Sheehan Personal Training Blog

I just finished reading an article from boston.com about the rising obesity rates in this country. I was surprised to learn that Massachusetts ranks among the states with the lowest rate of adult obesity at 21.2 percent.

I was surprised because I was at Seagull Beach on Saturday, and I think most of that 21.2 percent was there at the same time!

I am the first one to espouse the fact that we all need to love the body that we have, but at the same time when did the world become so coy about being close to naked when you are 100 lbs overweight???? I have seen women in bikinis that may need to lose some weight, but what I saw on Saturday was as close to pornography that you can get on a public beach. I’m not talking tankini, I’m talking string bikini and you had to look real hard to find the string!

LeAnna and I work hard to stay in shape, and we were the ones that almost felt uncomfortable being there. It seems that since 70 % of Americans are now overweight, healthy people are now the ones out of place in public! OK, so I may be exagerrating, but it is a shame how many people have given up and chosen to let themselves go because they would rather enjoy the short-term pleasure of overeating, and forgo the short-term discomfort of working out. Vanity aside, most of the people we saw on Saturday will have to live with the consequences of the lifestyle they have chosen if they have not already. At that point they will wish they had “suffered” through a little exercise and some moderation in their diet….

Head Hungry I’m hoping that some of you can relate to this issue. You follow your meal plan, lift your weights, do your cardio, and see the results of all of your hard work inching closer and closer to your goal weight – and then something uncontrollable happens. You get what I call “head hungry”.

I describe head hungry as something that strikes when you are not really hungry at all, but still you feel the need to eat something! So you set off and begin your nibbling fest eating this and eating that with every intention of stopping after one more bite…but you don’t until you are so stuffed and maybe disgusted by the sight of food (or yourself for that matter!).

I find that I get head hungry on a monthly basis, and it lasts for about three days. Or should I say it takes me about three days to get control of the situation and put an end to it. During those three days I do try to use measures to stop the problem … but they don’t work for me. Things like brushing my teeth after eating, waiting 15 minutes between snacks, etc.

The only thing that ever really helps me to put a stop to the insanity is to 1) Let it go, 2) Stop beating myself up 3) Pull out my trusty food journal and get back on track!!! That being said, I would love for someone to share any advice they may have for getting back on track – something that maybe helps stop the insanity before I stuff myself for another three days in July!!

I spent the weekend down the cape, and yesterday morning I decided to go out and get the newspaper and gas before packing up to go home.

Being heavily involved in fitness and health, I am always observing my surroundings and I do this with no judgment whatsoever. I truly believe that there is such an overload of misinformation that is perpetuated by the media and doctors alike, that one must have a strong testament and willingness to have a fighting chance to stay healthy.

I often talk about quality of life vs. length of life, and as I pumped my gas I watched the gentleman in front of me filling a 2 1/2 gallon gas can. He was somewhere in his mid 50’s, and quite obese. He gave his best shot at style, and he was wearing Dockers and a polo shirt, which looks like your typical cape wardrobe in June. I would estimate that he was about 75 lbs overweight, and uncomfortable is the word that came to mind as I watched him arduously take on the minor task of filling up his car and gas can with gas.

The first project that he attempted was getting out of his car. His movements came in stages as he first turned his body sideways, and then with a burst of energy, he pulled himself up and out of the car. This movement did cause him to momentarily lose his breath, and there was a grunt included with his exit. He then proceeded to move to the back of his vehicle, where he removed his portable gas tank for filling. He placed the tank on the ground, and then leaned on the car as he filled the tank up. Upon completing, he hung up the hose and leaned over with a grunt to put the top on the tank.

The weight of unleaded gasoline is approximately 6.2 lbs per gallon, so I am estimating that the tank would now weigh less than 16 lbs. When he picked up the tank, you would have thought that it was filled with lead. He struggled as he lifted this weight with both hands, and placed it in the back of his hatchback. He then slowly moved to the driver’s door, and squeezed himself back into the car, again in two stages.

My question is this. At what point do people give up? When I watch what transpired today, I think that it must be such an effort to just be living when you are this out of shape. Not only are menial tasks an effort when you are in this shape, but how many diseases would you already possess or be in danger of contracting when you treat your body this way? Even more upsetting is the fact that when this gentleman looks around, he realizes that he is closer to the norm than someone who actually does the work to be healthy!

It is never too late to get healthy. Exercise and nutrition can reverse most diseases, and astoundingly improve your quality of life!

We like to ask our clients at SPT, do you want to look good, or do you want to look good naked?

There’s a big difference because these days most people can usually find a nice set of clothes that can hide the bulges, but guess what? It’s almost June and time to don the bathing suit! This is where the rubber hits the road, and the world can see how hard we’ve been working to get in shape.

The good thing is that it is never too late to get started. Many people target different times of the year to start an exercise and nutrition program, and then feel guilty and like a failure when it falls apart. What these people do wrong is this. Instead of changing their lifestyle and making changes that can last a lifetime, they look at adding an exercise regimen into their lives that will have an expiration date. The same goes for nutrition. If you embark on a “diet”, statistics show that it will fail 95% of the time. That’s right, you have a 5% chance of accomplishing your goals with a diet!

