Exercise Mantras

I’m not one to shy away from delicious leftovers for lunch, so you can bet that last night’s dinner made an appearance in my afternoon meal.

My mid-day meal included an Italian sausage sandwich with mustard, spinach and tomato slices, paired with carrots and green pepper strips and string cheese.

Lots of flavahs!

And now for the part of this post that I am super excited to share with all of you!

Exercise Mantras

Call me corny, but I love a good mantra. Whenever I’m feeling stressed, unmotivated, sad or angry, I often look to quotes and motivational phrases to change my state of mind.

When it comes to working out every morning, truthfully I don’t struggle getting to the gym most days. I think it’s because it’s a pattern for me and something I do daily. I know I would feel like I was missing something if I skipped my morning workout.

However, there are obviously days when I’d much rather sleep in. There are mornings when I think I’ll just walk on a treadmill for 30 minutes and call it a day. That’s when I look to my favorite exercise mantras:

• Do it for those who can’t.
• There are 168 hours in a week. I’m only asking for 7 of them.
• I’ve never regretted a workout.
• Every day is a new opportunity to make new decisions.
• If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re going to keep looking how you’ve been looking.
• Every day you decide to workout, you make a decision to benefit your health.

After asking you guys for input on your favorite motivational quotes, I received a slew of responses that were funny, uplifting, energizing and inspiring.

Here are some of my favorites (with the name of the person who submitted the quote noted in parenthesis):

• You know your limit and this is NOT it. (Meaghan)
• A body at rest wants to stay at rest. A body in motion wants to stay in motion. (Heidi)
• No hurt, no mini skirt. (Kelly)
• When your legs are tired, run with your heart. (Gabriela)
• You don’t HAVE to exercise. You GET to exercise. (Kimberly)
• Everyone has 24 hours in one day. What you do with those hours is up to you. Make the most of them! (Jessica)
• You are just one workout away from a good mood. (Cynthia)

And here’s a list of other wonderful mantras you guys submitted in the comments section of yesterday’s post and on PBF’s Facebook page:

• There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. (Stephanie, a la Beverly Sills)
• You’re stronger than you think you are! (Annette and Kristen)
• Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. (Amber K and Meredith, a la Dory from Finding Nemo)
• What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. (Jess)
• If it were easy, everyone would do it. (Ang)
• This is not the hardest thing I’ve ever done. (Kaella)
• Don’t try. Just do. (Helen)
• If you can, you must! (Clare and Jen)
• It won’t kill ya! (Elisa)
• Just get out the door. If I’m hating it, I can quit in five minutes. (Averie)
• You can do anything for one minute (or 30 minutes, etc.). (Allison and Eliza)
• I need to work some things out, leave some things behind, get over some long-held fears. I need to know that I’m strong in some ways that I’ve never really believed. (Mindy)
• Pain is weakness leaving the body. (Margaret)
• Your limits might not be where you think they are. (Margaret via IronMan Chrissie Wellington)
• Obsessed is the word the lazy use to describe the dedicated. (Alicia)
• You must expect things of yourself before you can do them. (Jen)
• If you look good, you feel good, then you’ll do good. (Taryn)
• Never let the body tell the mind what to do. (Sarah K.)
• Don’t stop when you’re getting tired. That’s when you’re getting stronger! (Maryann)
• Rule your mind or it will rule you. (Kelly)
• The body is stronger than the mind. (Elysie)
• If my 82-year-old grandma goes to the gym every day, I’ve got no excuses. (Kristin)
• Time never stops moving. This challenge will come, and this challenge will go because time never stops moving. This will eventually be over and look at what I will have achieved. (Katy)
• All I need to do is show up. (Arielle)

Healthy Eating Mantras:

• The food you eat today is the body you wear tomorrow. (Katie)
• Exercise is king. Nutrition is queen. Put them together and you’ve got a kingdom. (Katie)
• An hour a day keeps obesity away. (Danielle)

Running Mantras:

• You can’t judge a run by the first mile. (Michelle)
• For marathon runners: Run the first 10 miles with your head, run the second 10 miles with your legs, and the last 6 miles with your heart. (Sarah K.)
• If you train hard, you’ll not only be hard, but you’ll be hard to beat. (Alicia)
• You’re blessed to have legs that allow you to run. (Kristen)

Amazing, huh?

Since I’m sure this long list of exercise mantras is a bit intimidating, I’m going to conclude each morning post for the rest of the month with one quote randomly selected from this post to give it some extra attention. Hopefully each daily quote will resonate with you and help motivate all of us to continue to make healthy decisions in our day-to-day lives.