By far the biggest barrier to health for my clients has been making the decision to hire me.

I don’t mean that in a narcissistic way – rather I mean that the most difficult part of their journey was asking for help.

See, we’re programmed to think that we *KNOW* how to get healthy – we KNOW the things we should be doing – eat less, move more, yada yada yada.

But with two thirds of Americans being overweight or obese, we clearly don’t KNOW how to get healthy.

Yet some amount of shame surrounds having to ask for help to get healthy; one client even thought it wa indulgent to hire someone to help her get healthy because she *KNOWS* how to do it and just felt she wasn’t putting in the effort or had the discipline.

Basically, the general consensus amongst my clients before signing up with me is that they can get healthy if they just get their shit together.

Reality Check

Then reality smacks them in the face with the realization that they’ve tried to get healthy before – they’ve set resolutions, they’ve signed up for Weight Watchers or a meal delivery system, they’ve joined a gym.

They’ve tried all the things!

To no avail.

All the previous efforts, no matter how disciplined, ended them up right back where they started.

Except it wasn’t even right back where they started because now they’re feeling even MORE like a failure and even less successful.

It’s almost as if they took one step forward and two steps back.

Behavior Change Ninjas

There’s a reason most health efforts fail – and it’s because it’s just addressing the “what” of it.

It’s a new program, a new diet, a new goal… it’s always just the thing.

But as a health coach, I focus on behavior change. The behavior itself isn’t as important as the learning to change it.

Which is why Dr. Chris Kresser refers to trained health coaches as “behavior change ninjas.”

Because it’s not the “what” – it’s not just enough to hear a doctor recommend eating better.

It’s the HOW – how do we eat better? How do we move more? How do we change our behavior?

That’s the value of health coaches noted by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, and a huge reason why he thinks health coaches are under-utilized but much needed in the current health landscape.

Most people have the desire to get healthier, to change their behaviors toward a healthier future, but they lack the tools to do so.

Even well trained physicians and nutrition experts have the knowledge of the “what” but often lack the experience with the “how” – and even those that do have the “how” generally don’t have enough time with patients/clients to make an impact.

It’s estimated that over 80% of health happens outside the clinical setting – meaning it’s the behaviors and habits you have in your everyday life that have the most influence on your health.

A Second Opinion

One of the biggest benefits of health coaching that my clients have mentioned is having the support.

This isn’t just moral support and a cheerleader in their corner (although I do that often and it is a huge help), but support in having someone to point out thought patterns that aren’t serving them; support in having an unemotional perspective on the matter.

When it comes to getting healthy we beat ourselves up with guilt and shame for messing up or not being perfect – we have unrealistic expectations (thanks social media). 

A health coach is an outsider who can point out those thoughts that don’t serve your ultimate goal and rather than spiraling, we talk through it.

It’s like getting a second opinion on how you’re treating yourself – and most of the time we treat ourselves WAY worse than we’d treat other people. 

I’m a sounding board, helping change the way you look at health, and ultimately how you treat yourself.

When you’re ready to accept help getting healthy, here’s how we can work together.