WTF is even a health/life/wellness/everything coach??!!!

Just a pre-warning that this isn't some 'come and pay me to be your coach' blog post. This is simply outlining what coaching is and the benefits people have gotten from it. Many people aren't actually sure of what health coaching is, so I thought I'd spell it out for you ... What is health/wellness coaching?

• It is concerned about turning a person's goals into reality whereas health care professionals tend to just treat a problem and make the symptoms go away
• Coaches dive deep, below the surface of your 'issue' to find the root cause
• Helping you through issues via empowering sessions. Most often, we are just given a meal plan, pill or just told how to 'fix it'

How is coaching a benefit?

• it offers a different way for people to seek help and in doing so, they discover a lot about themselves
• most people that go to a health care professional are diagnosed and treated by this only magnified the problems and your own sense of failure
• Pat Williams from the Institute for Life Coach Training said ‘if you could have done it by yourself, you probably would have done it by now.” This is emphasising the growing need for people to have an ally to work with, someone who can hold them accountable and is supportive and a wellness coach and do just this.
• In a study done of ‘how effective is health coaching in reducing health services expenditures?’ it would found that inpatient and outpatient total costs fell and the estimated outpatient savings were $286 per person per month and total cost savings were $412 per person per month. Additionally, medical adherence was improved and there was a greater decrease in Hemoglobin A1c – a diabetes measure. Significant psychosocial improvements were also made. (Dr. Joel Kreisberg)

Results from past clients:

• Jane* found that having a health coach made her feel as though she could stop doing things by the 'books' and she felt more motivated than ever to change her behaviours and habits. She also found that the sessions were much more personal than other professionals and it wasn't just about fitting her into a box
• The evolution of life coaching showed that people found that by having an ally as someone who would engage with them and keep them accountable for their actions, they were able to achieve their very best results in real growth, movement and success
• The biggest thing people comment on the most is the motivation and empowerment they have to make these changes from a place of love, not fear. Often these 'issues' are staring us right in the face, however, it takes a coach to ask specific questions for the client to realise the true things that are holding them back. The problem that you might think you have, could just be the band-aid for the root problem. Once the root cause is fixed, the rest of the life will fall into place effortlessly -- this is very often the case with people's relationship with food. It's not about the food, it's about something else

“Coaching with Monica has been genuinely one of the best decisions that I’ve had in my life for a while. Whereas previously I felt ‘alone’ in the world and life feels kinda empty, she’s able to transform that completely just within a couple of weeks. In our sessions and our chats, I constantly feel guidance, support and that feeling of having a warm hug from someone who cares for you. Thanks to her, I feel like a totally different person and my perspective towards life has changed in a good, most amazing way. Not only does she keeps helping me in healing my relationship with food, she also helps me in healing my relationship with myself and my soul (like introducing me to meditation, which is truly life-changing). Looking back at myself a couple of months ago where I was not in a ‘good’ place, I feel so happy of how far I’ve got and felt so good about myself and the body I am blessed with. And it is all thanks to her.” “When I contacted, Monica my main goals were to improve my eating habits and lose weight. Many of Monica’s ideas and suggestions to improve my eating habits were extremely useful and sustainable. These included things like mediation, regular, moderate exercise, and mindful eating. However, the most important, and truthful concept that I was taught was that it is not necessarily what you eat, but how you eat it. Food health and wellbeing, is so much more than what simply goes into your body, but how you think about, how you appreciate it, and how to relate it to your own body for maximum health. This finally convinced me that counting calories were not the answer, instead to focus on eating foods that I know made me feel good and help my body to function. There is so much more to your routine and habits than simply focussing on weight loss and reducing calories. To learn to eat to your body’s signals, with mindfulness and with the thought of your own body’s health, means that you will not have to worry about weight gain – your body will do its job. This is something that I learned from Monica that I can sustain, even more than a year later after the initial coaching sessions. This was essentially my ultimate goal, and I reached it with Monica’s help.”