Leading a healthy lifestyle has become everyone’s number one priority. More and more individuals have changed or adjusted their routines and diets in order to lead healthier lives. However, sometimes it can be extremely challenging to adapt your habits and turn your life around. Luckily, we can rely on Health Coaches whose expertise will guide us through the healthy path in those difficult situations. Erika Schlick, the author of The Wandering Palate, believes everyone should work with a Health Coach.
What is a Health Coach?
According to the Kresser Institute for Functional and Evolutionary Medicine, Health Coaches are experts on human behavior, motivation, and health. These experts are also known as change agents who help their clients set and achieve health goals and build new habits. There are five key elements involved in the work a Health Coach does with their clients:
- They help their clients discover why they now have the desire to make healthy changes.
- They teach clients how to feel empowered by understanding their own bodies, minds, and circumstances.
- They find ways to help clients identify challenges and blind spots that prevent the change they want to achieve.
- They become a client’s first source of support and accountability.
- They are able to help their clients navigate different health concerns based on their extensive knowledge of health and wellness.
Some people believe doctors could provide the same kind of support. However, the Health Coaches have the tools and skills to guarantee their clients make lasting changes. The experts at Kresser Institute say, “this is what makes Health Coaches unique in the healthcare industry — they are not just a source of information but a catalyst for transformation.”
Why you Should Work with a Health Coach
Erika Schlick is a Blogger, Cookbook Author, and Health Coach who shares her expertise, experiences, and knowledge through her blog, The Trail to Health. Because of her personal experience leading with health issues that pushed her to rethink her life and change her habits, Schlick decided to become a Health Coach and help other patients who may be going through similar situations.
Schlick says, “If you’re sick, you go to the doctor, right? If you are having personal issues, you may seek guidance from a counselor or therapist. If you want to enhance your value within a certain field, you might go back to school. The common factor in these examples is the motivation to grow or heal. But what about improving your health?” Working with a health expert, a change agent, like a Health Coach can be extremely beneficial in your journey. And here is why this expert believes you should work with a Health Coach:
- Get Health Conscious: By working with a Health Coach, “you’ll learn more about your body and what you should be eating, what type of exercise would benefit you, and custom ways to enrich your health.”
- Make Lifestyle Changes: A Health Coach will increase your ability to change because “you’ve got someone right there with you cheering you on and challenging you to commit to the lifestyle changes that you most value, or will best serve your overall health and wellbeing.”
- Live a Fulfilling Life: These agents of change “can help reduce stress, lower the risk of chronic diseases, optimize sleep, and lose weight. These are immense health benefits that work together to raise your level of fulfillment and help you better enjoy life.”
- Explore Recovery Modalities: From personal experience, Schlick explains, “for those suffering from chronic illness, a health coach can create a recovery path by exploring different modalities of healing. Depending on the client’s conditions, health coaches tailor a treatment plan to ease symptoms and treat the route of the illness. This can span many health facets, including physical and emotional healing. They can also help you get ready for doctor appointments to get the most out of your short time with your physicians.”
- Set and Achieve Health Goals: How many times have you set goals for yourself but were unable to reach them? “When you work one-on-one with a Health Coach, you don’t just set goals together, you create an actionable plan that helps you achieve your goals realistically. There’s also the element of accountability that helps sustain motivation that otherwise might dwindle without someone there to check in with you.”
- Gain an Advocate: When you find yourself facing health challenges, it is crucial to have a health advocate who will believe your symptoms and make them heard. “What’s often written off as “fatigue” or “stress” is just a wastebasket diagnosis because the doctor can’t conclude what the actual diagnosis is. This can be extremely disheartening when you’re in pain or suffering. A Health Coach advocates for you and helps you embark on the trail to health.”
- Become the Healthiest Version of Yourself: How many times have you dreamed about becoming the best version of yourself but were scared to face the challenges? “Working with a health coach gives you the steps you need to take toward your healthiest self so that you can live your best life.”
Choose a Health Coach, Choose Yourself
Deciding to make changes and turn your life into a healthier one can be highly challenging. However, this process can become a wonderful, beneficial experience if you work with a Health Coach who advocates for your health, holds you accountable, empowers you, and teaches you what is best for your body and mind. That is why Erika Schlick is a firm believer in everyone working with Health Coaches when they are looking to transform their lives.