38 Powerful Health and Fitness Quotes To Help You Step Up Your Game

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Excerpt: These 38 Health and Fitness quotes will not only motivate you to step up your game, but will show you how to stay disciplined to keep it.

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Introduction: Emotions Won’t Lead You To Health

As humans, we are wired to seek pleasure and to avoid pain.  What’s, “pleasurable?”  Cookies; Nutella; and Netflix.  Soft couches; sleeping in; and social media.  What’s, “painful?”  Push-ups; Lettuce; and Cardio.  Reading books; rising early; and writing blogs.  When given the choice, instinctually speaking, we will choose cookies over push-ups.  Or Netflix over cardio.  Or social media over writing blogs.  Unless we learn the power of delaying gratification.

A person’s ability to delay gratification is their ability to control (or rather distract) their impulses to obtain immediate pleasure in order to receive a larger or more enduring reward later.  You don’t need me to tell you what happens when you choose cookies, a soft bed, and Netflix too often.  In the short term and in the moment, it all feels so good!  But as soon as the cookies run out or Netflix shows ends (which could easily be never) – you are hit with feelings of terrible guilt, sluggishness, and enduring pains.

Whereas rising early, push-ups and cardio, and reading books leaves you flush with feelings of accomplishment, health, and enduring vitality.  What has become increasingly evident to me is that, one of the biggest differences between those who are successful and those who are not, is that successful people do what they know they should do even when they don’t want to do it.  As James Clear points out in an article on delaying gratification, “Success usually comes down to choosing the pain of discipline over the ease of distraction.”

If we wait to workout until we’re in the mood, we’re going to end up doing a lot more waiting than we will lifting.  If we wait for inspiration to strike, we’re going to end up doing a lot more thumb-twiddling than we will art-creating.  If we wait until we’re hungry before we figure out what we want to eat, we’re going to end up eating a lot more junk, processed foods than we will green, wholesome foods.  We set ourselves up for success by strategically planning out our actions ahead of time.

Without that careful planning and time-blocking, we may easily lose our focus and discipline to the endless distractions and media/ entertainment outlets in our worlds.  If we wanted to, we could stay perfectly distracted and entertained for the rest of our lives and never get any meaningful work done.  The Internet, Netflix, and the nightly news can take care of that for you.  But if you want to live your best life; if you want to positively influence others; if you want to leave behind a legacy that matters – you have to learn how to embrace the pain of discipline.  Following your moods leads to sporadic and infrequent actions – following your plans keeps your actions focused and consistent and that is how you keep moving forward.

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The List: 38 Powerful Health and Fitness Quotes To Help You Step Up Your Game

Below you will find our list of 38 powerful health and fitness quotes that will not only motivate you to step up your game, but will help you change your perspective and learn how to stay disciplined enough to maintain what you gain.

This game of optimal health and fitness is a lifelong pursuit—it’s not a 30 day challenge. The purpose of this list is to change how you view health and fitness to the core, not get you hyped enough to do a few workouts. We want you to leave this list with a new mindset.

A mindset of longevity, patience, and discipline. At the end of the quote list, make sure you also check out the application strategies that go over how you can build up your self-discipline to best apply what you read from the health and fitness quotes below. Enjoy!

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So, Time Is An Issue?

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“Most of us think we don’t have enough time to exercise. What a distorted paradigm! We don’t have time not to. We’re talking about three to six hours a week – or a minimum of thirty minutes a day, every other day. That hardly seems an inordinate amount of time considering the tremendous benefits in terms of the impact on the other 162 – 165 hours of the week.”

Stephen Covey

“When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no ‘I’ll start tomorrow.’ Tomorrow is disease.”

V.L. Allinear

“When I say I lack the time to exercise, is this really true given that I have time to watch television? Perhaps it is just difficult for me to admit that I may be lazy.”

Keshavan Nair, A Higher Standard of Leadership

“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.”

Unknown

“Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”

Edward Stanley

“When it comes to nutrition I am an, ‘anti-perfectionist.’  I am a lot more concerned with building a consistent routine that you’re actually going to stick to, rather than building the perfect diet.”

Thomas Frank, via YouTube

“People say, ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead,’ as they hasten that very death, both literally and figuratively. They trade their health for a few more working hours. They trade the long-term viability of their business or their career before the urgency of some temporal crisis. If we treat sleep as a luxury, it is the first to go when we get busy. If sleep is what happens only when everything is done, work and others will constantly be impinging on your personal space. You will feel frazzled and put upon, like a machine that people don’t take care of and assume will always function.”

Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 230)

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Get Your Perspective Right

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“Life is meant to be enjoyed. Sure, I agree with this statement (as many of us would) but the problem is this is used to justify all kinds of crappy behavior. Might as well scarf down those Doritos and Twinkies, because hey, life is meant to be enjoyed, right? No. You can do without junk food and still enjoy life. You can exercise and enjoy it. You can give up pretty much anything and still enjoy life, if you learn to see almost any activity as enjoyable.”

Leo Babauta, Blog

“Do yourself a favor, and realize that there’s no technique in the world that will save you. There are no pills, no secrets, no passwords on the path to greatness. You’ve got to embrace the pain, push the threshold, and feel the suck, and then you’ve got to muster the courage to go back six times a week.”

Jon Gilson

“Your journey to a healthier weight is not a journey that you start and then give up. It is a journey that you are living every day for the rest of your life.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, Savor

“It is better to make many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.”

Proverb

“Why quit cigarettes or all those sweets you’ve been eating?  Isn’t life short and meant to be enjoyed?  Don’t you deserve a treat?  Yes, these are the justifications I gave myself too.  And they’re a load of bull.  Life is short, so why waste it on pure junk?  Those things don’t make you happy—if anything, they made me less and less happy about myself.  I’ve been happier once I gave up those habits and learned to be healthy and trustworthy to myself.  Eating healthy food is a treat.  Living smoke-free is pure bliss.  But the biggest reason to change is that you love yourself.  You don’t need to harm yourself to find happiness and contentment.  Taking care of yourself is a form of self-compassion, and the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll feel good about how you’re loving yourself.”

Leo Babauta, Essential Zen Habits (Page 148)

“Dealing with our overweight – or with any of our life’s difficulties, for that matter – is not a battle to be fought. Instead, we must learn how to make friends with our hardships and challenges. They are there to help us; they are natural opportunities for deeper understanding and transformation, brining us more joy and peace as we learn to work with them.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, Savor

“To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”

Buddha

“Every living cell in your body is made from the food you eat. If you consistently eat junk food then you’ll have a junk body.”

Jeanette Jenkins

“The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results.”

Tony Robbins

“If you look at a friend with the eyes of a meditator, you will see in him or her all generations of their ancestors.  You will be very respectful to them and to your own body because you will see their body and your body as the sacred home of all our ancestors.  You will also see that our bodies are the source of all future generations.  We will not damage our bodies, because that wouldn’t be kind to our descendants.  We do not use drugs and we do not eat or drink things that have toxins or that will harm our bodies.  This is because our insight of manifestation helps us to live in a healthy way, with clarity and responsibility.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear

“The only disease you have is your inability to see you have the power to heal yourself.”

Ralph Smart, Infinite Waters

“A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses.”

Hippocrates

“When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot become manifest, strength cannot be exerted, wealth is useless, and reason is powerless.”

Herophiles

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Strategies

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“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.”

Thomas Edison

“Always take the stairs. There’ll be plenty of days where you can’t, so accept the opportunity to take the stairs as a gift and make a deposit into your Future Health account.”

Nick Crocker, Medium

“A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time – pills or stairs.”

Joan Welsh

“I have two doctors, my left leg and my right.”

G.M. Trevelyan

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: Every day I walk myself into a state of wellbeing and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.”

Søren Kierkegaard, via Stillness is the Key (Page 193)

“The secret to living well and longer is this: eat half, walk double, laugh triple, and love without measure.”

Tibetan Proverb

“Some things you have to do every day. Eating seven apples on Saturday night instead of one a day just isn’t going to get the job done.”

Jim Rohn

“Want to learn to eat a lot? Here it is: Eat a little. That way, you will be around long enough to eat a lot.”

Tony Robbins

“When practiced to its fullest, mindful eating turns a simple meal into a spiritual experience, giving us a deep appreciation of all that went into the meal’s creation as well a deep understanding of the relationship between the food on our table, our own health, and our planet’s health.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, Savor

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Health And Fitness Is The Discipline Of Life

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“Only the disciplined are truly free. The undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions.”

Stephen Covey, The 8th Habit

“A man is born gentle and weak. At death, he is hard and stiff. Green plants are tender and filled with sap. At death, they are withered and dry. Therefore, the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death, and the gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.”

Lao Tzu

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”

Jim Rohn

“If you’re fifty, exercise your mind and body regularly, eat well, and have a general zest for life, you’re likely younger – in very real, physical terms – than your neighbor who is forty-four, works in a dead-end job, eats chicken wings twice a day, considers thinking too strenuous, and looks at lifting a beer glass as a reasonable daily workout.”

