Do you need a health coach?
If you follow me on Instagram, then you might know that I’ve been training with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition over the past couple of years. Well, I have now graduated and am officially a qualified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. I’ve got a certificate and indemnity insurance and everything. It’s all very exciting.
Now I know what you might be thinking: wtf is a health coach?
After all, I’m not a doctor or other medical professional, and I’m certainly not out to replace them. The difference is that your doctor will give you a diagnosis, or prescribe medication. Occasionally, they might even give you some lifestyle advice, usually along the lines of exercise more, drink less alcohol, get more sleep, try and lose a bit of weight, find a way to manage stress, and so on.
What they can’t do in their ten-minute consultation is find out about you: your likes and dislikes, your fears and anxieties, your values, your self-criticism, perfectionism or procrastination that sometimes sabotages your best intentions.
In other words, the doctor will tell you the ‘why’, but not always the ‘how’.
Healthy living may be simple (eat your veg, move your body), but it’s not always easy. And wellness is highly individual - a particular food, type of exercise or relaxation technique could work for one person but be a disaster for someone else. That’s why I want to work with people one-on-one; to unpick the challenges that you face and provide support and accountability in overcoming them. It’s about working out how to implement the changes that you know you need to make.
These days, you can hire everything from a financial wellness coach to a dating coach to a midlife coach. But coaching has come in for some flack, such a DJ Fat Tony’s assertion that the ‘maddest person you know’ is retraining as a health coach.
It’s funny is because it’s true! Coaches often emerge from the ashes of absolutely not having their shit together. But it’s because of that experience of being the ‘maddest person you know’ that they have a keen awareness of what it takes to sort themselves out. It’s why reformed alcoholics make the best sobriety coaches, or why Shahroo Izadi’s bestselling The Last Diet sprung from her own eight-stone weight loss.
A health coach, or wellness coach, or (my favourite) ‘lifestyle consultant’ can help you identify the areas of your life that need attention, and the small but powerful steps that can move you towards where you want to be. As Susie Rushton wrote in The Gentlewoman last year, a coach can ‘propel you into a better version of yourself.’
As I begin my coaching career, the good news for Well Well Well subscribers is that I’ll be learning much along the way, and will be sharing it all here. So you don’t have to book in for a session with me to reap the benefits.
However, if you do want to book in, I am doing virtual sessions over Zoom. For fees and availability, send an email enquiry to wellwellwellcoaching@gmail.com
I’m also doing a few half-price face-to-face sessions at Future Dreams House in King’s Cross for women who have (or have had) a primary breast cancer diagnosis. You might be looking for specific support around coping with side effects, menopausal symptoms, fear of recurrence or just moving on with life in a healthy, positive way. These appointments can be booked directly through Future Dreams here (select Health Coaching from the drop-down menu).
Bear in mind that, while one-off sessions can have benefits, a block of 6-12 fortnightly or monthly sessions is recommended for accountability and structured development.
I look forward to working with you!
****
Elsewhere, in news of Things That Might Throw You Off Course, the clocks are going back this weekend. It’s the beginning of that interminable time of year where it’s dark by 4.30pm (and getting darker over the next couple of months).
Some people love this time of year. ‘It’s cosy!’ they cry. ‘I love wearing boots and jumpers. Also, it’s pie season!’ I admire their enthusiasm but, try as I might, I can’t capture it myself. I find the darkness depressing and hate being cold. If you’re like me, then you’ll know that we need to make an extra effort to be motivated to look after ourselves at this time of year. It’s all too easy to climb under a blanket on the sofa and stay there until April, becoming more sedentary and lethargic by the day, devouring Tony’s Chocolonely and telling ourselves ‘it’s Halloween’ or ‘nearly Christmas’.
Here’s a five-step plan to avoid being dragged into that quagmire.
Pay attention to when the sun comes up, and get outside as soon as you can. Even if the sun is nowhere to be seen and the skyline is grey, it’s up there somewhere and all the more important that you get your face in that weak winter sunrise.
Move your body (ideally outdoors) every single day. It might be the last thing you feel like doing, but even a brisk walk counts. I promise this will improve your mood more than anything (yes, even more than that Tony’s Chocolonely).
Don’t use too much artificial light in the evenings. Over thousands of years of human civilisation, it’s only very recently that we’ve been able to have a brightly-lit house after sunset. We used to live by the sun rising and setting, sleeping far longer in the winter than we did in the summer. Now we stay up late all year round, sometimes staring at a brightly lit screen right before bedtime. Stop it. Keep lighting low - think reading lights and bedside lamps, or even candlelight.
If you can, go to bed earlier. Not every single night. I know you have a social life. But treating yourself to a pre-10pm bedtime when you can will give your body a much-needed reset and improve everything from brain health to immunity.
Go easy on yourself. Sometimes you do need to lie on the sofa and eat chocolate. When you do, make sure you enjoy it! Guilt-free pleasure is good for your health.
****
The main reason I want to be a coach is because of my longtime obsession with Coach Taylor in Friday Night Lights. I can actually ask people to call me ‘Coach’ now, right?
This week I’m…
Living my life by the gospel of Winter Wellness: Nourishing recipes to keep you healthy when it's cold by Rachel de Thample
Interested in Allison Bornstein’s idea of fashion as an act of self-care, with Wear It Well: Reclaim Your Closet and Rediscover the Joy of Getting Dressed
Adding Adam Grant’s Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things to my must-read stack
Wondering if it’s too soon to listen to Cher’s new Christmas album