What is a health coach?
Health coaches use a client-directed approach. We focus on your strengths, interests and abilities to help you overcome a variety of health issues. We do not diagnose but provide motivation and insight in helping you reach your health and wellness goals. By developing strategies that change your behavior, real and permanent change can and does take place. For example, some of the strategies may include self-care, accountability, resilience and stress management. Change takes time, practice and fortitude, but it can be done.
On what areas would a health coach focus?
Diet
Food choices are important for good health. Many clients want to lose weight and need help. Some can lose weight but not maintain their desired weight. Becoming successful at weight management requires permanent lifestyle choices. As you make better food choices you will start to feel better and that will give you the strength to keep moving forward. I personally do not recommend counting calories or dieting just to lose weight; this puts the focus on the food. Having said this, we love what we pursue. If you choose to eat more vegetables, they will eventually become a meaningful part of your diet and you will start to crave them.
My primarily work is in helping people with weight loss and weight loss management. This requires an individual to think about food differently. Many of us choose what we eat by taste. What do I feel like eating? What would taste good? But, when we make better choices, we lose weight and feel better because food is also medicine. Changing our diet can do more for us than just weight loss.
Exercise
We are created for meaningful work, and for most of history that required daily and prolonged physical exertion. But for many in the twenty-first century, work involves sitting at a desk for much of the day. There’s an old saying, “Exercise cures what ails you.” Many of us don’t like exercising or we don’t have time for it. As a health coach, I will help you explore ways to get over these obstacles.
Relationships
We are social beings. Positive relationships are among the most meaningful elements of our lives. Since we are body, mind, and spirit, when we face difficult relationships, our physical health can suffer. We will also look at your more taxing relationships. For example, some people are caregivers for loved ones with disabilities; this can be exhausting. Thus, we will look at how to nurture and build stronger relationships; ones that help build you up.
Stress Management
What we think and how we think will affect how our bodies respond to any given issue. We may assume that stress only affects our minds, but research suggests that stress also affects our physical bodies. One such affect is that it can cause abnormal adrenal and hormonal reactions which may promote illness. Developing strategies to deal with stress can calm down these adrenal and hormonal reactions.
Sleep
Stress management and sleep are related. A good night’s sleep improves the body’s ability to deal with stress. It allows the body to reset both physically and hormonally as well as emotionally. Many of the toxins we absorb are dealt with when we rest. Hormones are reset as our mind takes a break from the stress of the day. Therefore, we look at various aspects of sleep hygiene. Your quality of sleep can affect issues such as weight loss and general health conditions. If all these things are out of balance, you may suffer from insomnia and wake up feeling tired. Sleep should be a friend not an enemy.
What can I expect?
Most sessions last one hour. We will focus on one or two issues of your choosing, and we may explore other topics that pertain to those issues. I recommend meeting once a week for the first month; after that, you may choose how often to meet.
Where do we meet?
I am currently meeting clients on zoom. Special arrangements can be made if you would like to meet in person.
Where do I start?
Contact me for your free initial consultation. This will give us the opportunity to decide what path to take or whether this is a good direction for you.