my health coaching

This time next week I'll be London bound. I'm both super excited and surprisingly relaxed about my travels abroad for six weeks over Christmas and New Years. As the teaching term winds down and my suitcase begins to overflow with things I won't need, I'm looking forward to the year to come and thought I'd share with you a little about what I'll be focussing my time and energy on during 2014 - my new endeavour; my health coaching.

Ready for Summer but heading to another Winter… and a white Christmas! (Maybe?)

I've talked about my health coaching studies at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition on this blog before but being a relatively new field of work in the healthcare industry many are left wondering as to what exactly is a health coach? Great question! I'm here to burst your bubble of wonderment and give you the lowdown on health coaching. All you need to know… and all your loved ones may need to know if ever they are in need of a health coach.

Here is how the Institute for Integrative Nutrition defines what health coaching is…

A health coach offers guidance and inspiration to help clients shift their behaviour to healthier habits by making step-by-step changes to their diet and lifestyle. The client learns about new, healthy foods and the concept of primary foods: relationships, physical activity, career, and spirituality. As a result of this partnership, clients develop a deeper understanding of the foods and lifestyle choices that work best for them, and implement lasting changes that improve their energy, balance and health.

Basically, a health coach is an ally for you and your health in body, soul and spirit. A health coach may specialise in a certain area such as food cravings, weight management, improved energy, sleep or digestion, and usually they focus on helping a certain group of people such as young professionals or mothers, for example. Before I even enrolled for the course, I found that I'd naturally become an ally for my friends and family, and their health. Out of the depths of my own story - my road to recovery from a debilitating chronic illness - my new career path found me.

Health coaching takes a holistic approach to diet and lifestyle, and a coach empowers the client in their journey to better health by providing support, resources and more. Clients are led through a 6-month program, which includes:

• Two 50-minute appointments each month for six months, which will include discussion of the client's progress, recommendations, and a full set of notes.
• A variety of handouts, recipes, books, foods, and other materials.
• Email support between sessions.
• Monthly special events like a health food store tour and group discussions related to health and wellness. 
• An invitation to bring guests to the special events.

Health is a vehicle for your life. The state of your health can enable or disable you. A health coach is an ally not only for better health but a better life. I'll be starting to see clients in July next year (at least, that's my plan at the moment!) and I'll be setting up a website where you can find out more about my health coaching practice, to come soon in early 2014. Please keep me in your prayers and thoughts as I embark on this new endeavour. I greatly appreciate your support more than I can express, and I extend to you, my dear readers, my sincere thanks for tuning in and being part of my journey. 

My next blog post will be coming to you from foggy Londontown. I'll be writing a fun collection of posts on food, travel and the new year. 

In the meantime, you can connect with me on Facebook. I look forward to hearing from you! xx