What does a Health Coach do?
People tend to know what a life coach or nutritionist does but are a little sketchy about the job of a health coach and what they can bring to the party – it is after all a relatively new profession. This article looks at how a health coach can help you and the roles they fulfil.
Most people know WHAT constitutes a healthy diet and lifestyle; after all it’s on the internet, in magazines and books everywhere, or perhaps they have been advised to do some by a medical expert but where they may fall down in putting it into practice is in the HOW and possibly the WHY.
This is where a health coach can come in to set goals and help you explore your reasons for making changes, the benefits of doing so (not for just you) and importantly learn how to make these changes in the easiest and most manageable way and in a way that makes them stick. This article looks at what a health coach does and how it differs from other modalities.
The role of a health coach is to support, empower and motivate their clients to make consistent, healthy choices and therefore enable them to reach their health goals, whether it is to lose some weight, be fitter or eat better generally. At the same, we pass on our knowledge about health and nutrition and make relevant recommendations (educate) so that the client and coach come up with and commit to a workable and manageable action plan together to achieve these goals. This plan is broken down into specific actions in the areas of diet, exercise and stress management, to name just a few. We then give them the benefit of time to put it into action (as habit change can take time and support is needed over this time before it becomes second nature), whilst overcoming any barriers or obstacles along the way.
These barriers can include stress, lack of time, untimely dips in motivation as well as poor self esteem and limiting beliefs. Negative self talk can be a big factor stopping someone achieving what they want – a health coach helps their clients to work through these with support and encouragement.
Accountability can be key
What we also do is hold our clients accountable with weekly sessions at the beginning and check-ins inbetween if helpful. Accountability can make all the difference for some clients, who find it hard to motivate themselves otherwise (I personally have recognised I need this, which is why I have a coach myself!).
It is key for the client to remain in charge – they are the expert of their bodies and they know what will and won’t work for them within their current lifestyle. They are in the driving seat.
Health coaching is a whole life process, in that taking action to change one area or multiple areas – such as eating habits, lifestyle, mindset and beliefs – will have a positive ripple effect on other areas of your life, such as career or family life. Conversely it is also important to understand how these other areas of your life are perhaps negatively impacting your ability to makes beneficial changes to your eating habits and lifestyle.
Co-creation and guidance
Health coaching differs from life coaching as it offers guidance, mentoring, education and coaching alongside co-creation of actions, while with life coaching there is little or no instruction from the coach. A health coach’s services also differ from those of a nutritional therapist, who can often present a raft of recommendations at the same time for the client to implement, while a health coach will break these down into more manageable chunks and specifically small actions to take.
Is your life and environment supporting you right now to change? Might you benefit from the support and guidance of a health coach to achieve your health goals? If you would like to find out, I am holding a Virtual Open Day on Thursday 16th June 2022, where we can chat by zoom and look at your current barriers and ways to overcome them.
Hannah Wyborn
Weight Loss Coach
Naturopathic Wellness Practitioner