If you have had to change your workstation to home recently, you may have noticed some new aches and pains in your back and upper body as you adjust to your new set up.

Below are 5 simple things you can do to help make sure your workspace is ergonomically correct.

1.Position monitor at least 50cm away and directly in front of you. If you need to raise your computer screen, consider using books or a small box, which helps reduce neck strain at work. When positioning your monitor, the top of monitor should be in level with your eye line.

2.Adjust chair height so your feet rest flat on the floor and your knees are level with your hips. To find this balance, some may need a foot stool to secure proper alignment.

3.Make sure that the weight of your arms is supported at all times. If your arms are not supported, the muscles of your neck and shoulders will be working overtime. Adjust the armrests on your chair to the point where your arms are slightly lifted at the shoulders. Doing so will allow the armrest to support just the elbow and take weight off the shoulders.

4.Take steps to control screen glare and make sure that the monitor is not placed in front of a window or a bright background. Position the computer with the window to your side to control light levels and glare. Also, be sure to look up and away from the monitor regularly, blinking your eyes to help reduce eye fatigue.

5.Use the backrest of the chair for support to prevent muscle discomfort. You should avoid working in the forward position or sitting on the edge of the seat without back support. Your goals is to maintain the normal “S” shaped curve of the spine. Ensure that your ear is in line with your shoulder, chin in and avoid sticking your chin too far forward as this places stress on the neck and shoulders

Following these five steps should improve the ergonomics of your desk and help you to enjoy a more comfortable work space.

Diabetes Australia issued a wake up call on July 14th 2019 about the diabetes epidemic which is overwhelming Australia’s hospitals after a new study found that people with diabetes accounted for around one-third of all hospitalisations.

A recent study at Austin Health, a major tertiary health service in Melbourne’s north-east, found that 34% of patients had diabetes. Surprisingly, 5% of these people had silent, undiagnosed type 2 diabetes that was only detected after they were admitted to hospital.

What is Diabetes

Diabetes is the name given to a group of different conditions in which the body cannot maintain healthy levels of glucose (a type of sugar) in the blood. When a food containing carbohydrate is eaten, your body digests the carbohydrate into sugar (called glucose), which can then be used as energy by the cells in your body.

A hormone called insulin is needed for transferring glucose from the bloodstream to enter the body cells and be converted to energy. In people with diabetes, blood glucose levels are often higher than normal because either the body does not produce insulin (type 1 diabetes) or cannot use insulin properly (type 2 diabetes).

High levels of glucose in the bloodstream can lead to short term complications such as:

• passing large amounts of urine
• being extremely thirsty and drinking lots of fluids
• being tired
• having blurred vision
• having frequent skin infections and being slow to heal

Blood glucose levels are normally between about 4.0 and 8.0 mmol/L. People with diabetes should aim for blood glucose levels as near to normal as possible, but individual targets should always be discussed with your diabetes health care professional.

Controlling diabetes is important to prevent serious long term complications such as:

• heart and circulation problems
• infections
• kidney disease
• eye problems, which can lead to blindness
• nerve damage to the lower limbs and other parts of the body

Types of Diabetes

There are three types of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes affects less than 1% of all Australians. It can appear at any age, but most commonly in childhood and early adult life. People with type 1 diabetes cannot produce enough insulin, and therefore they must inject themselves with insulin several times a day.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, affecting 7.1 % of all Australians over the age of 25 years. This type of diabetes most often occurs in people over 40 years of age who are overweight and/or have a family history of type 2 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, the body is unable to use insulin properly (they are insulin resistant) and the pancreas may not make enough insulin. Type 2 diabetes may be treated by diet, exercise and/or tablets. Insulin injections may be required.

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes occurs in around 5% of all pregnant women in Australia, usually occurring between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. The hormonal changes of pregnancy combined with a predisposition for poor insulin production or utilisation, results in increased blood glucose levels in the mother and the baby. For most women with gestational diabetes, the diabetes will disappear after the baby is born. However, 30-50% of women who have gestational diabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes later in life.

 Managing Diabetes

 For people using insulin, regular physical activity and a healthy diet that is well matched to insulin medication is key to well-controlled blood glucose levels. They also need to consider the timing, amount and type of carbohydrate foods they eat, as well as the timing, amount and type of insulin they take. Regular blood glucose testing will help you manage your diabetes. All people with diabetes should avoid smoking.

