Self-Esteem and Exercise

I'm just reading an article on how Personal Trainers (and fitness instructors in general) need to get into their clients' heads more in order to better motivate them.

I strongly believe that getting and staying fit is mostly done in the head and that the internal dialogs that we have are our own worst enemies: things like "I look fat" or "I could never do that" keep us feeling low, but to our own voices that do it to us.

As a PT, I like listening to what my clients say about themselves, this gives me a strong insight into what actually motivates them.  I encourage clients to become aware of that self-critical voice and realise how it actually makes them feel (the little voice can also encourage us to exceed our abilities in both positive and negative ways).  

By standing in front of a mirror and repeatedly saying "I look fat", your mind will generate behaviours to support this view.

But when you stand in front of the mirror and say "what do I need to do to get slimmer/healthier?" Your mind can gradually build behaviours that will support the required behaviour change.

Increasing self-esteem involves working with clients to gradually collapse their old beliefs about themselves and replace them with new yet still believable ones.

For some people, counselling alongside their training will really give them the best return on their investment, time and effort.

- but to even start you need to believe in some small way that You're Worth It!

Body Confidence Training