“Chug, chug, chug . . . puff, puff, puff . . . ding-dong, ding-dong . . . I think I can, I think I can, I think I can . . . I thought I could!” – Arnold Munk, writing as Wally Piper, The Little Engine that Could.

I overheard two people talking at an event the other day. One was really beating himself up about how he couldn’t do anything about his weight and his health and how miserable he felt about himself. It triggered a reminder that a good portion of health, fitness and personal energy is a result of the way you talk to yourself.

Whether you talk to yourself in an empowering way or in a disempowering way will affect the outcome of what you are trying to accomplish.

Your self-talk reflects your personal thoughts and beliefs. Your thoughts and beliefs affect your reality. How you perceive your reality becomes your reality. You become what you think about.

“Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.” — Henry Ford

We can change our physical; and emotional states with our words. If you say, “I think I’m getting sick”, there’s a good chance you’ll get sick. Emile Coue, the French Pharmacist and Hypnotist used to have his clients/patients say: “Every day in every way, I’m getting better and better.” They did!

Therefore, if you tell yourself you will be healthy and fit, you can be healthy and fit. If you tell yourself you can’t lose weight, or it’s not worth the effort, then you won’t achieve the health, fitness and energy you really want.

According to motivational guru Tony Robbins, “You communicate with your subconscious mind with your self-talk. It’s the quality of that communication that determines the quality of your life.”

If your internal dialog is about frustration, anger, resentment, illness or just beating yourself up, then those negative feelings will be the result. If your internal dialog is about positivity, abundance, joy and good health, you are much more likely to achieve those results.

You have a choice of using empowering self-talk, or debilitating self-talk. It’s up to you.  THINK POSITIVE!

Thank you for reading.

The last couple of articles chronicled some thoughts on observing the eating habits in various places in the South and the resultant differences in body shape, all observed while on a Round Robin trip visiting family and friends throughout Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and back home tomorrow to the Washington,DC suburbs. I am writing this from Southport, North Carolina after spending yesterday morning and Sunday afternoon feeding  on true Southern delicacies in Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston’s Shrimp and Grits, and Fried Green Tomato Sandwiches were outstanding.

Southport, North Carolina is a small but fast growing community on the Atlantic Ocean which caters to a retirement crowd. We are visiting an old friend who came here to live twenty years ago with her husband in retirement. Sadly, she lost her husband a few years ago  but hasn’t slowed down. Judy, our friend never met a stranger. New faces on the street become friends for life after one meeting. She has a group of friends who she is close to and that’s one of the major longevity indicators that has been demonstrated so often in scientific studies, casual observation, and written about in the book about longevity, Blue Zones, by National Geographic writer, Dan Buettner. She is out and about every day from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon, volunteering at various places in the community. Most in the community live active lives.

Judy walks several miles every day for exercise. When she volunteers, she says she is on her feet nearly the entire time. She says she can put on her socks and shoes standing on one leg at a time. Not bad for any Senior.

She is always smiling and full of energy — alive and vibrant. She looks fantastic and says she doesn’t get sick. She eats sensibly and has one glass of wine before dinner, occasionally two. She is uncomfortable with technology but learns it fast and uses it well.

At age eighty, our friend Judy is a shining example of what constitutes a Come Alive Attitude toward life. She doesn’t make a big deal of her exercise, eating or other healthy lifestyle habits. She has simply made them a part of everyday living.

I can’t think of a better way of wrapping up a two week Round Robin trip. Everyone we have been with on this trip has been active and full of life. No one made a big deal of the walking on the beach for an hour or so a day, or eating healthfully or simply being alive with energy and vitality. They have just done it. It’s a reminder that anyone who wants to, can incorporate healthy habits into their own lifestyle without making a big deal out of it, while staying vibrant, alert and energetic well into their seventies and eighties. Why isn’t everyone over 60 doing it?

Thank you for reading.

Florida is a strange state. My wife and I just left Pensacola, Florida visiting with family, and are now in Sarasota, Florida visiting old friends. The contrast in the two parts of Florida is telling. Pensacola, home of Naval Aviation and where all the Navy and Marine Corps aviators begin their training, is also the home of some of the most overweight older people I have ever seen. We went out to lunch and dinner a few times and the food was deep fried and greasy in most of the restaurants. They promoted “Country style” everything. I guess this means deep fried in the thickest and heaviest batter I have ever encountered. Oh yes, it tasted good. But the end result was a lot of very thick and heavy people.

Of course Pensacola is really Southern Alabama. It’s two hours south of Montgomery, Alabama and less than an hour east of Mobile, two of the true “deep south” cities. Maybe that explains it. Yet boiled “greens” are a big part of deep south cookin’ too, so at least there is some hope.

We saw very few runners or cyclists on the roads. Most towns and cities have runners everywhere on the sides of the main and side roads. Sadly, we saw very few in Pensacola. Maybe they’re all at the beach.

I am finalizing this article from across the state in Sarasota, Florida, where it seems people are a bit leaner. We’ve only been here a day but I’ve seen no truly obese people, certainly not the size we saw in Pensacola.  Sarasota is not “deep South” even though it is considerable further south than Pensacola or Alabama. In the short time we have been here, we have seen a lot of runners and walkers everywhere. And while I’m sure I’ll see signs promoting “deep fried southern cooking”, I haven’t seen any yet. What a difference a few hundred miles makes.

The real point of all this is simply a reminder that what you eat is the main determinant of body composition. A lot of fat greasy foods put fat on your body.  When there is little exercise to go with the fat greasy food, the result is an overload of obesity. On the other hand, where the food is more healthful and people run and walk, the bodies are leaner and trimmer, and people seem to be alive with much more energy.

This is not to denigrate very overweight people. It’s just to reinforce what most people already know, that the make up of what you eat determines, in large part, the shape of your body, and that it is the choices you make that determine what your scales tell you.

Thank you for reading.