Five Things I Learnt from Working with a Health Coach

I’ve recently completed a 12 week coaching program with Helen Hopkins, The Balance Coach. It was a really useful process to go through, which helped me create and work through my goals in a way that worked for me. In case you are thinking of working with a coach, I’ve put together a post on five things I learnt from working with a Health Coach.

Goals Might Seem Huge

You need to break down your goals into manageable tasks. When you think of a goal, it can be overwhelming to think about how you are going to get there. A great way to remember it is, a goal is what you want to achieve, an action plan is how you get there. So create small tasks you can add to your day and week and work towards your goal that way.

Everyone’s Journey is Different

This isn’t something I learnt during my coaching sessions, but it is something that was a recurrent theme. So I had the added dimension of having Functional Neurological Disorder, which the average coaching client won’t have. But even then, everyone’s symptoms are different so you really can’t compare. The purpose of working with a coach is that the approach is tailored to you, your needs and lifestyle. This is worth you remembering as well. Focus on what you’re doing for yourself, not stressing what other people are doing.  Everyone’s journey is different. What worked for them might not work for you and vice versa.

Make Healthy Eating Easy-then it’s Simple

I knew I needed to eat healthy and nutritious food-I just didn’t always know how. I really wanted to implement and monthly meal plan, so that shopping for and preparing food was simple. However it had become like a mountain I didn’t know how to climb. I just didn’t know how to get started. When you have fatigue, anything that uses energy can seem difficult and I had developed a bit of a block to know what to do. Helen and I worked together to devise ways to have healthy, home cooked meals that meant I wouldn’t be in the kitchen for long.

I started drinking Green Thickies

A Green Thickie is like a green smoothie but it has additional ingredients to make it a meal in itself. All made from home, these are a great way of having a a nutritional meal in a glass. This makes a big difference to my energy levels and I recommend them to you too. Actually the creator states she cured herself of Chronic Fatigue by drinking Green Thickies, which sold it to me.

I discovered a love of a recipe box

I am all for healthy home cooked meals and one of the things Helen and I were looking at was how to make this more simple-to increase the chances of success. There are a few on the market now and it depends exactly what you’re after. Some provide the herbs and spices, so that partly helps. The one I loved the look of was Gousto as you get all the ingredients you need. It even has 10 minute meals so it couldn’t get much easier than that! I’ve got a discount code I can share with you too.

I Retrained My Brain

Thoughts carry energy that affect how we feel. If you think you’re unhealthy, you send negative signals to the body. You will also continue to make unhealthy choices. However if you reinforce healthy behaviours by thinking you are getting stronger and feeling better, this gives your mind and body a positive push.

I was More Kind to Myself

My chronic health condition will always be something I need to work with (not against). I can’t always predict how I’m going to be feeling and my plans may need to change. There are days I don’t get dressed til late, as I need to rest more. That’s not a weakness; that’s a way of showing myself care. If there’s a day I plan to go for a walk but need to rest instead, that’s okay. My exercise day can be moved to another time to keep myself on track.

Accountability Works

OK, it’s actually six things! When you’re working on your own, it is very easy to let things slide and use lines like “well this time doesn’t matter” or “but I’ve worked hard.” If that continues, before you know it reaching your goal can become further and further away. In each coaching session, we talked about my progress against last week’s actions and set new actions for the following week. This helped me stay on track as well as discuss anything that wasn’t working and reset.

Working with a Health Coach can make difficult changes easier. By creating a way forward that is right for you to set yourself up for success through health and wellness.

If you are thinking of working with a Health Coach, I can recommend The Balance Coach. You can find Helen’s contact details here.