10 ways a Health Coach can help you
How often do you think about your health?
I would suggest more times than you think. Whether it is reflecting on if you have had a restful nights sleep or not and how you are feeling when you get up, to what you are going to eat that day. Or perhaps you like to count your steps or you consider whether you can fit in some form of exercise into your day. Maybe you’re conscious of how much water you’ve drunk or you deliberate over whether you will allow yourself to have that chocolate or not. We think about and make decisions regarding our health multiple times a day. Each decision we make can impact our health negatively or positively.
In essence, the state of our health will impact every area of our life and will influence decisions and responses to the different situations we find ourselves in. Spending a day at work when we haven’t slept well will mean we are not able to function at our best. Our reactions will be slower, we may experience low mood, we will have less patience with our colleagues. If we haven’t fuelled our body with the right foods to keep us energised we will feel less motivated to exercise or we may experience dips in our blood sugar because we’ve snacked on the wrong types of food. If we are dehydrated our brains literally cannot function at their best.
Being in good health means we are in the best position possible to achieve the things we want to do and to enjoy our life. Imagine feeling energised each day, waking up having had a good nights sleep and looking forward to the day ahead with a sense of purpose. Imagine knowing what you will eat during the day because you have planned ahead, and you know how these foods will sustain you so that you can accomplish all the things that you need and want to do. Imagine feeling confident that you will get a good nights sleep because you have established a relaxing bedtime routine that allows your body and mind to unwind from the days events. Imagine having a set of strategies to help you manage feelings of stress and overwhelm when difficult or unexpected things happen. Imagine having an exercise routine that you enjoy, knowing that you are taking care of your physical body and feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that this is a preventative measure against potential illness in the future. Imagine doing all of this by yourself…
Working with a health coach provides you with a partner, someone who is on your side and wants you to succeed. Someone who knows you can, and will succeed. A trained health coach has the tools to advise in the areas of nutrition and exercise but is also able to help you identify other areas of your life which may need attention. A health coach can support you in drawing together all the areas of your life to give you a more holistic picture of where you are at and where you want to go. Working with a health coach is like beginning a journey. A journey where you are in the driving seat but you are not alone or unsupported. So much of what we do today is in isolation. From working online, to self service checkouts, to listening to podcasts for advice. Connecting to another person, a professional who has time just for you, a person whose job it is to support you with your health is, in my opinion, something very special. It is something unique because it is personalised to you and your needs and goals. Working with a health coach is invaluable because it is a way to invest in yourself and a way to protect your health. I would say this is priceless because we know that good health is really the sign of true wealth.
To summarise, a health coach can provide you with:
a clearer picture on your ‘why’
clarity on what you want to achieve
a better understanding of your motivations
clarity on what might be holding you back
a roadmap to change
knowledge of nutrition, exercise and mindset tools
support and encouragement
a professional partner
an accountability partner
a better understanding of how to approach your health holistically