5 Top Benefits of Working with a Health Coach

Are you feeling frustrated each time you visit your healthcare provider, receiving recommendations for additional medications or higher dosages, when in reality, incorporating healthier lifestyle choices could potentially reduce your symptoms and improve your well-being significantly?

So, what is health coaching and how do you know if you need to work with a health coach? With the future of healthcare focused on prevention, health coaches will play a key role in helping clients adopt and support healthy behaviors and a healthy lifestyle. You will soon find physicians, dietitians and other healthcare professionals incorporating health coaching within their practice as the demand for personalized, holistic approaches to health and wellness continues to grow. We have already seen many insurance companies incorporating health coaching services as part of their plans, recognizing the potential cost savings associated with preventative care and healthier lifestyles. The health coach industry evolution will continue to grow as the emphasis of healthcare focuses on improving health outcomes and prevention.

According to recent studies, the top three areas of health and wellness U. S. adults want to improve are physical health and fitness by 60%, followed by improving sleep (39%) and nutrition and eating (36%). Mood and mental well-being is a top priority for nearly 3-in-10 Americans (29%), while ‘changing old habits’ and improving social relationships tie at 15%.

Let’s dive into the 5 Top Benefits of Working with a Health Coach.

Nutrition and Diet:

A health coach can provide personalized guidance and support to help you improve your eating habits, make healthier food choices, and develop sustainable meal plans tailored to your individual needs and goals. Whether you're looking to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain a healthy weight, a health coach can offer guidance on nutrition to help you achieve your goals in a sustainable way.

Exercise and Physical Activity:

Health coaches can design customized exercise programs, offer motivation and accountability, and help you overcome barriers to physical activity, whether you're trying to lose weight, build muscle and strength, or improve overall fitness.

Sleep and Stress Management:

Health coaches can teach techniques for better sleep and stress reduction, mindfulness, and relaxation, and provide support and encouragement as you navigate challenges related to mental well-being, such as anxiety, depression, or burnout.

Motivation, Accountability and Support:

Health coaches can help you identify and overcome unhealthy habits, set realistic goals, establish positive routines, and make long-lasting changes to improve your overall health and well-being. With ongoing encouragement, motivation, accountability, and support, a health coach can help you stay on track with your health and wellness objectives. Health coaches will empower you with a holistic and scientific-based approach to take control of your health, make informed decisions, and achieve lasting improvements in your lifestyle.

Now that we’ve covered the 5 Top Benefits of why you should work with a health coach, let’s discuss the difference between a health coach and life coach? It’s a question I get frequently from clients and even healthcare providers.

Health Coach vs. Life Coach - What’s the Difference?

The two disciplines are similar in the fact health and life coaches are trained in behavioral and motivational change and can help you set realistic and achievable goals and help keep you accountable. But…the areas of focus are vastly different. Here’s a simple way to break it down…

Health Coach: Concentrates on guiding clients in making lifestyle changes to improve their physical health and well-being. This includes areas such as nutrition, exercise, stress management, sleep hygiene, and overall health habits.

Life Coach: Primarily focuses on helping clients set and achieve personal and professional goals, improve career relationships, work-life balance, manage life transitions, enhance overall well-being, and develop a sense of purpose and fulfillment in life.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you are well on your way to enjoying your prime time years healthy, strong and stress-free. :)