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 calorie is the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius. This is also called a kilocalorie or large calorie, and is used to represent the energy value of food.”

“A carbohydrate is a molecule composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen that can be broken down in the body to release energy.”

“A high-protein diet is absolutely vital for building muscle and preserving it when you’re dieting for fat loss. A low-protein diet is absolutely good for nothing. End of story.”

“A protein is a naturally occurring compound that’s composed of one or more long chains of amino acids. Proteins are an essential part of all organisms and are used to create body tissues such as muscle, hair, and skin, as well as various chemicals vital to life.”

“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.”

“An amino acid is a naturally occurring compound found in proteins.”

“An enzyme is a substance produced by organisms that causes specific chemical reactions.”

“Anabolism is a metabolic process in an organism by which energy is used to make more complex substances (such as tissue) from simpler ones (such as proteins). This is also known as constructive metabolism.”

“Any food that contains 'hydrogenated oil' or 'partially hydrogenated oil' likely contains trans fats, so just don’t eat it.”

“Cardio is negotiable.”

“Catabolism is the metabolic process by which more complex substances (such as proteins) are broken down into simpler ones (such as amino acids), together with the release of energy. This is also known as destructive metabolism.”

“Cholesterol is not found in foods made from plants.”

“Digestion is the process of breaking down food so it can be used by the body.”

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

“Eat at least about 30% of your daily carbs in your post–workout meal.”

“Every professional bodybuilder is on steroids. Yes, every single one, regardless of what they say.”

“Examples of powerful compound exercises are the squat, deadlift, and bench press, which train a lot more than just the legs, back, and chest, respectively.”

“Fried foods are often cooked in trans fat.”

“Fructose is a very sweet sugar found in many fruits and honey, as well as sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup, both of which are about 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose. Fructose is converted into glucose by the liver and then released into the blood for use.”

“Galactose is a type of sugar found in dairy products that is metabolized similarly to fructose.”

“Glucose is a sugar that occurs widely in nature and is an important energy source in organisms. Glucose is a component of many carbohydrates.”

“If you eat a lot of prepackaged and prepared foods, it’s fairly easy to accidentally overeat because the calorie counts we’re given for various restaurant and packaged foods are often inaccurate. In fact, food manufacturers can underreport calories by 20 percent and pass FDA inspection, and you’d better believe many are unscrupulous enough to use this to their advantage.”

“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.”

“If you’re looking to build a solid foundation of muscle and strength, you should do the same types of exercises every week, and they will include things like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, dumbbell presses, military presses, and others.”

“Ironically, if you want an area of your body to be leaner, training the muscles without also ensuring you’re reducing your body fat percentage will only aggravate the problem. The muscles will grow but the layer of fat will remain, which will only result in the area looking bigger and puffier.”

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

“Just to illustrate how absurd moral licensing can get, can you figure out why, after adding healthier items to its menus, McDonald’s began selling more Big Macs than ever? According to research conducted by scientists at Baruch College, the mere opportunity to eat healthily gave people some of the satisfaction of actually doing it, which in turn permitted them to choose the cheeseburger. As you can see, the moment we feel an itch for moral permission to stray from our goals or standards, it’s all too easy to find that emotional green light.”

“Lactose is a type of sugar present in milk that contains glucose and galactose.”

“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.”

“Muscle is a tissue in the body, often attached to bones, that can tighten and relax to produce motion.”

“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.”

“Progress can cut both ways because the satisfaction it produces can become complacency, a powerful catalyst for weakening willpower.”

“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.”

“Reducing your consumption of pessimistic, fear-mongering media can reduce stress levels as well. Research has shown that exposing yourself to a constant barrage of bad news, scare tactics, and morbid reminders of our mortality increases the likelihood of overeating, overspending, and other willpower failures.”

“Regardless of the source, 1 gram of protein contains 4 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrate contains 4 calories as well, and 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories.”

“Remind yourself that while you may not always be able to control where your mind wanders, you can always control how you respond, and remember the goal that’s at stake and why you committed to abstaining in the first place.”

