Growing in Temperance: How Catholics Can Use Nutrition and Strength Training to Cultivate Virtue

In our modern culture of excess, Catholics face a unique challenge. We live in a world of fast food, endless streaming, and instant gratification—yet Christ calls us to live with discipline, self-control, and freedom in the Spirit. One of the most practical ways to cultivate the virtue of temperance is through nutritional discipline and strength training. Far from being mere “self-help” activities, these habits can become pathways to holiness when rightly ordered to God.

What is Temperance?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines temperance as the moral virtue that “moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods” (CCC 1809). It goes on to say that temperance “ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable.”

In short, temperance is about freedom: the ability to say “yes” to what is good and “no” to what is harmful or excessive. Without temperance, we are enslaved by our appetites; with temperance, we are free to love God and others with an undivided heart.

Food and exercise are prime arenas where this virtue is tested. While both are good gifts from God, our culture’s disordered relationship with them—gluttony, sloth, body-obsession, or neglect—reveals how desperately we need temperance.

Nutrition as a School of Discipline

The Catechism warns that “the appetites of the senses… require regulation by reason” (CCC 1767). Few things demonstrate this truth more than our relationship with food. Eating is necessary for life, but it is also a source of pleasure. Temperance helps us enjoy food without being dominated by it.

Practically, Catholics can live this out through nutritional discipline:

• Mindful eating – Slowing down, giving thanks before meals, and eating with awareness helps us keep food in its proper place.

• Portion control – Learning to stop before we feel stuffed is a daily act of temperance.

• Choosing nourishing foods – Prioritizing lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains honors the body as “a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 6:19).

• Fasting and abstinence – The Church’s long tradition of fasting on certain days or seasons (like Lent) trains us to master desire rather than be mastered by it.

In fact, the Catechism reminds us: “The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine” (CCC 2290). By embracing nutritional discipline, we don’t just improve our health—we grow in virtue.

Strength Training as Virtue in Action

While nutrition shapes what we consume, strength training disciplines how we use our bodies. It might seem surprising to connect lifting weights or doing push-ups to holiness, but St. Paul himself writes: “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things” (1 Cor 9:25).

Strength training requires the very virtues the Catechism highlights under temperance: moderation, balance, and mastery of the will over instinct. Consider:

• Consistency over comfort – Showing up to train when you don’t feel like it forms perseverance and strengthens the will.

• Progressive overload – Gradually increasing resistance requires patience, humility, and long-term vision rather than instant gratification.

• Rest and recovery – Temperance not only avoids excess but also teaches moderation. Overtraining, like neglect, is a failure of balance.

By engaging in strength training, Catholics learn to govern bodily desires, channel energy into productive action, and cultivate discipline that translates into the spiritual life. As CCC 1809 says, “The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good.”

Why Catholics Need This Witness

Living temperance in food and fitness is not about vanity. The goal is not six-pack abs or social media likes. The goal is to bear witness to Christ through how we live in the body. The Catechism, quoting Gaudium et Spes 14, affirms that “man is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day” (CCC 364).

In an age where gluttony and sloth are normalized, Catholics who practice temperance through nutritional discipline and strength training stand out. They show that freedom is possible, that discipline is joyful, and that caring for the body is part of loving God with “all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

Practical Ways to Begin

If you’re a Catholic looking to grow in temperance through food and fitness, here are some starting points:

1. Offer your workouts as prayer. Begin with the Sign of the Cross. Dedicate the effort for a loved one or intention.

2. Practice small acts of restraint at meals. Leave a little food on the plate, skip dessert occasionally, or fast between meals.

3. Train regularly, not excessively. Aim for 2–4 strength sessions per week, focusing on major movements like squats, presses, and pulls.

4. Celebrate feast days well. The Church gives us both fasts and feasts. Temperance doesn’t mean joyless restriction—it means celebrating with gratitude and moderation.

5. Confess failures honestly. If food or fitness becomes an idol, bring it to confession. Grace strengthens what effort alone cannot.

Conclusion: Temperance Sets You Free

Temperance is not about saying “no” to life’s joys but about ordering them so we can say a greater “yes” to God. Through nutritional discipline and strength training, Catholics have practical, daily opportunities to practice this virtue. Each time you choose water over soda, train when you don’t feel like it, or fast on Ash Wednesday, you are forming a heart that is freer, stronger, and more capable of love.

As CCC 1809 reminds us: “The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion.” In other words, the gym and the dinner table can become schools of holiness. And by embracing temperance, Catholics not only improve their health but also glorify God in body and soul.