Adebayo Akinfenwa Quotes

I remember when I was young, before we started lifting and working out, I looked like I was bench-pressing other humans. I looked different than other girls. I had to be OK with the fact that I had a strong physique, no matter if people looked at me in an accepting way or not.

I was always the second heavy.

I wouldn't mind being taller or stronger.

I'm not like the skinniest guy, so I feel like I should at least get 10 rebounds for our team a game.

There is a physicality where I had to become a bit bigger to face bigger players.

I'm a receiver. I'm not a bodybuilder.

Being involved in sports, you think less about how your body looks and more how it performs.

My body looks like 30 but my face looks like 50. But I cannot walk bare-chested in the streets. I like to do these movies to challenge myself physically.

I have never tried to compare myself to anyone else.

I trained as an artist originally, so I know what a nice human body looks like, and I would like to look like that notion, and of course I never will. But I've got past that.

I don't like the idea of competition - maybe because I kept losing them when I was a kid. Maybe it's better to be the one who loses?

I was one of five very clever kids, the other kids were cleverer than I was and still are and are very achieving. The girls were always first at everything and I was always 101st!

When I started out as a model, I took things for granted. Because I bagged work thanks to my looks, I didn't give my body any importance. I was a couch potato who'd eat anything. Then, in 2005, a tabloid ran a story calling me fat. I thought, 'I'm famous. How can I be fat?' It was a slap. I decided to get fit.

I felt very comfortable about myself when I was much heavier. I feel much better about myself from being fit.

I'm not a 'Twilight' boy; I'll never be as good looking as those lads, and that's fair enough.

I'm very physical. It's an important part of being a woman - feeling good about yourself and really being in tune with your personality.

At school I got teased because I was so thin and awkward-looking. But the girls on TV looked similar to me. I would say to my mum, 'The girls at school are teasing me, but I look like those girls on TV.'

I'm more proud of my upper body. Let's just say I'm a typical female in that way.

I really do feel like I'm in better shape and look better now - even after having three kids - than I did before.

I don't like to compare myself with anybody.

I think I look slightly like a horse. Hand on heart, I think I'm pretty average.

I'm magnificent! I'm 5' 11" and I weigh 135 pounds, and I look like a racehorse.

With Instagram and Twitter, you're constantly looking at other people and comparing yourself to them, and it's just not beneficial. There is always going to be someone skinnier or prettier or with better skin, and that same girl you're looking at is comparing herself to someone else.

When I found out I had to take off my shirt in 'Teen' movie, I panicked and hit the gym. I was like, 'It's going to be on film, documented, for my children to see. I can't be 140 pounds. I need to put on a little bit of muscle.'

There's no need to overwhelm yourself with thoughts, because you know that you're just as good or better than some of the players you're going up against.