Fitness Motivational Quotes for #MotivationMonday
Today I am sharing some fitness motivational quotes to help inspire myself- and anyone else out there who could use a little inspiration when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight, reaching a fitness goal or even just getting started! It's my own contribution to the popular fitness hashtag #MotivationMonday.
If you have ever been to my blog before you might know me as more of a kids crafts and kids activity blogger. Lately you may have noticed posts that focus more on health and fitness. The reason for that is it's just becoming more of a focus in my life.
My personal health used to be a bigger priority to me and I'm working on making it that way again. With a husband and two children that can be a challenge because, well, they are all priorities too!
But how can I take care of them without taking care of myself first? The answer is that I can ignore myself for only so long before I need attention.
And you know what? I deserve it. I deserve to be healthy. Know what else? YOU deserve it too.
During those times in my life where fitness has been a priority, I really like to focus on mantras and motivational quotes to help.
These sayings can help you take that first step, spur you leg it out in the long run, or motivate you to cross the finish line when you think you just can't. I think a lot of them apply to other aspects of life too but since I'm focusing on fitness in life, that is what I'll focus on in this post.
These quotes are inspiring me right now in my life. I'm not perfect. These are not coming to you from someone who's already there. Already lean and fit. I'm working hard and sometimes I fail but these quotes help me when the going gets tough. Whether you are taking your first steps on the path to fitness or you've been on that path your whole life, I hope you find something to inspire you here.
How to Use These Quotes and Images
You may print these if you want to. The images are not very large, but you can place them on the inside of a cabinet door, the inner cover of a notebook, next to your mirror- where ever you think they might motivate you to make a better choice.
Feel free also to pin and share these on social media (with credit) so that if you share your favorite one, other people people can come check out the others. Maybe you will be the motivation that someone else needs!
Please, oh please be kind though and do not crop or otherwise edit them. There are buttons on my blog to help you share them and it's so easy to do it that way!
Okay let's get fired up!
Fitness Motivational Quotes
“Just because you've always done something doesn't mean you always have to.”
This quote bubbled up in my brain around Halloween. Every time my kids are given candy there is an automatic process in my brain that says “Give kids one piece of non-chocolate candy per day until gone. Save all chocolate for self.”
Every holiday, every school party, every candy receiving occasion. It started out innocently enough, with me wanting to shield my kids from the evils of too much junk food. But it got pretty bad when all chocolate was just siphoned right into my face. Every time.
Until this year. I decided that just because I had always done that, doesn't mean I have to this time. And you know what? It worked. I freed myself from it.
The anxiety of wondering if I'd eat it, how much I'd eat it, if the kids would notice, how much weight would I gain if I ate it- all of that was gone. Because I just didn't HAVE to do what I'd always done.
You can apply this to any pitfalls you have had in life, fitness or otherwise.
Just because you always went right home and watched TV doesn't mean you always have to!
Just because you always order dessert doesn't mean you always have to.
Just because you always ate the leftover food on the kids' plates (which totally adds up!) doesn't mean you have to!
Break your cycle. End it! You don't HAVE to do it anymore. You deserve to make better choices for yourself.Â
[clickToTweet tweet=”Just because you've always done something doesn't mean you always have to. #MotivationMonday” quote=”Just because you've always done something doesn't mean you always have to. #MotivationMonday”]
“Do it today. Do it for you. You deserve it.”Â
Speaking of you deserving it….This is one that I say to myself when I'm on the fence about a workout.
I talked about this a little bit in my 7 Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Weight post, but the thing about being healthy is that you probably will never really do it unless you are really doing it for you. Because you want to and because you deserve to do it.
Sure your doctor might tell you you need to lose weight, or you might think your significant other wants you to. But doing it for them and not for you will not work. Do you know why? Because they cannot give you the self esteem you need to treat yourself right in the long run. That can only come from you.
If you have tried fitness plans or diets and they have not worked or you gave up….give some serious thought to your self worth. Your self esteem might be in need of repair.
In my unhealthiest days I always thought being good to myself or treating myself meant indulging in some sort of food that aught to be eaten in moderation. But that's not treating myself well. That is not treating myself with respect and love.
In my healthiest days I felt that being good to myself meant exercising and fueling my body with healthy food.
How do you feel about yourself right now? Do you deserve to treat yourself well?
If you aren't so sure, then it's time to fix the messages you're telling yourself. Because YOU are who matters.
It takes time to rebuild self esteem. You need to recognize what other sources are controlling your emotions. Is your mood and self worth connected to how well you do at work? Is there someone in your life who can make you feel amazing one minute and like crap the next? Try to recognize this pattern and break it.
