Dr. O’Hara was in Winchester VA this past Saturday 3-6-2010 ringside to monitor the Gladiator MMA fights. There were 18 fights all together with few minor injuries that were treated and released. The next GCA event Dr. O’Hara will be working is an Operation Octagon event at the Dulles Sports plex on 3-20-2010.
Gladiator fights 3-6-010
March 4th, 2010What is Clean Eating?
February 26th, 2010
I have been asked by patients and blog readers, what is eating clean? I could give the simple answer and say visit www.cleaneatingmag.com to learn more. However, I feel compelled to share my own personal experience with eating clean to give those who want to lose weight and live healthier some hope. On their web site they define clean eating as “consuming food in it’s most natural state…or close as possible to it.” It is not a diet it is a lifestyle. I have told patients for years that diets do not work. What I meant is that if you get on the diet rollercoaster you will be miserable and you will not be healthy. Elimination certain food groups such as carbohydrates from your diet will afford you weight loss, however it can also put you into a ketotic state and place tremendous pressure on your kidneys. Add the carbohydrates back into your diet and return to your “normal” bad eating habits and the weight comes back. Another example would be a low fat, high carbohydrate diet that causes a war with insulin and glucagon in your body. This occurs when you ingest a meal high in carbohydrates or carbohydrates with a high glycemic index. Your pancreas secretes insulin in order to store the glucose in the muscles and liver and then transports the excess via tri-glycerides to fat. Afterwards your insulin levels remain high in the blood and this blocks glucagon the hormone necessary to get glucose from storage back into the blood…so when your brain needs the glucose to function and it cannot get the stored glucose it tells you to eat more carbohydrates. This is not a good situation because you end up eating too many calories and put on weight.
Clean eating is nothing like the aforementioned examples. It is making the correct food choices and preparation so you’re eating a balanced low glycemic index meal that promotes normal insulin levels. This in conjunction with aerobic exercise and moderate resistance training to positively effect the basal metobolic rate and burn calories.
I have experienced this personally over the past 9 months. I initally lost 40 pounds and then added some lean muscle to have a net loss of 30 pounds and 15% body fat. It has become a lifestyle, eating the right foods at the right time and exercising 4-5 times per week. I would never thought I could do it at 48 years old, but there are people older than me that have had even better results. So make the choice today to eat clean and live healthier.
Trouble losing weight?
February 22nd, 2010Have you ever had trouble when attempting to lose weight? Most of us have experienced difficulty especially after 40 years of age. What we need to learn is to eat the right type of foods at the proper time of the day. Skipping meals or reducing certain food groups such as carbohydrates of fats in order to get the “quick fix” is not the correct way to lose weight. An overall changing of your attitude towards food is the way you can lose the weight and keep it off. Can you exercise it off? Most studies indicate exercise alone will only slightly help you lose weight. In fact you can lose more weight with diet alone. The best results however are with diet and exercise combined. Exercise has many benefits including increasing your BMR (basil metabolic rate) helping you burn more calories and weight training will build muscle which burns even more calories and also helps guard against osteoporosis as we age. However, exercise alone is not the answer you have to incorporate proper eating habits in order to acheive the results you desire.
ARP wave therapy used to treat player for the Super Bowl
February 17th, 2010ARP Wave in the press for the Super Bowl:
Elite Fighting Challenge
February 15th, 2010
Dr. O’Hara was ringside for the Elite Fighting Challenge in Richmond VA on Saturday 2-13-2010 to monitor injuries sustained during the contest.
New ARP wave therapy added to the office!
November 11th, 2009Dr. O’Hara is the exclusive provider of the ARP Wave therapy in Virginia. The ARP has been around for the last 17 years but has been improved to treat many different physical complaints. Professional athletes from around the country are using the ARP to recover faster from their sports injuries and surgeries. To find out more about the ARP and how it can help you recover from your acute and chronic complaints click here: http://www.arpwave.com/press5.htm
Clean Eating workshop
October 14th, 2009Next Tuesday 10/20/2009 Dr. O’Hara will be hosting a clean eating workshop at the office. To register please call 703-368-8800 or e-mail drohara@spinesportrehab.com
Weekly Health Tip
August 27th, 2009Eating more fiber is essential to your health! There are various reports out there about how much fiber we should consume per day, but the bottom line is that the typical American diet is far too low in fiber. Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet along with wheat germ, flax seed, whole oats, etc… will add the fiber necessary for healthy bowel function.
Weekly Health Tip
August 4th, 2009Don’t eat carbohydrates on or after 6pm. Most carbohydrates when eaten at the wrong time of the day will be stored as fat in your body. Your carbohydrate consumption should always be before 6pm at night. So at dinner, have a portion of lean meat or fish and a vegetable or salad with low carb dressing, preferably a vinaigrette. Recent studies have shown vinegar reduces fat absorption. Doing this simple change in your diet along with adding 30 minutes of exercise per day such as walking, jogging or biking will help you reduce that extra 10-15 pounds you may be carrying around.
