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SALT LAKE CITY — Before you get fixated on the number on the bathroom scale, remember that your weight doesn't always tell the whole story. But there is one machine that can do that.
In the year before Rachel Alday had her first baby, she says she gained about 25 pounds.
"I gained 65 to 75 pounds during my pregnancy," Alday said.
She had her baby last November and has since lost 50 pounds.
"I have another 35 to 40 (to lose) before I'm happy in where I want to be," she said.
I feel good I've lost some of the weight, but yeah, it's frustrating for sure to be stuck at a certain spot even though I'm working really hard.
–new mom Rachel Alday
And Alday is doing everything by the book. She counts calories and works out with a personal trainer, but can't seem to lose the last of her baby weight.
"I mean, I feel good I've lost some of the weight, but yeah, it's frustrating for sure to be stuck at a certain spot even though I'm working really hard," Alday said.
The solution could lie in a machine called the Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), which until now, has been used only to measure bone density in patients with osteoporosis. DXA can also measure total body composition and fat content.
"We recently just realized the DXA Scan can be used to do body composition," said Julienne McCulloch, exercise physiologist at Park City Medical Center. "It kind of tells us what's going on inside the body... So when we measure someone with the DXA, if gave us one of the most accurate results."
McCulloch adds that the scan addresses the whole body and not just a number on the scale.
At the Live Well Center in Park City, Alday finally got some answers.
"Now that I know that the lower half of my body is definitely an area with a higher percent of body fat, that's one thing I'm going to target with my trainer going forward," Alday said.
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measures bone density. Two X-ray beams with different energy levels are aimed at the patient's bones. When soft tissue absorption is subtracted from the equation, bone density is calculated from the absorption of each beam by bone.
McCulloch says it can be an eye-opener for those who are thinner but still have a high percentage of body fat.
"They can be shocked at how much percent body fat they have even though they're thin," McColloch said.
Alday says she's happy to know the results from her scan.
"I think this information will definitely help me move forward and be the motivation that I need to lose that last few pounds to get to my goal weight," Alday said.
The DXA can also tell you exactly how much an individual body part weighs.
If you're wondering why that matters, a mom like Alday could find out her right arm weighs more than her left, which could be a sign it's time to carry the baby with the other arm.
