HaHa!  I have to explain this title!  While working on a new corporate wellness presentation which compares our bodies to our vehicles, I remembered this goofy movie title.  Having never seen the movie, I asked my kids what they thought of the title.  Laughingly, they suggested I NOT use this title for my presentation, but I decided it was catchy!  And, I liked it for this blog.  So there.

I recently had a Happy Hour meeting with a member of my business group, Katy Kreitzer, of Kreitzer's Automotive Service.  Katy is a very neat young woman in a non-traditional field, and her company is exemplary in their work on cars.  Katy and I talked about how we can relate the way we treat our bodies to the way we treat our cars.  Here are some of our thoughts.  Thanks, Katy!

Our bodies are our transportation vehicle.  Think about how you take care of your car – oil changes, tire maintenance, using good gasoline, making sure the radiator doesn’t overheat and is full, washing the outside and vacuuming the inside, and on and on.

Go with me on some comparisons.

• The oil in our cars is like our blood. We don’t want our oil to get to a sticky viscosity; we don’t want our blood to become thick and sticky either.  We keep our car oil in shape by changing it regularly and making sure it’s high quality.  The same applies to your food.  Eat a variety of foods – especially fruits and vegetables - and make sure your food is as healthy as it can be. 
• We use good gasoline for our vehicles. If we don’t, our cars will be sluggish, may break down, the parts might wear out faster, and our cars won’t last as long.  See where I’m going here?  Compare gasoline to our food!  If you eat a lot of junk food, processed and packaged foods, and food that is less than healthy, your body is going to be sluggish, break down, and wear out.
• If we keep our radiator full of clean, fresh fluid, it won’t overheat, burst, and will supply our engine with lubrication. It’s the same with our bodies. We must drink lots of clean, fresh water to keep hydrated, provide lubrication to our joints, and keep everything moist and tidy!
• We regularly change our air filters to keep dirt and other nasties out of our car system; we need to breathe clean air to get oxygen to our blood and our cells, and to keep our stress levels down.
• If we don’t keep our tires in good shape, keeping them inflated, free from defects, and clean, they won’t help our cars run properly; the same applies to our feet, legs, hips, joints – our muscles basically. We have to keep our movement vehicles in good shape so they’ll get us where we want to go.
• Lastly, if we park our cars and don’t run them, everything will get stuck, rusty and old. Our paint will wear out, the engine may not start, the tires will get hard and stiff.  The same with our bodies!

Keep your body vehicle running smoothly!  Eat good food, move every day, and take care of yourselves!  If you do, Dude, your body will be your best asset!

To Your Vitality!