Health Coach: Goal Setting
“It’s helpful and encouraging and I always feel good about myself when leaving a session and feel that for people who are struggling with their health and trying to get back on track, health coaching motivates me to keep going.”
– Michelle C: St Albans Park
Many ‘health and fitness programs/challenges’ have a common denominator to their programs and that is to start everyone out with the same food guide and exercise program….
Let me explain…
‘Conventional (regular) challenge’
- Fill out the form
- Tick boxes : weight loss/energy/water consumption
- Send a blurb of what the program will include
- Start you on the same exercise regime choose your level: beginner/regular/advanced?
- Send out a generic meal plan with vegetarian options or dietary requirements adjusted…
- Send in a ‘before’ photo
- Add you to a facebook group
But nowhere in these conventional programs is there a real personal touch – the modifications like,
– prior heart conditions, ankle mobility, autoimmune concerns, six month old child with a husband who is a shift worker and your parents and family live interstate.
– Do you live in a bustling city, do you live in the country, where do you work; office or outside?
You see all of these additional situations can play a HUGE difference on the conventional health and fitness program.
Your results will be VERY different to others in the group, yet all you may see at that time is failure and frustration?
If you work in an office; full of wifi, perfumes, artificial lights, computer screens, hundreds of meetings, stagnant/no movement, no lunch break and loads of overtime v’s gardener; clean air, full movement, natural elements, dirt and self paced…
These two daily situations are completely different and will have totally different outcomes – yet everyone is working off the same program!
Whereas:
‘Health coaching’
- Current lifestyle (family, work balance)
- Pain points (stress – what upsets you or has driven you to this place in your life)
- Current diet (good parts and bad, why you eat what you do, skipping meals, or over indulging)
- What you’d like to change initially (having more energy, reducing back pain etc)
- Motivational interviewing (to help with behavioural habits ; ie prevent relapse after program)
..then, this is where the goal setting begins..
Smart team goal setting
We lay down all the foundations first then build this step by step… an 8 week program is not going to give you life skills to keep your energy up and your weight loss off for the years ahead (it could work for the first 8 weeks of the program, but it’s all about the long term).
The regular programs gives you the meal plans, but do not explain why… they also do not take into account your working situations or sleep regimes (trust me these all make a difference)
How many of you have fallen back to old ways at the end of a program? Are you are looking for the next answer? Did you not learn life skills in the initial program?
Health coaching is an investment to your health, and to your family’s health with the right goal setting…
We all need that time for ourselves to work on a program and a goal that is designed especially for us… you don’t share your financial situations with others and work off the same template do you?
With finance some people have investment properties, some others may have shares, and others have no savings at all – it’s the same with your health – someone may have autoimmune concerns (dietary requirements different and hormone regulation out of whack), someone else may have young children (sleep is not happening) and some others may be single and fancy free (BRING IT ON).
It’s beneficial to have coaches in your life at different times, for different reasons, and to help keep you goal alive…
As a mum of two active boys I support them in their sports and interests with coaches to help them advance and achieve the goals in what they need, just like so many other parents with tutors, music teachers, and tennis coaches…
We don’t bat an eyelid when it comes to our children yet we hold back on ourselves…
There’s been so much misled information in ‘health’ over the past 70 years, and to many of us that’s our entire lifetime of mixed messages, so it’s understandable that you are confused about why you cannot achieve your goal, unsure and skeptical as to why things are not working.
Health coaching recap:
– Education and support for you to achieve your goal with loads of options
– Working to you and your family’s lifestyle
– Not all about set meal plans and training 5 times a week
– Accountability and responsibility
– Movement, Nutrition, Stress, Recovery and Sleep
If you need help and would like to ask some questions please feel free to connect and have a free consultation..
