It’s funny, back in 2014, I personally had never heard of the term Health Coach. I had heard of Life Coaches, Fitness Coaches, all sorts of other coaches, but never a Health Coach. I was introduced to this principal in Perth, Australia in late 2014/ Early 2015 and as soon as it was explained to me, it made total sense.
So where did the term Health Coach come from? And really what does it mean?
The term Health Coaching originated in America in the early 1990’s. It stemmed from a man who was fascinated with growth and development which in turn led to his experimentation with his own diet and lifestyle. The principal of Health Coaching was born.
A Health Coach is an individual that is trained to understand that health is far greater than the food you eat and exercise you do. Health Coaches look at every aspect of your life to understand and pin point areas that could be causing you to have any number of issues from sleep, stress, digestive, acne, weight gain/ weight loss, repetitive sickness, the list goes on. Through an initial discussion process the coach will help the client identify areas of focus and agree a plan over the course of 3-12 months. Coaches normally meet their clients once every two weeks and agree simple tweaks to action during those two weekly cycles. The areas of focus tend to evolve as the client becomes better equipped to understand their own body and what works for them.
Health Coaches work as accountability mentors who acknowledge that no two people are the same, therefore coaching and agreed plans will vary between clients. There is no one size fits all which is why it is important to work with someone who is qualified.
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