So fire up and make a commitment to change your life forever. Start slowly and eliminate some of the bad things that you are eating on a daily basis (we all know what they are), and increase your physical activity to jump start the metabolism. Once you get those good chemicals firing in the brain, you will not only look better, but you will feel better too! Like we say:

When you feel better & look better, LIFE GETS BETTER!!!!!

LeAnna and I decide to see a naturopathic doctor because we are exploring options other than conventional medicine for our wellness moving forward. We find one in the general area and make an appointment to meet and discuss our options.

This naturopath seemed very knowledgeable, and we went through the whole evaluation absorbing his comments and techniques to assess our medical condition. I have to admit I was quite impressed as he moved quickly and efficiently, coming up with a diagnosis based on our muscular strength.

Our next appointment was a treatment, and it ended with a complete evaluation of our nutrient intake. LeAnna is 5″2″ and weighs 108 lbs, and I am 5″7″ and weigh 160. We are not too far from our ideal weight goals, but we figured it would not hurt to talk to a professional about his opinion.

Call me starstruck, but we walked out of the office after paying a big bill for nutritional supplements that went somewhat against our philosophy of veganism and over-supplementation.

The following day I was on a flight to Arizona, and somewhere over the midwest, a wave or rage came over me. I could not believe that I was talked into buying these products that go against my beliefs, and especially from this particular naturopath. Why you say? Because this medical doctor, registered dietician, chiropracter - was about 80 lbs overweight!!!! And he spun me around like a merry-go-round. I have to say I was ashamed and embarrassed, and I immediately e-mailed LeAnna to cancel all future appointments with him. It hurt even more when we did a little research and found that his “prescription strength” supplements could be purchased online by a popular multi-marketing firm.

The moral of the story is this. If you are giving business to someone who is considered an expert in their field, make sure that they also practice that same expertise on themself!

Mothers Day Contest 2009!

Sheehan Personal Training (SPT), a Foxboro-based full service personal training studio, announced today that it is accepting applications to award one free 3-month full service personal training package to a local mother in honor of Mother’s Day 2009. The “Mom’s Fitness Dream Come True” training package consists of a full fitness assessment and three months of free cardio and strength training and nutritional counseling. This package is normally sold for $1,690.

“This is an opportunity to show your mother, or your partner/wife who may be a mom, that you truly care about her,” said Tom Sheehan, the owner and president of SPT. “Plenty of moms devote their time to every person and every demand that life presents to them. In appreciation, we are looking for that special mom who wants to fulfill her dream of achieving physical fitness.”

To enter, applicants must send a letter along with a current photo, telling us what makes this mom special and why she deserves to have her fitness dream come true. Send application letter and photo to:

Sheehan Personal Training Attn: Mom’s Fitness Dream Come True 71 Elm Street, Suite 10 Foxboro, MA, 02035

Or email your application to leanna@sptfoxboro.com

The deadline for submission is Friday, April 24, 2009.

Sheehan Personal Training offers fitness training, nutrition advice, and wellness support to clients in the southeastern Massachusetts area. The firm’s mission is to improve the quality of peoples’ lives by providing the best personal training and nutritional coaching available anywhere. SPT provides valued clients with the tools necessary to permanently achieve their goals by improving self-image and utilizing the power of one’s faith and mind. SPT promotes that when a person feels and looks better, life does truly get better.

The other day I met an affluent gentleman who was clearly out of shape and inquired about the services we offer at SPT. Although he was at our place of business for a different concern, he was immediately attracted to the energy level he felt when he walked in, and he had come to the conclusion that he would need assistance if he was ever to achieve some level of fitness that would provide him a better quality of life. It was clear that joining a gym would not be the solution that was going to get him on track.

After taking care of the business which was the original intent of our meeting, I gave him a tour of the facility and a brief explanation of our philosophy and program. He explained that he had not been in shape for some time and that he was not practicing any of the components of fitness.

Today we had another business meeting with the same gentleman, and I laughed when he made the comment that the prices of our packages gave him a scare. Although I am a professional, and respectful of someone’s reluctance to make any investment, I had to laugh when I considered his comments.

Here was a man in his 50’s who was clearly at least 40 lbs overweight and on the verge of type II diabetes, and investing in his health went to the bottom of his list when he found out he would have to pay for it. He made some comment about the cost being the same as a car payment, and that is one great analogy! He would not blink an eye to pay $30,000 for a vehicle that will be worth about $5000 in five years, but he shudders to think of investing $5000 for a one year program that could not only save his life, but provide a hell of a lot more quality of living than he ever had before.

I am now going into my fourth year of business, and I can now show proof to potential clients that the program works and can change your life…forever. When I opened up the business in 2006, my sales skills were lacking, and there were many people who needed my service, but were not convinced by my presentation that I could help them accomplish what they needed to get healthy. I see some of these same people in my travels, and I feel as if I let them down because the few that I remember have put on considerably more weight, and obviously made a decision to forgo any attempt whatsoever to pursue their fitness goals.

