What is coaching? Coaching is a vehicle to help you reach an even higher level of well-being and performance in your health and in your life. As your coach, I partner with you in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires and supports you to maximize your potential. I assist you in connecting the dots between who you are and who you want to be. Functional Medicine Health Coaching is a WHOLE systems approach that integrates the principles of Functional Medicine, functional nutrition, eating psychology, mind-body medicine, and positive psychology. It also considers your personal values, goals, work, balance, fulfillment, and life purpose. Through the coaching process, you gain clarity and valuable insights that enhance the quality of your life. We use reporting, exploring, and a consistent commitment to action to help move you forward. This proactive working relationship not only accelerates your progress but it supports you as you mobilize internal strengths and external resources for sustainable change. In the end, you will walk away with a comprehensive personalized health and lifestyle plan to help achieve your self-determined goals.
The above definition of health coaching from a functional medicine perspective is accurate and detailed, but maybe a bit wordy and difficult to comprehend for some. I’ll break this down with a real-life example:
Have you ever left a visit with a health care professional feeling confused, defeated, judged, or overwhelmed? I think we have all experienced at least one of those feelings after a medical appointment.
I know that I have. Sometimes I leave an appointment feeling super motivated, only to walk in my house to be bombarded with laundry, dirty dishes and kids’ needs and as a result, everything I had planned to do completely falls by the wayside.
Recently, I left a doctor’s visit with many pages of lab results, instructions to buy supplements, dietary recommendations and other thoughts from my provider. As I tried to digest all this information, my eyes fell to the red, bolded words on my report: “over fat.” These words were peppered throughout my report. In bold. And red! I exercise everyday, I eat an extremely healthy diet, my BMI is in the normal range (I guess that’s why I’m not overweight, just over-fat), my dress size is in the single digits, yet according to some piece of equipment, I have more fat on certain parts of my body than I should – and less muscle than is ideal. And this doctor felt the need to make that the glaring punctuation mark to my appointment.
I am managing my autoimmune disease with diet and lifestyle and have zero symptoms of that disease. My blood pressure is low, my fasting glucose is low, and most importantly: I feel well. Yet once I read that report, all I could think about was “over fat” and all I wanted to do was dive into a bowl of ice cream – the complete opposite of what I needed. I felt completely defeated and not at all motivated to follow this practitioner’s instructions.
If I had visited with a health coach after that appointment, she would have reassured me that I am doing great. My body feels well, it gets me through each day and all that’s thrown at me. I am not in pain, my autoimmune disease is not flaring. I have a lot to be thankful for and proud of, quite frankly. Ten years ago, I was deathly ill and today I am thriving. Getting to this place has taken a lot of work, which I have largely done myself, and I needed to be reminded of that and that’s what my coach would have done for me.
But, that equipment didn’t lie. I guess I do have a little too much padding around the middle. Is there one small change I could start making right now that might address that issue? How would I feel about that? Is that where I want to focus my energy right now? Or would I rather address something else from my health report – my low iron levels, perhaps? Yes, let’s address that. I don’t feel like tackling the fat right now. But I already eat a lot of beef. Where else can I get more iron in my diet? My coach can help me find ways to get more dietary iron. She also helps me see areas where I might be losing iron or not absorbing all I’m eating – somethings I hadn’t even thought of.
I meet with my coach again the next week and she starts by asking me what went well since we last met. Right away, I’m thinking positively rather than focusing on all I did not achieve over the course of the last week. She gives me the opportunity to tell her how I am feeling now that everything from my last doctor’s visit has had time to sink in. I’m not dwelling on the “over fat” comment, but it’s still in the back of my mind. It’s something I want to talk about eventually because I really don’t know what else I can do to change that situation. My coach listens, validates my feelings and asks where I want to focus today.
For now, I decide to work more on my iron levels. Was I able to get in more iron containing foods this past week? How did that make me feel? Did I notice any changes? Do I need more information or support in this area? No? Then we move on. My coach and I spend some time daydreaming about my vision of ideal health. What is it I want to be able to do – either now or in the future – that seems out of reach for now? Is there something I can do now to start moving in that direction? My goal is to hike Israel with my kids when they graduate from high school – to walk where Jesus walked. That will be in four short years. Then I want to hike all over Europe with my husband when we’re retired. To get there, I need to keep my body healthy and keep my autoimmune disease at bay. I leave our coaching session feeling encouraged and motivated by these goals I have set my sites upon.
I hope that definition and real life example of health coaching were helpful. This is a relatively new field and if you have never experienced professional coaching (outside of the sports arena), it may be difficult to wrap your mind around.
A health coach can be so many things….
- support system
- ally
- cheerleader
- resource
- bridge between you and your doctor
Could you benefit from working with a health coach?
After reading my example above, are you thinking that you might benefit from some time with a health coach? If any of the following statements resonate with you, you might consider working with a health coach:
- I’m just not feeling like myself lately.
- I used to have so much energy, but all I want to do these days is nap!
- I really want to be healthier, but I can’t seem to make it happen.
- I have a chronic illness and I want to tackle it as naturally as possible
- My doctor told me to make diet and lifestyle changes, but I don’t know where to start.
- I feel like I’m doing all the right things, but I’m not making any progress.
How Does Health Coaching Work?
Changes don’t happen overnight nor do they always stick. This is why I work with you, one-on-one, to help you make sustainable, life-long changes in the areas of your life that will incrementally improve your state of wellness. Change takes time and that is why I highly recommend a three month program. Sessions with me are driven by you – you set the agenda, I help you get to where you want to go. Unlike an appointment with a doctor or traditional healthcare provider, I am not an expert and I do not dictate what you need to do. Instead, I explore options with you, provide resources that can help you make informed decisions, and I support you with the choices that you feel are right. I also understand that health is not just about what you eat and how you move. In truth, we cannot separate health from lifestyle, so while working with me, you will look at all areas of your life to see if they support your wellness goals: sleep, stress, relationships and yes, food and movement as well.
What is Functional Medicine?
My body is well thanks to functional medicine and that is the form of healthcare I personally believe in and have studied extensively. If you work with me, we will be looking at your health and wellness goals through the lens of functional medicine so it’s important for you to understand what that means.
Functional Medicine is the practice of patient centered wellness, not disease centered care. It addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine looks at a patient’s history and the interactions between genetics, lifestyle and environmental factors that can all influence their long-term health and wellness. At it’s most simple definition, functional medicine addresses the underlying cause of disease, rather than throwing medicines at symptoms.
Are We a Good Fit?
This is important. If we work together, I want our time to be successful for you. I need you to trust me to have your best interests at heart and I need to trust that you are going to do your part. Let’s be honest here, you’re the one who has to do the hard work.
I’d love to work with you if:
- Your health is one of your top priorities.
- You think change is possible and you’re ready to make it happen.
- You’re willing to pay close attention to how your body feels in relation to things like eating, sleeping, exercising, stress and more. This is important. Awareness is key.
- You recognize that when nothing changes, nothing changes.
- You want an encouraging coach who values you as an individual and responds with grace.
- You’re willing to experiment and see how different changes work uniquely for YOU.
If you think working with a functional medicine health coach would be right for you, I’d love to talk with you. We can chat for about 15 minutes to determine if we’re a good fit for one another.