I'll tell you who makes me laugh, in a good way, and I'd love to have a date with her: if I could just have a salad with Lady Gaga? This would be my - I would almost probably faint.
— Richard Simmons
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.
We overweight people, we say terrible things to ourselves. Oh, you wouldn't believe it. 'You fat pig. How can you do this? You're a disgusting jerk.' And that gets you nowhere. That gets you right back into a bowl of pasta fregula.
My way is the sensitive, emotional way, because that's who I am. I try to be the clown and court jester and make people laugh. At the same time, you have people in the hospital who have had gastric bypass or lap-band surgery, and they still have to work out. If you don't work out and eat healthy, you'll look like a melted candle.
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!
There are sacrifices you have to make. I don't have a lot to offer one person. I have a lot to offer to a lot of people.
I have loved deeply. I have lost intensely. I will never love again. I get that love by people who care for me.
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.
I'm not into any show that makes people compete when they lose weight.
Even though my work is whimsical. I have a very serious job. I cry more than I laugh.
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.
I have rules about eating, exercising and rules about staying positive. And these rules are sacred to me.
When I was growing up, I did not exercise at all. I was raised in the French Quarter in New Orleans. If I saw someone running, I would call the police because I thought they stole something on Royal Street.
I used to think that if someone gained their weight back, it was my fault, but all I can do is be God's motivator and try to instill the motivation in others so they do it themselves.
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.
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.'
I think it is very important that you like yourself for who you are and not want to look like anyone else. You also have to understand, many people have had cosmetic surgeries in order to look the way they look. So why look like them when you can just look like you? And there is nothing wrong with looking like you.
I'm such a huge fan, and I've done classes of all Lady Gaga music. And she's just someone who evokes freedom and love for her fans and passion in what she does. Lady Gaga, I'll take you out for a salad anytime.
You have to make your own decisions. That's what the freedom in America is all about.
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.
Truthfully, everyone knows how to eat right. They know the difference between oatmeal and a jelly cream doughnut. They know how to walk. Everyone has this in their brain. When I started, we didn't have all this knowledge.
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.
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.
Take a moment every day to find peace. Pull over to the side of the road, turn off the radio, and find peace.
The real pride, the real present, is your health and your longevity. My whole career, I have never done anything where competition was involved with weight loss.
Work hard, take care of yourself, and you'll be just fine.
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!
Ninety percent of people who lose weight gain it back. It's very sad.
My parents always told me to be myself. I was always funny and silly as a kid. And I would always make them laugh. And they always told me to dream big and follow those dreams.
For my workout, I'm up at 4 A.M. I say my prayers, count my blessings, and I work out right away. I just get it done.
I don't talk about my personal life, and I don't talk about death.
I've always practiced this: Love yourself. Move your body. Watch your portions.
I'm a real paradox. Because I'm a very serious person, and I take my work very seriously. But I wrap it up in a court jester and a clown and make people laugh and make them feel good about themselves.
You are one of a kind and unique. Never forget that.
How do you get motivated? By knowing your worth. Americans do not know how worthy they are. You deserve to be healthy, but a lot of times, people have, as childs been told - as a children been told that they're no good, that they're never going to be anything else.
People have been frying foods since Jesus was on this planet, and there is always going to be greasy, fried, salty, sugary food. It is up to the individual to walk in and say, 'I don't want those fries today.'
Comedy, not screaming at someone, can make someone lift their legs higher. There is a way to do a push-up and a sit-up, and it doesn't have to be so complicated. Everyone is putting a difficult twist to it and making you do way too much.
Most workouts are way too aggressive. Thousands of lunges wear out the body.
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.
In high school, I could get beaten up all the time, or I could be something better. I became the court jester.
Count your blessings. You are one of a kind. There's no one in the world like you. You are amazing.
My father offered me a dollar for every pound I would lose as a kid. It didn't work. And it doesn't really work in the long run. Who are you competing against? It's you. You need to be doing this for you and only you.
When I go to bed at night, I ask God to give me another day; I ask him to keep me strong and make me a good teacher and to keep spreading this right word.
When you gather up all the balls of life that you try to juggle, it is a very difficult thing to try to focus in on taking good care of yourself. But that's why God invented me - so I can come and teach and preach and make people laugh and give them some education so they can start liking themselves better.
We're all in trouble, and we all need to sort of pick up the pieces and start to exercise more and really be careful with the food.
I spent my childhood eating. The only exercise I got was trying to twist off the cap of a jar of mayonnaise.
My nickname is Dickie Jukebox. I own thousands and thousands and thousands of songs.
My persona has always been what a man was never supposed to be. Outrageous, gregarious, crazy, silly, funny.
I could be hit by a Sara Lee truck tomorrow. Which is not a bad way of going: 'Richard Simmons Found in a Freeway in Pound Cake and Fudge, With a Smile on His Face.' Let's face it. We don't know anything.
No one is perfect... absolutely no one. Like precious stones, we have a few flaws, but why focus on that? Focus on what you like about yourself, and that will bring you happiness and peace.