“Research conducted by scientists at the University of Chicago found that when people were led to believe they were closing in on their weight loss goals, they were 32 percent more likely to choose a chocolate bar for a snack over an apple.”

“Researchers found that working in the 4 to 6 rep range (80 percent of one-rep max, or 1RM) is most effective for those who train regularly. The conclusion of this research is simple: the best way to build muscle and strength is to focus on heavy weightlifting and increase the weight lifted over time.”

“Sir William Thomson, also known as Lord Kelvin, was an ingenious physicist and engineer, and he said that when you can measure something and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you can’t measure it or express it numbers, your knowledge is lacking.”

“Skeletal muscle is muscle tissue connected to the skeleton to form part of the system that moves the limbs and other parts of the body.”

“Sucrose is a sugar that occurs naturally in most plants and is obtained commercially especially from sugarcane or sugar beets. Sucrose is commonly known as table sugar.”

“Sugar is a class of sweet-tasting carbohydrate that comes from various plants, fruits, grains, and other sources.”

“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.”

“The two biggest inner game barriers are lack of motivation and lack of discipline, and most people have to wrestle with them at some point, usually sooner than later.”

“The worst cardio mistakes I see guys make is doing cardio right before or after lifting. These mistakes can seriously hinder muscle and strength gains.”

“Those with higher levels of willpower do better in school, earn more money, make better leaders, and are generally happier, healthier, and less stressed, have better social and romantic relationships, and tend to live longer.”

“Tissue is a group of cells in animals and plants that forms a definite kind of structural material with a specific function.”

“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.”

“What drives muscle growth? The answer is known as progressive tension overload, which means progressively increasing tension levels in the muscle fibers over time. That is, lifting progressively heavier and heavier weights. You see, muscles must be given a powerful reason to grow, and nothing is more convincing than subjecting them to more and more mechanical stress and tension.”

“When we consider how overtargeted and overstimulated our dopamine neurons really are, it’s no surprise that the average person is an overweight procrastinator hooked on ice cream, video games, television shows, and social media and that it takes a rather dramatic shift in behavior to escape from these traps.”

“Working out with a bad partner sucks. It drains your energy and motivation and can even cause you to lose enthusiasm for working out altogether. On the other hand, working out with a good partner can go far in keeping you on track and making progress. He helps keep you accountable and wanting to show up every day, and having a spot on certain exercises helps push you for another rep and encourages you to move up in weight as you should. These things can make a big difference as time goes on.”

“You can listen to classical music. Next time you’re stressed, put on some slow, quiet classical music, and before long, you’ll be nestled in its soothing embrace. (Some of my personal favorites are Max Richter, Ludovico Einaudi, Beethoven, and Bach.) Mozart can do more than just chill you out, too. Several studies show that classical music can sharpen your mind, engage your emotions, lower blood pressure, lessen physical pain and depression, and help you sleep better.”

“You’re going to do what most popular mainstream weightlifting programs never prescribe: you’re going to focus on heavy, compound weightlifting, and you’re going to do just enough sets and reps in your workouts to maximize muscle overload and stimulation without going so far as overtraining.”

“The less carbs you eat, the lower your muscle glycogen levels will be, and this means compromised performance in the gym and tough workouts. Muscle endurance seems to take the biggest hit.”

“The single rep range I’ve found most effective is the 4 – 6 rep range, which has you lifting about 80 – 85% of your one-rep max.”

“Building a killer physique is not a matter of jumping on the bandwagon of some new fad workout program for a few months — it’s a matter of adopting a disciplined, orderly approach to how you handle your body.”

“Carbohydrates play an essential role in not only muscle growth but also in overall body function.”

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

“Casein is a good protein to have before you go to bed, which can help with muscle recovery.”

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

“Eating a lot of foods with added sugars can reduce the amount of micronutrients your body gets and thus cause deficiencies.”

“Eating carbs and fats together or separately doesn’t change anything.”

