt confident to be able to handle the changes I needed to make.

Sleep – who would have thought this was so important.

We all know what we need to do, we just don’t listen to our bodies often enough.

I am now happy to say that I have achieved my target of 74kg, lowered my blood pressure and been able to stay away from the dreaded cold. However, the mission will never be fully accomplished as the real test will be to keep my new found state of health for a long time to come.

What’s the next target you ask?

Well, I am off to The World University Games in Shenzen in August as the physiotherapist. My goal is to look a lot leaner, fitter and stronger just like the Australian athletes I will be treating. I’ll keep you all posted.

Errol Lim is a physiotherapist and a director of BJC Health.