Richard Simmons Quotes

I have been up to my head just with calling people, I call about 50 to 100 people a day.

All of a sudden, I'm thinking that if I keep eating the way I'm eating, I'm not going to live long and I'm going to die. Having those thoughts as a young person can be very haunting.

I was always into staying busy, into my goals, into making notes and planning. I'm not one who truly lives in the past.

When you gain weight, for every pound that you gain, it adds four pounds of stress on your knees. So if you gain five pounds, you've got 20 pounds of stress on your knees. So that's why I'm extremely careful with my portions and my workout, because I can't be overweight.

For many years, my formula has been to love yourself, move your body and to watch portion size. But the No. 1 thing is to love and value yourself, no matter what you've been through.

There's a list of foods I can't have in the house. Peanut butter, can't have that in the house. Potato chips, can't have that in the house. Random little small mini candy bars, don't even think about it. I just have to watch everything. I have to stay between 1500 and 1600 calories a day. That's it.

It's my life dream to be able to go and continue going to schools and teaching them about stretching and aerobics, cardio and strength training, because I want them to have a better life than I did. I don't want them to grow up to be me. I want them to be healthy. I want them not to go through eating disorders [like me].

I'm a very insecure and emotional person still looking to be loved by everyone else.

Some people like to look at pictures of themselves before they lost weight. I don't particularly care for that. Whenever I was overweight, it was a very sad time in my life.

For my workout, I'm up at 4am. I say my prayers, count my blessings, and I work out right away. I just get it done. One day I'll tone - chest, back and shoulders - and the next day it's biceps and triceps. I also do 45 minutes of cardio every day. I do that before I even leave the house.

I never say anything negative about anyone, because that won't get you anywhere.

If anyone's depressed for any reason, whether a relationship has fallen apart or they're having money problems, wearing feathered wings and a tutu takes you into a whole other world. A whole new woooooorld, a world of bright and shining stars!

Our children are obese, either have or being threatened by diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and not socially adjusting properly to others because of a lack of fitness.

I was born with a crippled leg. I wore a corrective shoes since I was three years old and I still wear them.

I've always practiced this: Love yourself. Move your body. Watch your portions.

Number one, like yourself. Number two, you have to eat healthy. And number three, you've got to squeeze your buns. That's my formula.

When I go to teach, that's not my workout. It's my show. I'm 134 pounds - I'm a teeny thing. I work out 11/2 hours a day and eat 1,600 calories. I can't stray because I have to fit into these Dolfin shorts!

I don't know about you, but every time some joker points me out as I walk through an airport wearing extra-small Dolfin shorts, a tank top and leg warmers, I get a little upset.

I do consider myself a clown and a court jester, and I do love to make people laugh, whether they're laughing with me or at me.

When I was younger, I ate nothing but fried food. Everything was fried, from oysters to chicken to potatoes to vegetables. When you die in New Orleans, they deep fry you before they put you in the coffin. When we baptize children in New Orleans, we baptize them with a bordelaise sauce; we don't use water.

That's what the majority of people in the world do, they walk among the ruins of their life. Things that didn't work out, relationships that went sour, jobs that disappeared. All they can think about is their ruins, and when you focus on that you can't build a new you.

When you're feeling down, sad, lonely, negative, you don't want to take care of yourself - and the weight problem and the diabetic problem and the heart attack and stroke problems and high cholesterol set in.

Everyone in this world is somehow connected. So why not just be nice to everybody.

I have two rules for living in the world. I never say anything negative about anyone, because that won't get you anywhere. And two, if people confront me with certain questions, if they are not right, I will not answer them.

People need the court jester, so I keep that smile on and keep going out there to do what I do.

Miley Cyrus, like all of us, needs to be loved. We all come from complicated parents I understand her, and I love her, and I think things will be different with her. But you know, in the music business, sometimes you have to shock a little.

Most workouts are way too aggressive. Thousands of lunges wear out the body.

I have 40 pounds to lose. It is not the fault of the fast food people, and anyone who's trying to sue the fast food places needs a therapist, not an attorney.

When the king gets depressed, he doesn't call for his wife. He doesn't call for the cook. He calls for the court jester.

I do not want any child in America to have my childhood because it was taken away from me because I just wasn't good enough; well I am good enough now.

If your oxygen mask drops down, it's time to take a breather!

My way is the sensitive, emotional way, because that's who I am. A day doesn't go by where I don't sit and cry, listening to the stories. I try to be the clown and court jester and make people laugh.

Puberty for me was graduating from Thousand Island salad dressing to Caesar salads. It was like going from hot dogs and hamburgers to beef stroganoff, or from ice cream in a cone to creme brulee.

When I lost my weight, I went and bought about 15 different types of underwear to see what would look good on my new body. It's exciting!

Thats what we need going into the millennium. We need some positive, happy stuff.

Right now many schools have no recess. Most schools have no PE.

I'm not going to be happy until every child in every school is physically active.

Even though my work is whimsical. I have a very serious job. I cry more than I laugh.

I get energy from meditation practice and from eating healthy fresh food, only one cup of espresso in the morning, and not drinking too much.

I'm 64, but I act like I'm still 12. I go to schools. At colleges, they come out in droves, they almost scare me. I think it's just to see if I'm still alive. After I work them out - and it's not easy - I sit them down and we have a serious talk. Are they eating? Working on their body? I can say things parents won't say. No matter where I go, I talk to each one individually after I teach. They tell me things like, 'I'm starving, guys like girls thinner.' I give them concrete advice about self-image and self-worth.

I start phone calls at 4 A.M. to cheer people up. The housebound, people in the hospital. People who, after decades, still can't get over what happened 10 or 15 years ago.

Stop trying to find something in food that will make you feel better. I used to have eating disorders; I'd binge and purge all the time: fried oysters, po' boys, muffulettas, beignets, coffee and doughnuts. I tried to medicate myself with food when people made fun of me or hit me with a bat in school. I'd always turn to food.

I'm like a stuffed toy. You've never met me, but if you did, you'd just want to take me home and put me in your child's room.

What if you can't do what you once did, like run and jump up and down? You can walk, which is also good for your mind and mental attitude. You can do simpler exercises, like getting up and down from a chair without using your hands. You can stay fairly flexible. The most important thing is to not become sedentary.

I put a spell on people so they don't know they're working out... An enchanting spell, where they just don't think about it, or over think it, and then at the end they go, 'Wow, I feel good.'

Sometimes it's just 'Oh my God, I love the taste of fried oysters on French bread with mayonnaise and an order of French fries.' I'm not going to lie to you - I deal with that temptation every single day, many times.

Every morning when I get up, I ask God what he wants me to do, ask him to lead me to the right people to help them.

I don't have to teach anymore, I don't have to work anymore, God has been really good to me.