Health Coach \hêlth cōch\ n. A professional trained to help a client achieve optimal wellbeing: I’m smiling like a maniac because I just saw my health coach.
A health coach is someone with whom you can share your thoughts, desires, and fears, knowing they will be listened to and held in confidence, free of judgement. A great coach will then, through clear, simple, and provocative questioning, invite you to go deeper into your feelings until you have an aha moment or several. Your insights will inspire your goals and the homework I’ll assign to help you reach them.
I recently helped a client who wanted to do more cooking in her home. I asked her why she didn’t cook. The answer was that she didn’t like to get her kitchen dirty. “Ok,” I said, “so the first step for you is to learn very simple and healthy one-pot dishes that won’t dirty your kitchen.” From there we had a clear starting point—an easy goal for her to work toward.
Another client was feeling frustrated in her marriage and lots of little things about her husband were bugging her. “Can you please tell me five things you love about your husband?” I asked. After she listed the five things, my client was visibly less tense. She took a deep breath and said “maybe I should tell him those things.” This became a piece of her homework.
Good nutrition is a big focus, especially in the beginning of a coaching relationship. I pay special attention to you as an individual to help you to improve your diet. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all diet; luckily, we have tools to discover what fuels you best. This can be done through a three-week anti-inflammatory cleanse followed by a slow re-introduction of foods, or I might ask you to keep a food journal so I can take a closer look at your whole day.
I had a client who was adamant that he was not interested in giving up bread. This was just fine with me; I never push people into things and some people are great with bread. After completing a three-week cleanse, followed by the re-introduction of bread, he discovered that some of his complaints were indeed related to gluten. With more knowledge and a clearer picture of how certain foods made him feel, he was able to make some lasting changes he believed in.
Your goals may include weight loss, increased energy, better athletic performance, less inflammation, or maybe you’re simply wanting to take full responsibility to be as healthy as you can. My goal for you is a sustainable and enjoyable lifestyle and not a quick-fix diet.
We are body, mind, and soul—all interconnected—and it’s my philosophy that you cannot work with one without shifting the other two. Somewhere on your health journey you will organically move from improving your diet to improving other aspects of your life. Stress management, better organization, motivation to exercise, and increased happiness and emotional wellbeing are just a few of the possible benefits of having a regular relationship with a health coach.
What does an actual session look like? If you are a local client we meet at my office and on occasion we may go for a walk, conduct a session in your home or even in the grocery store! If you live outside of Eugene, or if you’d prefer, sessions can be held over the phone and are just as effective. During our sessions we talk about goals, make a plan, learn, laugh and get motivated.
When we say goodbye each week you will have two-to-four new concepts to start integrating into your life. I am here to support you and hold you accountable to your goals. I enjoy being creative and having fun with this! I’ve left fresh smoothies on my porch for a client in need, as well as a butternut squash from my garden. I’ve talked a client down from brewing a pot of coffee on a rainy morning in the middle of her cleanse by sending her ideas for yummy drinks at a local teahouse. I’ll send you inspiring texts to remind you to stay on track. I care about your success and you will feel it.