Have you ever left a doctors appointment feeling like you just went through a revolving door? How much time did your doctor actually spend with you? 15 minutes? Maybe 20 if you were lucky! Did he/she have time to discuss your nutrition or lifestyle habits? Did you chat about your activity levels or the amount of added stress in your life? Probably not. But the reality is these are the things that should be discussed when it comes to keeping you well.
We all need support if we want to truly thrive and this is especially true when it comes to getting a handle on health and wellness issues. Trying to do it alone can seem like a monumental task when there are so many factors that can get in the way. Time constraints, lack of motivation, long-term medical issues, the list goes on and on. If this sounds like you, it may be time to enlist the services of a health coach to guide and support you on your wellness journey.
Although the field of health and wellness is growing, many people still don’t know what a health coach is. Health coaching has come to the forefront as a result of gaps in our health care system. Many physicians have a limited amount of time during an appointment to assess your symptoms AND formulate a plan to make those symptoms disappear. More often than not, that plan includes a prescription and/or a referral to another doctor. What it doesn’t include is a long term plan to address what may be causing the symptoms in the first place. This is where a health coach can help.
A health coach is a wellness expert as well as a mentor. A health coach can:
– help you navigate an abundance of health and wellness information;
– provide direction by helping you identify what you want and how to get it;
– assist with goal setting;
– inspire and motivate you to make positive health choices;
– encourage you and keep you accountable.
So, how did I end up becoming a health coach? Well, about ten years ago, I was struggling with my own health issues. During the process of trying to figure things out, I felt as if I was getting passed around from doctor to doctor, each one ready to prescribe a new medication or order an invasive test. I was frustrated and scared. At the time I was seeing a gastroenterologist and I will never forget a conversation I had with him during one of our appointments. He had just ordered a whole slew of scans which my insurance did not cover. I was looking at spending thousands of dollars if I wanted to do these tests. I was feeling overwhelmed by it all so I asked him “if you were in my shoes, would you do all these tests?” And to my surprise, he said no! Although I appreciated his honesty, I was shocked. It was at that moment that I knew I needed to find another way to get well. That is when I found my first health coach.
While working with my health coach, I was able to discover that I had some food sensitivities which were likely causing some of my health issues. I knew I was sensitive to gluten and had already eliminated that from my diet. I did not know that I was sensitive to dairy and I definitely did not realize how much sugar I was consuming in all those gluten free products! Figuring things out with the help of my health coach is what fueled my passion for nutrition and led me to study at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I became a certified nutritional health coach in 2013!
Needless to say, I believe wholeheartedly that food is our medicine. Whole foods in their natural state should be our first line of defense, but the reality is we all lead busy lives and sometimes we need to take a shortcut! Because of my own food sensitivities, I have become quite the “expert” on finding healthy products that contain whole food ingredients, are easy to prepare and taste delicious. It’s something I am passionate about and I love to share this information with others.
Whether you are struggling with food sensitivities like me or perhaps you want to lose weight, reduce stress, increase your energy or manage a health condition, a health coach can help you achieve your goals through diet, lifestyle and behavior modifications. Asking for help is not always an easy thing to do. I should know….I am terrible at it!! But I like to think of it this way….asking for help is about taking action. It’s about getting to the bottom of why you are feeling stuck and not getting the results you want.
If you are ready to take action, way to go!! Currently, I am offering a free 30 minute phone consultation and I have a couple openings this week! So grab your phone and give me a call!
Talk to you soon!
