Michael Matthews Quotes

“According to a 2006 study conducted by researchers at Duke University, more than 40% of the daily actions people perform aren’t actual decisions: they are habits.”

“By eating a food repeatedly, you’re more likely to develop a liking for it. Research with children, for example, shows it can take up to fifteen exposures to a new food before they adjust to it.”

“Despite what fake gurus and pill and powder pushers say, there are no shortcuts in this lifestyle. You either do the work, or you don’t. And you either transform your body, or you don’t.”

“I believe that if you can create the body of your dreams, you have what it takes to create the life of your dreams as well.”

“If you view food primarily as a source of flavor, comfort, and pleasure, it’s much harder to eat a lot of what’s good for you versus what makes you feel good. If, however, you consider it mainly a supply of nutrition and sustenance — 'fuel', as some people like to say — you’ll develop an inclination toward nutritious foods and an aversion to overindulging in junk calories.”

“Many people don’t realize that the benefits of exercise go far beyond physiological and psychological improvements.”

“Thirty minutes of reading per day, over time, can turn you into an expert in just about anything.”

“You can cultivate a taste for foods you don’t like by combining them with ones you enjoy. For instance, if you struggle to eat cruciferous vegetables but love cheese, combine them! Then, as you get used to eating the vegetables that way, you can reduce the amount of cheese until it’s no longer needed.”

“You’ve probably heard that it takes somewhere between 21 to 30 days to form a new habit. This rule of thumb originated with Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s seminal 1960s book Psycho-Cybernetics, but actual scientific research has demonstrated it can take quite a bit longer—about 66 days on average.”

“A sensible recommendation: if you’re overweight and don’t exercise, you shouldn’t eat a bunch of simple carbohydrates every day.”

“Always set goals and be looking to improve. Don’t just try to stay the same, because things tend to either get better or get worse.”

“Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but nonetheless doing it like you love it.”

“If you’re afraid that the cholesterol in eggs will increase your risk of heart disease, this myth has been thoroughly debunked by both epidemiological and clinical research.”

“Is cardio best before or after lifting? Neither! Doing cardio right before or after lifting can seriously hinder muscle and strength gains.”

“Lift hard and heavy, get sufficient rest, and feed your body correctly.”

“Many people believe that if something comes from nature, it must be better than something synthetically made. Hence, the all-too-common (and meaningless) marketing claims of 'all natural' that we find on all kinds of food products.”

“Muscles grow only if they're forced to.”

“Newbie gains are very real and boil down to the simple fact that your muscles respond exceptionally well to just about any type of training for the first three to six months. Simply put, you can make all kinds of mistakes in the beginning and still make better-than-average progress. This doesn’t last long, though. Once the 'magic' runs out, it’s gone forever, and what worked for the first few months won’t necessarily continue to work.”

“Quite frankly, most guys like to train like wussies. They don’t want to push themselves. They don’t want to exert too much effort. And of course, their bodies don’t change much. They come in each day an exact duplicate of the last. Eventually, they quit out of despair and frustration.”

“The truth is that fitness is hard, and no matter how gritty you might be, if you’re not seeing clear and consistent results and progress for all your work in the kitchen and gym, it’s only natural for your drive to dry up.”

“We simply can’t trust our feelings to guide our actions. If we wander through life chasing 'good feelings', we’ll figure out plenty of ways to not feel bad about every 'little' bout of procrastination, overeating, overspending, and what have you, and one day we’ll wonder why the hell we’re so fat, broke, lazy, and ignorant.”

“Cardio can enhance fat loss in two ways—burning calories and speeding up your metabolic rate—but that’s it.”

“Eat less energy than you burn to lose fat.”

“Good behaviors and moods are contagious as well. If we hang around people who are generally goal-driven and happy with high levels of self-control, we too can 'catch' these traits.”

“Insulin tells the body to stop burning its fat stores and instead absorb some of the fatty acids and glucose in the blood and turn them into more body fat… but that’s not what causes you to get fatter over time—overeating does.”

“Let's all get fat and jump off bridges!

How many times have you heard how few people exercise and eat enough fruits and vegetables, choosing to binge on TV and sugar- and fat-laden foods instead? These types of statistics are supposed to 'scare us straight', but to those addicted to reruns and junk food, the data is music to their ears. It reminds them of the comforting reality that they’re not alone — that everyone else is just like them. And if everyone is doing it, how wrong can it really be?

You may not be one of those people, but don’t think you’re immune to the underlying psychological mechanisms. It’s comforting to think that we singularly chart our own course in our lives, uninfluenced by how other people think and act, but it’s simply not true.

Extensive psychological and marketing research has shown that what others do — and even what we think they do — has a marked effect on our choices and behaviors, especially when the people we’re observing are close to us. In the world of marketing, this effect is known as 'social proof', and it’s a well-established principle used in myriad ways to influence us to buy. When we’re not sure how to think or act, we tend to look at how other people think and act and follow along, even if subconsciously.

Whenever we justify behaviors as acceptable because of all the other people doing it too or because of how 'normal' it is, we’re appealing to social proof. We can pick up anything from temporary solutions to long-term habits this way, and both people we know and even people we see in movies can influence us.3For example, having obese friends and family members dramatically increases your risk of becoming obese as well.”

“Nothing seems to improve self-control in all aspects of our lives like exercise. Even five minutes of low-intensity exercise outdoors is enough to improve your mental state. If you want a willpower quick fix, exercise is it.”

“Overweight, sedentary bodies don’t deal with simple sugars nearly as well as lean, physically active ones do. ”

“Reprogramming yourself to favor the harder choices is going to be uncomfortable.”

“Research shows that when blood sugar levels are low, we’re more likely to give up on difficult tasks, vent our anger, stereotype others, and even refuse to donate to charity.”

“Simply thinking about people with high levels of self-control—self-control role models, if you will—has been shown to increase willpower.”

“Simply thinking about people with high levels of self-control—self-control role models, if you will—has been shown to increase willpower.”

“Studies show that being kind to oneself in times of stress and failure is associated with better willpower and self-control.”

“The silver lining, however, is that good behaviors and moods are contagious as well. If we hang around people who are generally goal-driven and happy with high levels of self-control, we too can “catch” these traits.”

“You’re as tough as you think you are, and you can exert as much self-control as you think you can.”