Components of Health Coaching
We're going to focus on you. Who you are today, how you're feeling, and what you need to succeed. Let's talk a little bit about the philosophy of my health coaching and see if the approach is a good fit for you.
Mindset
Forgetting Perfection
We are continually bombarded with countless diet and exercise plans that promise if you just follow them perfectly you will have the body of your dreams. Not only does this not work, you may believe that an inability to follow this generic plan to perfection means you will never achieve better health. Instead, a health coaching plan is specific to you, accounting for those moments when you may not make the healthiest choices. This flexible approach adapts the health plan to your life and not the other way around.
Be Your Own Cheerleader
Imagine talking to a friend the way your own inner voice speaks to you. Would you have many friends? Often our inner dialogue can be demeaning and harsh. Developing a kind and encouraging inner voice is key when pursuing a health and fitness lifestyle change. You’ll need this inner cheerleader when you veer off course to help gently guide you back towards your goals. Part of health coaching is developing an inner voice you’d want to be friends with so that you can confidently believe you are capable of change.
Embracing the Process
Change can be hard and uncomfortable, especially when it comes to developing healthy habits. This is totally normal and part of the growth process! However, the way you view this discomfort can make a world of a difference. Health coaching helps you find enjoyment in the challenge of growth, celebrating each small win along the way.
Finding Your "Why"
More than a Number on the Scale
When setting health and fitness goals, many focus on a goal weight or an image that they want their body to look like. Using a number on the scale or a particular body ideal as the only metric for success blinds you to the progress you are making. While the scale number may not have changed much, you may have succeeded in building more strength and made better food choices. Health coaching allows you to shift your focus from scale weight and body aesthetic to healthier metrics for success.
Creating Your Why
Why are you wanting a healthier lifestyle? Finding your fitness “why” can be a powerful motivator for change. If your answer is simply to look better or be thinner, motivation may fizzle out overtime. However, a “why” that is deeply important to you, such as being able to keep up with your kids or build more strength, will motivate you to stick with the plan when the going gets tough. Health coaching explores these deep motivators and keeps them at the forefront of every health plan.
Return to Your Body
Learn to Love Your Body
Part of the intention behind Health Coaching is utilizing fitness as a tool to reconnect and love your body instead of as a means of punishment for poor health choices. Loving your body will allow you to create eating and exercise habits as a means of self-care. Along the way, you will learn to appreciate all your body can do for you instead of zeroing in on all the reasons it’s falling short.
Listen Closely…Your Body is Speaking
Health coaching helps you reconnect to your body’s natural signals that may have been ignored for a long time. After years of unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercise and unchecked stress, you may be out of touch with your body’s natural cues. This can look like having trouble recognizing the difference between mindless eating and hunger or drowning fatigue in caffeine instead of a good night’s rest. With the proper health coaching plan, the deviation between your body’s cues and your awareness of them reorient back into focus.
Eating for Your Health
Diet Culture vs. Food Habits
One of the biggest disservices of the health and fitness industry came from fad diets and the resulting polarization of being “on a diet” or “completely off the wagon”. These restrictive diet plans offer quick initial weight loss and then subsequent weight gain when the diet couldn’t be maintained long term. Health coaching takes an alternative approach, teaching a flexible diet pattern tailored specifically to your preferences and needs. Following this type of eating style teaches you to mindfully eat a wide variety of foods in a healthful way.
Holding Space for Rest
Invest in Rest
Today’s culture praises long work hours, little sleep and taking on an overly full schedule. The Fitness Industry is no exception to this with slogans like “no days off” taking hold of gym culture. If optimizing productivity is truly the goal, investing in rest is one of the best places you can start. Health coaching teaches you best practices surrounding sleep and stress management, allowing you to pour from a full cup.
Fill Your Cup
Better health isn’t just cultivated in the gym or the kitchen. Spending time doing what you love has a significant impact on overall well-being. Reading your favorite book, playing a musical instrument or laughing with friends are all great ways to recharge and fill yourself up.
Accountability and Support
It Takes a Village
Embarking on a health and fitness journey is best done with accountability and support from those with your best interest in mind. Family and friends can hold important roles in your health journey to help motivate you when things get hard. A Health Coach can be a wonderful addition to this support system, as they are able to provide both accountability and support along with the health and fitness expertise to guide you towards your goals.
Interested in having a free consultation to learn more?
Thank you for reading about my philosophy and understanding my passion for your health. Let's have a casual, no pressure virtual chat about your needs and if health coaching is the right path for you.