“Get the majority of your daily carbohydrates from nutritious, unprocessed foods, which will incidentally be lower on the glycemic index, but don’t be afraid to include a few higher-GI foods that you like.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Monosaccharides are often called simple carbohydrates because they have a simple structure.
Oligosaccharides are molecules that contain several monosaccharides linked together in chain-like structures.
Polysaccharides are long chains of monosaccharides, usually containing 10 or more monosaccharide units.”

“Nothing seems to improve self-control in all aspects of our lives like exercise. Its effects are immediate, and it doesn’t even take a lot to reap its willpower benefits. 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. ”

“Play it safe with food products that promote 'net', 'active', or 'impact' carbs and just count all the carbs listed on the nutrition facts panel.”

“Protein from meat is particularly helpful when you’re weightlifting, as research has demonstrated that eating meat increases testosterone levels and is more effective for building muscle than vegetarian sources.”

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

“Research has associated trans fat intake with a variety of health problems: heart disease, insulin resistance, systemic inflammation, female infertility, diabetes, and more.”

“Research shows that certain activities like watching TV and drinking alcohol can increase, not decrease, stress.”

“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.”

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

“The best way to avoid trans fats is to shun the types of foods that commonly contain them, regardless of what the nutrition facts panel says.”

“The road to nowhere is paved with excuses.”

“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.”

“To avoid dehydration, the Institute of Medicine reported in 2004 that women should consume about 91 ounces of water – or three-quarters of a gallon – per day, and men should consume about 125 ounces per day. A gallon is 128 ounces.”

“We must first stop moralizing our behaviors. Instead of using fuzzy feelings of 'right' and 'wrong' and 'good' and 'bad' to guide our actions, we need to remember why we’ve committed to doing the hard things like exercising, following a meal plan, educating ourselves, sticking to a budget, and working overtime. We need to view these actions as independent steps necessary for achieving the outcomes we desire, not as 'good' behaviors that we can 'cash in' for sins.

For our purposes here, remember that our goal isn’t just good workouts or on-target eating. It’s enjoying shopping for clothes again—especially for the breezy, summer, sleeveless stuff. It’s throwing away the scale because you don’t need it anymore. It’s the surprise on people’s faces when they haven’t seen you in a while. It’s the newfound intimacy in your love life. In short, bingeing on chocolate and missing workouts aren’t little 'oopsies' that you can erase with the right thoughts. They’re direct threats to your overarching objectives. Remember that when you come face to face with sticky willpower challenges.”

“When insulin levels are elevated, the rate at which muscle proteins are broken down decreases. This, in turn, creates a more anabolic environment in which muscles can grow larger more quickly.”

“When millions of people are strongly motivated to solve a problem and willing to spend large amounts of money to do it, there will always be an abundance of things to buy and brilliant marketers to sell them.”

“When you eat food, you give your body a relatively large amount of energy (calories) in a short period. Glucose levels rise far above what is needed to maintain life, and instead of 'throwing away' or burning off all excess energy, a portion is stored as body fat for later use. Scientifically speaking, when your body is absorbing nutrients eaten and storing fat, it’s in the 'postprandial' state (post meaning 'after' and prandial meaning 'having to do with a meal'). This 'fed' state is when the body is in 'fat storage mode'.

Once the body has finished absorbing the glucose and other nutrients from the food (amino acids and fatty acids), it then enters the 'postabsorptive' state ('after absorption'), wherein it must turn to its fat stores for energy. This 'fasted' state is when the body is in 'fat burning mode'.

Your body flips between 'fed' and 'fasted' states every day, storing fat from the food you eat and then burning it once there’s nothing left to use from the meals.”

“You can be quite flexible in how you get your dietary fats: dairy, meat, eggs, oils, nuts, and fish are all healthy sources. You don’t have to fret over your saturated fat intake, but you should strive to get plenty of unsaturated fats in your diet as well and should eat as little trans fat as possible. I eat absolutely none.”

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

“Your best choices are meat, dairy products, and eggs, and second to those are certain plant sources like legumes, nuts, and high-protein vegetables like peas, broccoli, and spinach.”