 Healthy eating tips for people with Diabetes

A healthy diet used in the treatment of diabetes is similar to the diet recommended for all Australians. To help manage your diabetes, Diabetes Australia recommend that you:

1. Eat regular meals and healthy snacks spread over the day
2. Base meals on high fibre carbohydrate foods such as wholegrain breads and cereals, beans, lentils, vegetables and fruits
3. Watch the amount of fat you eat and limit the amount of saturated fat by choosing lean meats and low fat dairy foods. Try to avoid fried takeaway foods, pastries and biscuits
4. Keep your weight within the healthy weight range by matching the amount of food you eat with the amount you burn up each day (see weight management fact sheet)

If I can help with your Health and Fitness needs, please feel free to give me a call on 9365 7033.

All the best,

Dirk

I think any time of day that suits your lifestyle is a good time to work out. As long as you’re moving, and get outdoors or to the gym I really don’t mind .

There are benefits to working out before you head to the office and benefits to working out after you’ve finished for the day. But if you have a particularly busy schedule, taking a midday break from your desk for a workout definitely has its advantages.

Hear are my top seven reasons why midday workouts can be particularly beneficial:

1. Boosts your mood and energy levels

Exercise releases endorphins – those feel good neurotransmitters which produce a general feeling of wellbeing. Couple that with the invigorating feeling that comes post-workout and you’ll be flying through your afternoon meetings.

2. Creates more free time

If you hit the gym at lunchtime, you don’t need to wake up early to squeeze in a morning workout session, or head to the gym after work during those last few precious hours of sunlight. Plus, if you’re usually an afternoon exerciser, working out in the middle of the day means you’re less likely to find excuses to put off exercise between lunchtime and the end of the day.

3. Reduces your chance of illness

It seems counterproductive to say that engaging in physical activity at lunchtime will reduce your chance of illness and injury, but sitting for long periods of time has been linked to increased risk of premature death, particularly from cardiovascular disease. It is also associated with increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cancer. An Australian study published in the journal Circulation found that for every hour that a person spends sitting, their individual risk of death from all causes rose 11 per cent, their risk of death from cardiovascular disease rose 18 per cent and their risk of dying from cancer, 9 per cent.  What better reason to step away from the desk!

4. Saves money

You can’t head to a café if you’re spending your lunch breaks at the gym, which means you’re not going to be spending your hard earned cash on store-bought food. Save the cash and spend it on something you really want.

5. Saves calories

As well as saving money from avoiding buying your lunch, you’ll also be doing a favour to your waistline. The food we make at home is always going to healthier than the meals available from the corner store or local café. It only takes a couple of minutes to prep a healthy, fresh salad at home. You don’t even need to spend time chopping! Just throw some rocket, spinach, cherry tomatoes, beans, corn kernels, and a tin of tuna into a lunchbox and you’re ready to go.

6. Reduces stress

Exercise is a proven way to reduce stress – so taking a break in the middle of the day to work up a sweat is a great way to deal with looming deadlines and difficult co-workers. When we exercise, our brains produce more serotonin, a chemical which acts as a mood stabiliser that helps to relieve depression and reduce stress.

7. Improves your problem solving skills

Sometimes a situation crops up early in the workday that needs a great deal of brain power to solve. When this happens, the best solution is to engage in a little lunchtime sweat session. When our blood flow and oxygen levels are increased, the brain creates new synapses – or connections – which improve our cognitive performance, helping us to solve those tricky problems at work.

I don’t know about you, but I am having to work harder to keep my weight in check over the past couple of weeks due to the extra social comittments and increased eating and drinking that goes hand in hand.

A huge secret to keeping your body in the fat burning zone has to do with your liver. It’s the organ in your body where fat is metabolised, so it sets the pace for dropping all those unwanted kilos.

When it can’t do its job of burning through your fat stores efficiently, you don’t get the rapid fat loss that you want.

One of the greatest ways to optimise your fat loss speed is to trick your body by following this simple rule: keep your liver clean from as many toxins as possible.

You fill your liver with toxins when you eat processed and fried foods, drink alcohol, feel stressed and are exposed to environmental pollutants.

