The Secret Sauce to Successful Resolutions: How Health Coaches Help You Win

The Secret Sauce to Successful Resolutions: How Health Coaches Help You Win

HealthCoaches Resolutions

A board certified health coach could be the secret sauce to finally keeping that new year’s resolution. Or any self-improvement goal for that matter. (Hey, not everyone is into the whole new year’s resolution thing). Whatever you call it, you’ve probably set the same goal time after time, and felt like a perpetual failure because you didn’t get far or you did, and then “slipped”.

You’re not alone in that struggle, nor do you have to be alone in the triumph. Enter health coaches. Evidence is growing from both scientific study and anecdotes that working with a health/wellness coach can improve: nutrition, exercise, mental and physical wellbeing, management of chronic disease, blood pressure, cholesterol, fasting glucose, weight management, and supports lasting behavior change.

How? Not by telling you what to do. Not by “forcing” you to give up the foods and drinks you love, or torture yourself with workouts you hate. We are trained in motivational interviewing to help you do what you already want to do, in ways that honor where you are in your journey. We are trained to believe that you are the expert in yourself. We come from a place of non-judgement. We help you cut through the noise and tune into what really matters: who you are, what you want, and how you can best achieve it.

We also help you reframe setbacks, delays, and other challenges. We help you celebrate the wins—something people can forget to do.

We help you create an action plan to get you from today to your ideal tomorrow. We help you identify the skills and strengths you already have to help you with your journey, and then identify ways to learn the skills you will need to fill in the gaps.

We help you become the true you.

What to Look For

There are so many programs out there that certify health coaches. There are also people working as coaches who are not certified. So how do you know who to put your trust and money in?

Definitely work with someone certified, and ideally a board certified coach. These coaches have undergone rigorous training and testing to sit for a national exam with the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching, in partnership with the National Board of Medical Examiners. I can speak from experience, this is no joke.

First, identify a few NBC-HWC (the designation for board certification) coaches who address the areas of wellness you are looking to change.

Second, contact them for a consult or discovery call. This should be free. Learn about how they work, what they charge, and get a sense of their approach and personality. You need to jive with each other.

Third, get started! Commit to yourself and the coaching program and see where it takes you.

No matter what, remember you are not failure for continuing to try. You are resilient.

References:

Gordon, N. F., Salmon, R. D., Wright, B. S., Faircloth, G. C., Reid, K. S., & Gordon, T. L. (2016). Clinical Effectiveness of Lifestyle Health Coaching: Case Study of an Evidence-Based Program. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 11(2), 153–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827615592351

Kennel J. (2018). Health and Wellness Coaching Improves Weight and Nutrition Behaviors. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 12(6), 448–450. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827618792846

Kivelä, K., Elo, S., Kyngäs, H., & Kääriäinen, M. (2014). The effects of health coaching on adult patients with chronic diseases: A systematic review. Patient Education and Counseling,97(2), 147-157. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2014.07.026

Oliveira, J. S., Sherrington, C., Amorim, A. B., Dario, A. B., & Tiedemann, A. (2017). What is the effect of health coaching on physical activity participation in people aged 60 years and over? A systematic review of randomised controlled trials. British journal of sports medicine, 51(19), 1425–1432. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2016-096943