January is the time of year when people prioritize healthy habits and weight loss to achieve their New Year’s resolutions. “I think it’s good to set resolutions,” said Kern Brar, MD, a board-certified internist at Tri-City Primary Care. “Recognizing that we are not happy with our current state of affairs, forces us to move away from denial toward acceptance, to take action to resolve to do something different or better than the year before.”
“The patients I see are all motivated to lose weight, but for various reasons,” added Dr. Brar. “Some do it because they want to be able to attend a child’s wedding or get down on their hands and knees to play with grandkids. Others are trying to better manage their diabetes or hypertension and reduce the number of medications they take. Patients are often referred to me by orthopedic surgeons after hip or back surgery to relieve some of the pressure on their joints or by plastic surgeons whose patients want to lose their ‘love handles.’ With the Fit3D scanner, we now have one of the most high-tech tools available to help patients meet their weight loss goals.”
The Fit3D scanner is designed to accurately track data such as circumference measurements, body composition, body shape rating, basal metabolic rate (BMR), lean muscle mass, posture analytics, weight, balance and more, while displaying this information in a dashboard on any internet enabled device. After stepping onto the machine’s circular platform, patients hold onto handles while it gently rotates for about a minute so that the non-invasive scanner can create a full body, 3D silhouette avatar of themselves. Once a baseline is established, the data can be used to compare patients to others based on gender and age; subsequent scans can be used to track weight loss progress.
“I review the detailed Fit3D report with my patients so that we can customize their weight loss journey,” said Dr. Brar. “By accurately measuring patients’ BMR, which is the number of calories burned while at rest, we can better determine ways to increase their lean mass and decrease body fat through a balance of exercise and good nutrition.”
“Understanding body fat percentage is increasingly important,” added Dr. Brar. “For years, we have understood its relationship to diabetes and hypertension, but now we are seeing correlations between it and cancers such as oral, gastric, colon and breast. Studies are showing that weight loss for chemotherapy and cancer patients helps them with their immunity.”
Although the Fit3D scanner is available at a handful of gyms and physical therapy facilities throughout San Diego, TCPC is the only hospital-affiliated clinical practice in North County to currently offer this technology. Dr. Brar, who prefers a natural approach to health, integrates this tool with medically monitored weight loss to encourage accountability and behavior modification based on data.
“At the end of the day, most patients want to lose weight to improve their quality of life so they can spend more time with family and loved ones,” said Dr. Brar. “We see many husbands and wives come in together, as well as neighbors or golf and tennis partners because they want to support one another.”
“At Tri-City Primary Care, we also provide individualized support through monthly check-ins, as well as tools, such as the FIT 3D scanner, to customize their weight loss journey so that they can achieve their New Year’s resolutions and maintain their healthy habits. Data is powerful and doesn’t lie. My patients are happy with their results, which makes me happy and reassured that we are on the right path to helping people!”
To learn more about the Primary Care Services offered at Tri-City Medical Center, call 855-222-8262 to be referred to a Tri-City Primary Care physician.
