How to Help Your Clients Develop a Positive Self-Image

| by in Behavior Change
How to Help Your Clients Develop a Positive Self-Image

Body-image issues can be hugely damaging to an individual’s self-esteem and ability to enjoy life. As a fitness professional, you will likely encounter clients struggling to feel good about how they look and feel. Learn how you can help your clients develop a more positive self-image and begin to counteract some of the outside forces that contribute to body-image disorders.

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When Coworkers Want to Be Your Co-eaters

| by in Nutrition
When Coworkers Want to Be Your Co-eaters

If you’re trying to stick to your healthy eating plan and goals, the workplace can be full of landmines designed to trip you up—Halloween candy, birthday celebrations, dinner meetings. Even your well-meaning coworkers can derail or diminish your efforts. Dr. Michael Mantell offers five great tips for dealing with “diet saboteurs” and how to politely deflect their often less-than-positive influence.

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Love Means Exercising, Too

| by in Behavior Change
Love Means Exercising, Too

Does your spouse or partner support your physical-activity efforts? If not, you’re not alone—a recent survey found that nearly half of respondents said that their spouse or partner did not support regular gym attendance. Dr. Michael Mantell explains why supporting one another’s fitness goals is essential to not only a healthy body, but a healthy relationship as well.

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How to Help Your Clients Increase Their Willpower

| by in Behavior Change
How to Help Your Clients Increase Their Willpower

No amount of fitness or nutrition knowledge will be enough to help your clients make healthy lifestyle changes that last unless they learn to increase their levels of willpower and self-control. Dr. Michael Mantell explains how you can help your clients develop the WIT (whatever it takes), grit and self-control necessary to reach their goals and live happier, healthier lives.

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Big Ideas for Your Health in 2014

| by in Behavior Change
Big Ideas for Your Health in 2014

It’s the beginning of a New Year—are you still on track with your resolutions? If you’re starting to waver, it may be a good time to create some big-picture thinking. Dr. Michael Mantell explains why only the fully accurate, big picture will give you the tools to properly check-in on your goals, assure that what you are doing supports your plan for the coming year for your fitness, and help you feel good about the time and energy you are expending.

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Help Your Clients Achieve Real Resolve, Not Just Resolutions

| by in Program Design
Help Your Clients Achieve Real Resolve, Not Just Resolutions

Every year it’s the same for so many clients—making resolutions only to break them within the first few weeks of the New Year. Dr. Michael Mantell explains how you can be source of real behavior change for your clients all year long by using techniques from positive psychology, motivational interviewing and cognitive behavior change.

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New Year's Resolutions: Stop Resolving and Start Accepting

| by in Behavior Change
New Year's Resolutions: Stop Resolving and Start Accepting

It’s time to end this nonsense of making—and not keeping—New Year’s resolutions, says Dr. Michael R. Mantell, ACE Senior Fitness Consultant for Behavioral Sciences. Instead of waiting until the ball drops on New Year’s Eve to make a fresh start, start now by picturing the changes you wish to make as if you have already met your goals. In other words, forget resolutions and start aligning yourself with your chosen self.

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How to Change Your Mindset About the Holiday Season

| by in Behavior Change
How to Change Your Mindset About the Holiday Season

Do you look forward to the holidays with anticipation and joy? Or are you more likely to view this season with dread and anxiety as you struggle to stay on track with your health goals? Dr. Michael Mantell explains how to effectively change your expectations and mindset about the holiday season so that you can not only enjoy it, but also continue to make your health and well-being a top priority.

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Mental Tricks to Up Your Workout Motivation

| by in Behavior Change
Mental Tricks to Up Your Workout Motivation

Despite countless books and articles devoted to staying motivated, many of us still have a hard time sticking to our exercise routines. Dr. Michael Mantell presents a simple exercise that will help you fill your thinking with positive expectations, know clearly what you expect from yourself and what you value when it comes to your health and wellbeing—all of which will help you overcome “motivation stagnation.” Try it, says Dr. Michael, and it will change your life.

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Are You an Emotional Eater?

| by in Behavior Change
Are You an Emotional Eater?

