Benefits of Working with a Health Coach

I bet you’ve been wondering how you could benefit from working with a health coach.  And even more so wondering how you could afford one.  Well let me start by saying that having a health coach is actually very affordable.  There are several different things you can do to free up some funding in order to hire a health coach.  But first, let me tell you some ways that you would benefit from having a health coach, specifically, having me as your health coach :)

First, and obviously the most important, is that you’d get to work with me :)  I mean, come on!  Doesn’t that sound like a great time?  Seriously though, I’ve been in your shoes.  I’ve suffered from anxiety, insomnia and sleep issues, hormonal imbalances, acne, acne, and more acne, extreme fatigue, stomach pains, thyroid issues; you name it, I probably had it.  I went to doctor after doctor to find the answers as to why I felt awful; I was tired all the time, I couldn’t sleep, my face wouldn’t stop breaking out, I’d have weird rashes on my skin, I felt like I didn’t belong in my own skin, I was depressed and anxious and worried about everything!  Yet, I was told over and over again that I was healthy, that nothing was wrong with me, that if all that doctor’s clients were as healthy as me, that he would be out of business.  Does this sound like you?  Have you been there?  I’m here to help!!  You don’t have to do it on your own!  I did it on my own over a period of 4 years!  Yes, 4 years to figure out my issues and experiment and figure out what worked for me.  I’m offering a 6-month program to work with you and help you achieve the goals you have!  To help you figure out what’s going on in your life and make these important lifestyle changes!  Yes, in 6 months!!  But let’s look at the other benefits from working with a health coach too.

You’d have an accountability partner, someone that listens to what’s going on in your life and holds you accountable to those things you say you’re going to do.  Have you ever set a goal (or several) only to not follow through or have it be pushed to the side?  That’s where I come in.  Every two weeks, we’d meet and I’d follow up with you about those goals you set.  Having someone to hold you accountable is vitally important in helping you keep and reach those goals.  I know, for me personally, that having someone ask me about my goals helps keep me on track.  Knowing that I’m talking to someone in two weeks helps me follow through with what I say I’m going to do.  For instance, I have a peer coach right now; someone that I talk with every two weeks about what’s going on in my life.  She helps keep me focused so that I follow through with my goals.  Plus, I don’t want to talk to her in two weeks and not have any updates!  I’ve found that I accomplish so much more by having someone there to support me and ensure I reach my goals.

Another benefit is that a health coach also focuses on your whole being!  Being healthy isn’t just about nutrition or fitness or eating the “right” foods.  Working with a health coach means you focus on everything in your life, from relationships to work to your exercise regiment to what you eat and how you sleep (or don’t sleep) to your religious beliefs.  Everything is connected.  If one area of your life is not in sync, it causes the rest of your life to be out of sync.  Have you ever noticed that when you come home from a bad day at work to an empty house that you tend to eat more or eat poorly?  Or that you eat standing at the kitchen counter, shoving your food into your face as you watch the latest TV show on your iPad?  Because I’ve been there.  I was unhappy with work and the relationships in my life (that’s a whole other blog post) and that affected my eating.  I was eating pretty healthy and paleo, but every night after dinner, I was making a “sweet treat.”  I justified it by using organic and paleo-approved ingredients, so it was healthy, right?  As a result, my sugar cravings were INSANE!!  I was finally able to get them under control, which I’ll discuss in another blog, but I realized that my eating habits were directly linked to how my day went at work and what was going on in my personal life/relationships.  As your health coach, we’d discuss all of these things and help you see where your life may be out of sync and how to get it all back on track.