The good news is there are many foods that cleanse the liver by stimulating our natural ability to clean toxic waste from the body!

Here are the top 10 foods that keep your liver burning up your fat at the fastest speed possible so all your efforts get you even more results:

1. Apples: are high in pectin, providing the body the nutrients to cleanse and release toxins from the digestive tract. This makes it easier for the liver to handle the toxic load during the cleansing process.

2. Avocados: this nutrient-dense super-food helps the body produce glutathione, which is necessary for the liver to cleanse harmful toxins. Recent studies indicate improved liver health when avocados are eaten on a regular basis.

3. Beetroot: is extremely high in plant-flavonoids and beta-carotene, which helps stimulate and improve overall liver function.

4. Flaxseed and olive oil: are great for the liver because they provide healthy fats that absorb harmful toxins in the body. This takes some of the “toxic overload” burden off the liver.

5. Garlic: just a small amount actually activates liver enzymes, which flushes out toxins. Garlic is also high in allicin and selenium, two natural compounds that aid in liver cleansing.

6. Grapefruit: is high in a variety of antioxidants, including vitamin C, which increases the natural cleansing processes of the liver. Even just a half a grapefruit will boost the production of liver enzymes that help flush out carcinogens and other harmful toxins.

7. Green Tea: is loaded with plant antioxidants known as catechins, which assists the livers overall functions in the body.

8. Leafy Green Vegetables: arugula, spinach, greens and chicory are among the most powerful allies in cleansing the liver. They are extremely high in plant chlorophylls, which literally suck up toxins from the blood stream. With their powerful ability to neutralize chemicals and pesticides, they offer a great protective mechanism for the liver!

9. Natural starchy carbs: such as brown rice, sweet potato, and squash are rich in B vitamins, which improve fat metabolisation, liver function, and liver decongestion.

10. Turmeric: the liver’s favourite spice. Add some of this detoxifying spiciness into your next soup, stew, or veggie to boost liver detox, by assisting enzymes that actively flush out known dietary carcinogens.

In addition to these 10 great foods, make sure you drink plenty of water (at least 3 litres a day) to help flush away unwanted toxins from your system, take a multivitamin to combat the effects of increased alcohol consumption and try to get plenty of rest.

Yours in health,

Dirk

At times, we all need to lift our spirits in an instant. Luckily, some environmental and situational factors are easy to control. If you have a grumpy friend, you can simply walk away and call up an optimistic friend. If sad movies usually leave you feeling flat long after watching, you can stick to comedies or other uplifting genres. But if you are made to deal with a difficult individual who is a co-worker or family member, escaping may not be so simple. And you certainly can’t control the weather…. [Read More]

The Truth about Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the body’s ideal fuel for most of your bodies functions. They supply the body with the energy needed for the muscles, brain and central nervous system. In fact, the human brain depends exclusively on carbohydrates for its energy. Carbohydrates are found in fruits, vegetables, beans, dairy products, foods made from grain products, and sweeteners such as sugar, honey, and corn syrup…. [Read More]

Running is something many of us, don’t do too much of these days or do but not consistently enough. However it’s something which many people fall in love with upon giving it a proper try. The challenge itself can be enough to motivate some, but for the others who think it’s out of their reach. Here are some benefits running can have to not just your health, but your life:

… [Read More]

Have you ever coached a team?

Imagine that you’re standing on the rugby field, and it’s swarming with 13-year-old boy’s, each sporting identical black head gear. With uniforms on, even the parents can’t always tell which boy is theirs from across the field!

From your vantage point in the middle of the field though, you can see which boy’s know how to run straight ahead, which know how to handle the ball well, which can keep their eye on their opponent…… [Read More]

I don’t know if you’re the type of person who can sit for hours at the top of a mountain, meditating…

Or if – like the vast majority of people I know – you just THINK about sitting at the top of a mountain, meditating, and all you can imagine is how long you’ll be twiddling your thumbs before you go flying down that mountain, screaming “I’m sorry! I’ll meditate tomorrow!”, then I have something for you to consider.

If you haven’t heard much about it yet, you will. I’m talking about breath work. It’s only going to get more attention in 2018 than it already has…. [Read More]