Wellness coaching is one of the fastest growing trends in the health and fitness field. A wellness coach may also be known as a health coach, health counselor, or nutritionist. The title may differ, but the services provided are usually to offer help and support to improve all areas of a clients’s life which affects health and overall well being, including weight management, fitness, counseling, mental health, stress management, and more.
The idea of being healthy is different for everyone. Helping an individual meet their own unique health needs is the challenge placed before the wellness coach. Being healthy does not only refer to taking care of one’s body by eating right and exercisin. Being healthy includes taking care of the mind and spirit too, including having healthy relationships.
A wellness coach helps their client by providing a high level of support and guidance that creates positive lifestyle changes. By using a holistic approach, health coaches encourage clients to stick to their commitments and accomplish more than they ordinarily would have without the support of their coach. This is a powerful relationship, when a client needs change and the health coach helps them create the momentum needed for change to take place. The focus is always on the present, identifying what lifestyle changes need focus and tweaking, and then identifying the small steps that will help get the client from start to finish.
Making significant changes in one’s life can be daunting. Losing a large amount of weight, quitting smoking or finding an exercise program to stick to may be the most common reasons that people seek the help of a wellness coach. Others may need some guidance in the form of self esteem or confidence building to improve their careers or relationships.
Wellness Coaching Trends
Statistics show that 66% of Americans are overweight. This figure is staggering. The good news is that more and more people are becoming motivated to seek help with their obesity battle. Along with personal trainers and nutritionists, there is a dramatic rise in the wellness coaching field for weight management and support. Educated and sophisticated fitness professionals represent the fastest growing field and they continue to rise in popularity.
Services That a Wellness Coach Provides
A wellness coach can play a wide variety of roles in a client’s life. Services include pantry makeovers to exercise plans, finding the right diet plan, teaching healthy cooking classes, and everything in between. Wellness coaches can help a client learn to fill a healthy shopping cart. They may accompany their clients on a field trip to tour the local health food store. Programs can also be designed for a ladies’ night out to visit groups of vendors in a party-like atmosphere who are promot various health and wellness products and programs. Group coaching, personal coaching and consultation are all ways that wellness coaches reach their clients.
How to Hire a Wellness Coach
Many states don’t have licensing credentials or qualifications for becoming a wellness coach. It’s recommended to locate a coach who has experience in the area of concern the client is looking to solve. It is ideal that a wellness coach has at least two years of experience working with people in similar situations.
An experienced coach will be able to provide references and testimonials from satisfied clients. Many coaches will offer an initial interview to be sure that the coaching relationship would be a good match. Look for a wellness coach that has passion, confidence, and professionalism.
Wellness coaches may specialize in certain areas of expertise. For example, a person who is switching to a gluten-free diet should look for a wellness coach with this type of experience. A person needing to lose large amounts of weight would benefit from a coach who has had success with weight loss strategies. Similarly, someone interested in becoming vegetarian or vegan, or someone battling food allergies may want support from a health coach with this specific knowledge.
Who Is a Candidate For Wellness Coaching?
The ideal candidate for wellness coaching is someone who has realized that their lifestyle needs to change for the better. This person would be motivated to make healthy changes, and ready to make the commitment that it takes to realize these changes over the long term. They may need some outside encouragement, motivation and support, which is where the wellness coach comes in. However, a wellness coach cannot help someone who is not ready to help themselves. Working together, a wellness coach and motivated client will be a powerful team that can make life altering positive changes for the client.
Many of the people who seek out wellness coaching are people who have lost their way. They may have previously had a healthier lifestyle, but now find themselves not exercising, not eating properly, not getting enough sleep, having too much stress and gaining weight. They may need additional help in the form of a wellness coach to get back on track.
Don’t expect to see progress instantly. It takes time to develop new and healthy habits. Remember that those old ones took a long time to establish! Therefore most coaches will work with clients for months at a time. The amount of time that it takes will depend on several factors, including motivation and the size of the goal. For example, a person who wants to lose 50 pounds would need to work with a coach longer than the person who only wants to lose five or ten pounds.
A wellness coach can help clients with their unique physical, nutritional, mental, and emotional needs. Living a healthy life means different things to different people. Whether a client wants to train for their first marathon, lose some extra “baby weight,” quit smoking or simply start living a healthier lifestyle, a wellness coach may be exactly what is needed to get going in the right direction.
