I came across a quote today that I would like to share:

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.
~Mohandas Gandhi

I read it a few times and the power and truth of those words seemed to resonate with me.

We are lead by the power of our thoughts. On the negative train — If we think ourselves fat, we become fat. We are fat. If we think of ourselves as incapable then we become incapable. Thus, we are incapable. On the positive train — if we think of ourselves as athletic, then we allow ourselves to become athletic. If we think of ourselves as winners, we consequently become winners.

Many of our hangups and misgivings and insecurities are based widely on our thoughts. How we think of ourselves. The kind of emphasis we put on how others see us. If someone shares either negative or positive thoughts to us about us… we take them in and process them. The processed thoughts then become at least a shred of our reality.

I have always considered successful weight loss to be about 90% mental and 10% everything else. Because let’s face it… if you aren’t in the right head space, losing weight, staying on track with things can become difficult. And all of this (in my humble opinion) relates back to how we see ourselves.

I say this with conviction, because I have been there. This winter, after not having exercised hard core for a long time… I was able to bang out powerful hour-long workouts. When I was embarrassed in the very beginning about going to the gym? I reached out to myself and convinced myself that I was an inspiration to others just like me. I had it in my head that no matter what… I *would* finish the journey and that I was more than capable.

The thing is, the power of thought is about more than just positive or negative thinking. It’s about changing the way you talk to yourself. Changing (as Dr. J would say) your personal banner.

Coming full circle, don’t psych yourself out before you even get up to the plate to bat. Believe in yourself. Try for a moment to stop and think winning thoughts. Convince yourself that you are worth it and that you can do this. Because you know what? You. so. totally. are. worth it. and CAN do it.