It’s no secret that, for many of us, eating is a about a lot more than simply satisfying hunger. Emotional eating can quickly sabotage even the most committed weight-loss efforts, but Dr. Michael Mantell offers important advice on how to tell the difference between physical and emotional hunger, as well as what steps you should take to get emotional eating under control.

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7 Steps to a Healthy Life

| by in Behavior Change
7 Steps to a Healthy Life

There’s no question that leading a healthy lifestyle can be challenging, to say the least, but it is also surprisingly simple in that there aren’t a whole lot of steps. There are, in fact, just 7 steps to a healthy life, explains Dr. Michael Mantell, who offers his step-by-step toolkit for taking control of your life and achieving true health and wellbeing.

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Do You Know Your Fitness Personality?

| by in Fitness
Do You Know Your Fitness Personality?

Trying to do a workout routine that isn’t tailored to your personality is a lot like wearing someone else’s clothes—it just doesn’t fit right. But how can you be sure what types of activities are right for you? Dr. Michael Mantell explains how you can use ACE’s online personality quiz to learn if you’re a social butterfly, go-getter, planner or adventurer, and discover which workouts will keep you coming back for more.

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Weight Loss 101: The Link is What You Think

| by in Overweight & Obesity
Weight Loss 101: The Link is What You Think

Does dieting or trying to make healthier choices make you feel out of control or unhappy? Dr. Michael Mantell explains why the key to lasting weight loss isn’t found in the latest diet book or fad, but in your own thought patterns. Learn why the link is what you think—and how you can change your thought patterns to create a healthier, happier you.

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Less Panic, More Health

| by in Behavior Change
Less Panic, More Health

Tragic and senseless acts such as the Boston Marathon bombings can leave many people feeling traumatized and stressed, even if they have no personal connections to the incident. If you find your clients are struggling to deal with these recent events, Dr. Michael Mantell explains how you can help them utilize wellness tools to cope with the emotional aftermath of this horrific tragedy.

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The Person in the Person-ality

| by in Behavior Change
The Person in the Person-ality

Understanding a client’s unique personality is essential for establishing rapport, and to help our trainers, ACE has created a Fitness Personality Quiz that determines and assess clients’ predominant personality styles. Check out what ACE Senior Fitness Consultant Dr. Michael Mantell has to say about his personal experience while taking the quiz, and how it can serve as a useful tool during your ACE-based assessment.

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Is There Psychology Behind Healthy Eating?

| by in Nutrition
Is There Psychology Behind Healthy Eating?

Food is meant to be a source of fuel and nourishment for our bodies, but today it has become a coping mechanism to deal with negative thoughts or feelings. Food companies have capitalized on our emotional connection with food by creating misleading labels and special offers, making food shopping and consumption confusing and overwhelming. In this article Dr. Michael Mantell gives tips on how to regain control and recognize emotional triggers by establishing psychologically healthy eating habits.

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A 30 Year-Old IDEA

| by in Fitness
A 30 Year-Old IDEA

If you didn’t get a chance to attend the 2012 IDEA World Fitness Convention in San Diego last week, you missed a venue full of new equipment and research, and a networking opportunity that drew about 6,000 fitness professionals from across the country. But don’t worry, our own ACE Senior Consultant Michael Mantell, Ph.D., has a recap of the event, as well as a few thoughts on his favorite products introduced there.

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How can I mentally prepare for a big race?

| by in Cardiovascular Training
How can I mentally prepare for a big race?

Is your head ready for the big day? While you may not be competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London starting July 27, you may be getting ready for a triathlon, half or full marathon, a tennis match in your club, a swim meet or even a race at an upcoming family picnic. Regardless of the size of the audience, you want to win – or at least be seriously competitive.

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How can I become a better fitness goal setter?

| by in Behavior Change
How can I become a better fitness goal setter?

When it comes to working out, you can simply assume that you’re motivated, goal-directed and mentally ready to achieve OR you can distinguish yourself as a flawless fitness goal setter. Not both. For improved motivation and long-term adherence to physical activity, incorporate these three methods into your fitness plan to maximize your results.

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