You. Deserve. It.
I don't want to get all Stuart Smiley on you (too late?) but you need to be good to yourself mentally and physically. Do good things for YOU. Not to please someone else.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Do it today. Do it for you. You deserve it. #workout #MotivationMonday” quote=”Do it today. Do it for you. You deserve it. #workout #MotivationMonday”]
“Do it for yourself, not for the Like Button.”
This is something I've really been committing to. If you're active on social media, chances are you are familiar with the Like button on Facebook, the Heart on Pinterest, Retweets on Twitter, etc. Every site has their way of letting people interact with your posts right? It's so easy to let yourself get caught up in posting things for Likes though, and it chips away at your self esteem when you start to rely on those things to make you happy.
I read this Wall Street Journal article called the Insidious Evil of the “Like” Culture. It reallllly got me thinking about myself. In case you didn't notice, ha. But it talks about how those likes help you to rely on others to make you feel good about yourself.
How many likes did my new profile pic get? How many times was my blog post shared? Did anyone like that funny status update? Did my friends see my check-in yesterday?
It is way to easy too share everything on social media. But can I challenge you to do something to help your self esteem? Post less about the things you do for yourself. You don't have to give up social media. Just save some of your cherished moments for yourself.
The reason I feel so strongly about this is that I think back to when I was really into working out and I remember being there in that moment and it was all FOR ME. I was not checking in on Facebook, posting selfies so everyone could see that I'd worked out, etc. I just did my workout for myself and went home happy. I did it for me. Because I wanted to and I deserved it. If I post it on social media I don't even take the time to acknowledge that I'm proud of myself.
The same goes for anything that I'm doing especially for myself. Do I need other people to approve of my date night or can it just be a date night for the purpose of nurturing our relationship? How many people need to like my gym check-in for me to feel like a valuable person?
Now, I looove sharing on Facebook. I'm a heavy checker-inner. So it's been hard to curb this habit. And I still post pictures and updates on Facebook. I still blog (Hello and welcome!). In fact, I am running a 5K this weekend with friends and family and I'm really going to want to post about that on Facebook. (Yikes did you see how I just slipped that into a blog post?! Baby steps.)
I wish I could turn the Like button off though. Or maybe just hide the numbers. I want to share with friends and family, and I want them to be able to see the memorable moments of our lives that we cannot share together- pictures of my kids, pictures of things I've done and places I've gone. I just don't want to know how many other people approve, because what really matters is that I approve of myself.
If you have ever felt your emotions change based on social media Likes or other online stats, I invite you to try doing one special thing every day for yourself, and just tell no one. It could be making yourself a cup of tea, getting in a good workout, cooking a healthy meal, taking time to read a book, taking a nice bath. Something that nourishes your soul…and just don't tell another soul!
[clickToTweet tweet=”Do it for yourself, not for the Like Button. #workout #MotivationMonday” quote=”Do it for yourself, not for the Like Button. #workout #MotivationMonday”]
“If you change nothing, nothing will change.”
I'm pretty sure this sentiment is not new, but it is the way I say it in my head. I saw another quote a couple weeks ago that goes, “If you eat what you've always eaten, you'll weigh what you've always weighed.” I don't know where the original quote is from but I see it on this post about Simple Changes To Your Eating Habits so maybe it originated there?
I really like the graphic. I totally get the idea but I have been eating what I've always eaten (since my kids started eating solids) and I've been weighing more… so really it needed to be tweaked for me.
It did help me realize that what I'm doing is not working. Simple as that. If I repeat what I'm currently doing, I'll get the same result.
If that is the case for you too- if you're frustrated and needing to make a change- then realize you need to do just that. Make a CHANGE! Do it today because, as I yelled at you earlier: YOU DESERVE IT!
“Use yesterday's excuses to carry you further today.”
This goes along with the “Just because you've always done something…” quote at the top.
Maybe you skipped your workout yesterday. Maybe you skipped it for the past month or year or even your whole life?
Screw it, though. That was then. You're here NOW.
You can choose to make a better choice today. Rather than let past sins beat you up, I vote that you take the voices you heard that convinced you NOT to workout or NOT to eat something healthy and use each one as a stepping stone towards change today. Step on them. STOMP on them. Use each and every one to propel yourself forward. Launch yourself off of them!
You are done with excuses. They are behind you, beneath you! Just because you've had excuses in the past does not mean you have to have one today.
Ready?!! Let's go! What are you going to do today without those excuses? Let's hear about it!
If you're fired up and want more, check out some of my other Fitness posts: Fitbit 101, 15+ Fitbit Hacks, 7 Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Weight and more.
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