Nia Shanks > Quotes

“perfection is not your standard.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“This is your body—whether you love it or hate it or simply don’t know what to think of it.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“Fatigue and muscle soreness are not badges of honor, and they’re not the indicators of a successful workout.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“But without challenge, there cannot be any growth.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“when I don’t focus on eating slowly, I tend to scarf down my food, like a ravenous Rottweiler who missed a couple of meals. Eating fast tends to mean eating more”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“refuse to be demoted to an ornament or decoration.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“It’s not up to a magazine or society or anybody else to tell us how we should look or how our bodies should perform. We get to decide.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“The key is not perfection, but perseverance.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“The ideal nutritional plan isn’t a plan at all. Instead, it’s a series of sustainable habits around eating that you don’t have to think too hard about.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“Jill Coleman, to elaborate on this topic and share some of her expertise in this area, and here’s what she had to say about not having forbidden foods: “When you *can* say yes anytime, urgency to binge dissipates. Overcoming food obsessions is about: 1) Permission (satisfaction) 2) Mindfulness I think 99% of the reasons we binge stems from feeling deprived.”
― Nia Shanks, 33 Ways to Break Free from Binge Eating

“Shredded abs aren’t valuable if the lifestyle required to achieve and maintain them is wrought with misery.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“Instead of looking at exercise as a tool to manipulate my body into some perfect ideal, I resolved to exclusively focus on getting stronger, and making it an enjoyable activity once again.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“But if you’re miserable all the time, what good are those six-pack abs? Do you want your life to revolve around the gym and kitchen? Or do you want your gym time to revolve around living a life you enjoy?”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“Results come from consistently doing what matters most, and building an enjoyable, sustainable, flexible lifestyle.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“A growth mindset means viewing challenges in a new way—as an opportunity to become more.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“Rule of thumb: Perform three strength training sessions per week, and move your body in some way (walking, participating in a physically active/enjoyable hobby) on days you don’t strength train for thirty to sixty minutes (this can be broken up into chunks throughout the day).”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“Workout A: Goblet squat: 4x5-7 Push-up: 4x5-7 Inverted row: 4x5-7 Workout B: Romanian deadlift (RDL): 4x5-7 Standing dumbbell press: 4x5-10 Goblet squat: 4x5-7”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“Don’t look at things as if they’re black or white. You don’t have to be “perfectly on plan” or “completely off”.”
― Nia Shanks, 33 Ways to Break Free from Binge Eating

“Your motto when training: Make every rep count.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“Why not, instead, try to strive for something that could provide greater rewards? Become stronger, more capable, confident, and awesome. Make better health an important goal (e.g., improved blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.). Strive to be emotionally healthy and mentally strong. Develop simple habits that will serve you for a lifetime. Embrace the challenge of learning new exercises and, if necessary, getting out of your comfort zone (because this is an opportunity to grow and, at the risk of being annoyingly redundant, be more). Choose something functional, and allow the positive physical changes to be by-products of your newfound, ever-growing awesomeness. Something that can improve you as a human. Something deeper than a superficial badge of honor.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“If the only reason you’d eat the break-room cookie is because it’s there, then you’re not missing out on anything by walking away from it.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.

“There’s nothing more powerful than a woman realizing she is more than the number on a scale or the size of her pants. She discovers that she is stronger than she ever knew she could be, and she loves how it feels.”
― Nia Shanks, Lift Like a Girl: Be More, Not Less.