A few other benefits include overcoming your barriers in your mind (we all have them, right?), retraining the way you think with positive self-talk, and helping you achieve a healthier lifestyle, improving your health, fitness, and nutrition, as well as improving your relationships!  Some common barriers include “I can’t do that,” “I’m not good enough to do that,” “I make too many mistakes to try that,” or “I don’t have enough money to do that.”  The truth is you CAN do whatever you set your mind to!  As your health coach, I’d help you overcome those barriers and open your eyes to all the possibilities you do have!  And with that, I’d help you retrain your negative self-talk.  What your mind thinks and believes, your body and self achieves!!  You have to banish the negative thinking to get where you want to go!  Think positively, focus on the positives, and positive things will happen.

Okay – so now that you know the benefits of working with a health coach, let’s talk about a couple ways you can save some money in order to afford a health coach.  You already know some of the obvious ones like skipping your morning coffee runs and bringing your lunch to work.  Keep track of your spending if you are buying coffee every morning and lunch every day.  How much are you actually spending?  Last time I checked, a cup of coffee from Starbucks, particularly the frou-frou drinks, are just short of $5.  If you stop every morning, you’re spending $25 right there (if you only go during the work week).  Start making coffee from home and bringing it in a pretty thermos with you to work.  And what about lunch?  The inexpensive places typically run from $10-15 for lunch.  But what about the nice places?  You could spend anywhere from $15-30 for lunch.  Eating out every day for one week at the cheapest rate of $10 would cost you $50.  Already, you’d have saved $75 by making your own coffee and bringing your lunch every day.  That’s crazy!!

A couple other ways to save money is to get rid of cable.  What, you say?  Get rid of my cable??  Yes, get rid of your cable.  I did it a couple years ago and I haven’t looked back.  I use Netflix for my movie-watching and any shows I want to watch, for a low rate of $7.99 a month, as well as Hulu Plus to watch my current shows, also for the low rate of $7.99 a month.  So for $16 a month, I can watch whatever shows I’m addicted to, as well as any movies I want (well, that Netflix has on there).  Compare that to the cost of cable now…what is it?  $80? $90? I hear what some people are paying for cable and I’m in awe…I guess it depends on how many channels you want and what premium package you have, but no thank you.  I’ll pay my $16 a month :)

A few other ways include drinking more water when you do go out to eat.  It’s free and it’s good for you!  Trade out your soda, lemonade, or tea for water at one meal a day.  That’ll save you a bit!  Clean out your closets/homes.  Instead of donating your stuff, bring it to a consignment shop, hold a yard sale, or put it on Craig’s List.  Make some money off the old stuff you no longer want or need.  We just did it in our household with a fish tank, a treadmill, and a rowing machine.  It helps the bank account, for sure!  Also, keep track of your bank accounts.  Are you spending too much on bank fees?  Do you even notice when you are charged a fee?  If you are, do some bank shopping.  Find one that doesn’t charge you fees!  All you’re doing is throwing away money if your bank is charging you these fees.

One last way to save money is to price shop when you do need to buy something.  Compare, compare, compare!  And sleep on it!  Don’t impulse buy.  Determine if whatever you’re shopping for is something you need or something you want.  I’ll give you a great example.  Scott and I were shopping for a dishwasher a few weeks ago because ours broke down.  We were going to a couple different stores to comparison price and came across this amazing deal on a double oven.  He and I stood there talking about it, looking at it, wanting it with everything we had.  We knew it was a great deal.  But we decided to leave the store and talk about it a little more away from the store employees.  And as much as we wanted that double oven, we knew we didn’t need it right now.  Our oven works just fine and we don’t plan on staying in our current house for much more than a year, and then we plan to rent it out.  We decided that our next house will be where we splurge on a double oven.  That was definitely a want at that point, not a need.  Make sure this is something you do with anything you want to purchase and I promise, you will save some money.  We saved ourselves about $900 by walking away from that double oven.

Implement some of these cost-saving ideas and you can easily afford a health coach.  My 6-month program is only $95 a month for a one-on-one health coach experience!  And only $50 a person for a group coaching experience!  And I promise, it will be one that is life-changing!  Contact me for more details!  I can’t wait to hear from you and work with you!!

With love and wellness,
Whitney