Ken Robinson

“You can be fit without being healthy, but you can’t be healthy without being fit.  Meaning… you can be in great shape on the outside, but if you don’t eat great and don’t take care of your insides, you aren’t necessarily healthy.  History shows us there were plenty of athletes who were in great shape but suddenly died of a heart attack.  Balance is key.”

Jesse Itzler, Living With A SEAL

“My temptation is emotional, and resisting will further my needed weight loss and strengthen my character.  Furthermore, nothing tastes as good as thin feels.”

Stephen Covey

“We do not stop exercising because we grow old – we grow old because we stop exercising.”

Dr. Kenneth Cooper

“The difference between someone who is in shape, and someone who is not in shape, is the individual who is in shape works out even when they do not want to.”

Unknown

“You don’t control the results of growing a plant—it will grow however it grows, because we don’t have god-like powers that can control how a plant will grow.  You don’t control the outcome, but you do control the inputs.  You can water it, give it more sunlight, feed it some nutrients, give it good soil, make sure bugs aren’t eating it.  You control the inputs and environment, but not the outcome.  So Grow a Plant when you’re making changes: you don’t control the outcome, so you can’t get fixated on it.  Don’t attach too tightly to the results of a change.  Instead, focus on creating a good environment.  Focus mostly on the inputs: what are you bringing to the change?  What is your intention?  What is your effort?  What is your enjoyment and mindfulness?  If you do this with weight loss, then you don’t focus on the weight loss itself.  You focus on the input: what kind of food are you eating? Are you eating mindfully?  Do you have a compassionate intention when it comes to your eating?  Are you exercising mindfully?  Are you giving yourself a good environment to support these changes?  If you focus on the inputs, you don’t know what the plant of your weight loss change will result in.  Maybe it will mean a slimmer version of you, maybe a healthier one, maybe a stronger one with more muscle.  You don’t know exactly, because you can’t sculpt your body like clay.  What you can do is water it, give it sunlight and good nutrients, and see how it grows.”

Leo Babauta, Essential Zen Habits (Page 57)

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Afterword: Your Plan Of Action For Building Up Self-Discipline

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1)  Plan, plan, plan.

2)  Execute, execute, execute.

There it is.

Your one-size-fits-all formula for building up self-discipline.

But don’t be deceived- while this list may be peculiarly simple, it’s one of those things that’s easy to say, hard to do.

Here’s what’s important to remember when following step one:

• Plan on improving one area of your life at a time.  Don’t bite off more than you can chew.  Start small and build momentum up from there.  One of my first steps was cutting out cream and sugar from my coffee.  Then I focused on cutting out all pop.  Then I focused on my workout routines.  Singularity of focus makes a huge difference.
• Plan on keeping your who, what, where, when, and how’s consistent week-to-week.  We are habitual creatures.  The more you can keep your actions consistent week-to-week the better.  Think about some habits you have carved in stone in your life already: coffee time, bed time, work time, lunch time, chill time, etc.  Try and mirror what created that behavior as you seek to create new habits in your life.
• Embrace the “ups” and plan for the “downs.”  You realize that there will be days when you won’t feel like working out or eating healthy or meditating right? Have a plan ready for what you will do when you don’t feel like being self-disciplined.  I know that if I really feel tired and lethargic on a workout day, I show up anyway and sit on the matts for as long as I need to.  That’s my plan and it works.  More on that idea here.  It’s pivotal to your success that you follow through with your plan on those days.

Here’s what’s important to remember when following step two:

• Execute and follow through with what you say you will follow through with.  Make your word law.  No excuses.  If you say you are going to do something, make it of such importance to do it that not even a legal document would change your action(s).  For example, if you say that you’re going to start a new workout routine at 3pm every day, then take that verbal commitment seriously!  Plan ahead, create reminders, tell people, and show up at all costs!  That being said, be conscientious and practical-minded when giving out your word!
• Execute doesn’t necessarily mean do at 100%.  Follow the 70% Rule.  Remember that showing up consistently is much more powerful than showing up inconsistently yet working at a higher level.  Your running a marathon here (lifestyle habit change) not sprinting for your life.  Just… keep… showing… up.
• Aim to improve your execution by 1% every week.  You want to continually improve over the long run right?  You don’t want to make a ton of progress over the course of a month only to stop and lose everything you gained right?  So commit to tiny gains over the long term over massive gains over the short term.  Add one pound to your lifts every week or get in one more rep during the same workout the following week.  Short term thinking will yield short term results.  Long term thinking will yield long term results.

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Health and Fitness Picture Quotes To Share:

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