What does a Health Coach do?

You may have heard the term health coach, but you do not know what they do and more specifically why someone would have one. Health coaches create strategies specific to you and your goals, they encourage you to reach your goals, keep you accountable, and help you cultivate a positive lifestyle. Think of a health coach as your guide and encourage you as you navigate the crazy, contradictory world of nutrition, and physical fitness. The goal is to help you create a healthy lifestyle by figuring out realistic steps that you can take. Every person is unique and what works for one person will not work for everyone and different approaches are needed. We listen to your concerns and help make changes where you are struggling. Health coaches figure out how to make lifestyle changes and educate you in the process. The goal is a lifestyle change and a different perspective on fitness that is not about willpower and making you feel better. The goal in health coaching is empowerment in every person!

There is not one best diet for everyone. Everyone is unique, depending on their life, their preferences and their health they need a different approach. Everyone is different about what derails their healthy efforts and what works for them. A health coach will come up with a strategy with you and keep you motivated in the process.

Weight loss is hard the combination of your changing life and your body fighting to put on weight. Unfortunately most diets alone are unsuccessful long term; however, the addition of health coaches have been shown to help get lasting results. Sharma et al. 2016 found that one year full year after coaching was completed the group with health coaching maintained their clinical improvements one year after coaching stopped. These results allow us to see how important the education and personalized approach are in the long run. Additionally studies have shown the effectiveness of regular check ins with health coaches. A study by Lepsen et al. 2016 found that when we lose weight our hormones in our bodies have not yet adapted to our new weight and our body is still trying to maintain its old, unhealthy, balance point, but after a year our bodies adapt. This phase extremely hard and regular meetings have been shown to be effective at keeping people on track while their keeping weight off. Health coaching is convenient and can be done over the phone around your schedule. It is designed for you to succeed! Health coaches are effective and allow you to see sustainable behavior and lifestyle changes.

Why a Christian Health Coach?

There are plenty of great health coaches without a christian approach, but as Christians our God-Centered lifestyle changes the way we should think and should interact with the world. Our core values about where our significance comes from is different from the world. What gives us hope and stability during tumultuous times is God. We look upward for our strength, hope and love. God is the source of everything good. A christian lifestyle coach will allow you to get healthy advice that is aligned with your religious values and be able to identify untrue statements that are contradictory to God's word that are speaking death and hopelessness into your life.  If you tell your self you are worthless failure, a christian health coach would give you bible verses to show you the Truth. Coaching you to look at your thoughts and how they compare to God's True unfailing words. A christian health coach will look at your mind, body and spirit and help you to be healthy in all three areas to make you holistically healthy.

Taking a holistic approach, incorporating all aspects of wellness using the Bible and understanding that we will always fall short on are own, but only through God can we resist temptations that can be harmful. God is the source of our strength, while I always get into the habit of thinking I need to try harder and think I can do it. When I take a step back, I realize that I am trying to cut God out of His rightful place I cannot do this by myself no matter how much I try, it is only with God's strength. A christian health coach is making sure that all glory goes to God doing the transformation. It is only through His strength and grace that we can move past our unwanted health habits by continuing to submit and rely on him. No more guilt ridden you should have tried harder. God has overcome death to make you free He does not want you to be chained to the scale, fearful of food, feeling guilty, or chained to a fad diet. He has the power when we link arms with Him to restore the life He wants for you! He cares about your health!

References:
Eva Winning Iepsen, Julie Rehne Lundgren, Jens Juul Holst, Sten Madsbad, Signe Sørensen Torekov. Successful weight loss maintenance includes long-term increased meal responses of GLP-1 and PYY 3-36. European Journal of Endocrinology, 2016; EJE-15-1116 DOI: 10.1530/EJE-15-1116

Sharma, A. E., Willard-Grace, R., Hessler, D., Bodenheimer, T., & Thom, D. H. (2016). What Happens After Health Coaching? Observational Study 1 Year Following a Randomized Controlled Trial. The Annals of Family Medicine, 14(3), 200-207.