Some years from now (or maybe sooner), when people such as the previously mentioned sit on their hospital bed looking out the window, I wonder if they will ever remember how inconsequential the small investment they could have made in their health could have changed their life….

Worse than I ever would have imagined!!!

On Friday, the 27th of February, I head to my endodontist to get a root canal. No worries right? I have had many, and once the nerves are ripped out, you go through a little pain as it heals, but nothing major. Not this time. The tooth is infected and the doctor cannot finish the root canal, so he treats it with antibiotics and seals it up, scheduling another appointment to complete the project. He explains that the pain will be pretty bad and I should consider some painkillers. Being a recovering alcoholic though, it is not an option. He tells me that ibuprofen will be the best alternative for the pain, and I leave the office in good spirits.

It didn’t take long for the novacaine to wear off, and when it did, the pain came hard as a landslide! I started taking three Advils at a time, not really paying attention to the recommended dose amount, or time in between doses. The next day I was fighting the battle on two fronts; the pain in the tooth, and the pain that I was now experiencing in my stomach. I had heard about damage that can happen when taking too much ibuprofen, but I never really paid much attention to the warning.

Two days after the attempted root canal, the pain in the tooth was gone! Unfortunately, the pain in the stomach was not. This was a pain that I would compare to the worst cramp I have ever had, times ten! And it literally lasted for five days. The time between the actual spells started to increase, and the following Friday, 6 days after taking the last pill, I finally had permanent relief in the abdomen.

This whole debacle did help me realize a couple of very important things:

1. I am an idiot and should pay close attention to what pill bottles say before I treat them like Pez.

2. We have to appreciate every day that we get up and feel good! I have had such good health for so long that sometimes I take it for granted and need a slap in the face to remind me that great health = a great life!

So it’s February 19th and I do my weekly weigh in before my training session. I am surprised as the scale indicates that I now weigh 172 lbs. I knew I was slowly creeping up and away from my goal weight of 160, so I sit down and weigh my options. As someone who always bloviates about practicing what I preach, I make a plan to reach my goal weight. I take out my food journal (which I haven’t used for months), and I prepare a statement which I will read every morning and every night until I reach 160 lbs. I laminate it (because I’m a geek) and make a few copies so I have one everywhere I go. The statement reads as follows:

I will achieve my perfect weight of 160 lbs by March 1, 2009 by following my fitness plan and visualizing my perfect body at the conclusion of each meal. I will substitute sabotage foods with fruit and brush my teeth immediately following my meal.

So for the last month and a week I read this statement every morning and every night, and subsequent to reading it I closed my eyes and visualized exactly how I would feel when I reached this weight. I visualized myself doing the activities that I do on a daily basis, and pictured the body of my perfect weight doing them! Sound familiar? I actually convinced myself that I already had that body and it brought a smile to my face every time I did it. Now today is weigh in day (I have a few days left) and I weighed in at 161.1 lbs. I can honestly say that I have not been hungry once and have eaten 6 meals a day as I have always done. The most noticeable thing in my eating habits is that I do not crave the sabotage foods that were getting me into trouble like peanut butter, cereal, and bread. I have unconsciously made better decisions and expected to lose the weight that would get me to 160.

It sounds so simple, yet I have trouble convincing people that it works! I say try it for a month and come back and tell me any different. You have nothing to lose….except those unwanted lbs!!!

Has anyone watched the news lately? How about picked up a newspaper or checked out the latest online newsflash?

I opened up a local paper on Saturday and the front page lists 6 small businesses in a row that will be bankrupt soon. Then I see the headline in a financial paper that the new $800 Billion dollar stimulus plan will not affect our economy until at least 2010. On to the next article about trillions of dollars that people have lost in their investments and how it is not going to get that much better soon. How about people’s health? Last week’s Sunday Globe talked about how the economy is hurting our health due to the anxiety and depression people are experiencing. I even have to end a conversation with a loved one who is determined to convince me that my business should be sufferring because people don’t have enough money to stay healthy. My only response at this point is:

ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!

Can anyone see the correlation between the information that we are absorbing and the trend???? I guess success stories are not sensational enough to report and we wouldn’t want to give anyone hope that a change in the overall health and economy of the nation could be happening!!!!

As I write about constantly, we get what we think about. Have you ever not been able to get to sleep and you think about something that makes you feel bad? As you dwell on that thought, it starts to get bigger and bigger to the point of anxiety and the prospect of getting to sleep is all but gone. That’s the way it works! If you always think depressing thoughts, you will always be depressed. We need to change the energy and vibration to optimism and happiness if we want to realize them. I know it sounds simplistic, but it works every time! If this means not reading the newspaper and watching the news, then so be it! I cancelled my newspaper subscription and refuse to watch news or news programs and I am all the better for it!

Let the negativity go, visualize prosperity and perfect health, and watch it come to you….