What is health coaching?

Lauren Hellicar
Nov 23, 2024
4 min read

Updated: Apr 11

In a nutshell, health coaching is the bridge between where you are now in relation to your health and wellbeing and where you want to be.

Health coaching is similar to life coaching, with a few key differences. Whereas life coaching has been around since the 70s, health coaching is a much more recent specialism.

Life coaching looks at lots of different aspects of life that someone may want, or need, to change, whereas health coaching hones in on the particular area of health.

That said, health doesn’t exist in a vacuum separated off from the rest of our lives. Other areas of life can contribute to health issues. For example, if we experience work stress, this can drive us to develop habits that don’t serve our health, such as comfort eating, grabbing whatever we can find to eat because we’re always in a rush, or soothing an overworked and overwhelmed mind with alcohol.

So, health coaching takes in a helicopter view of overall life, which encompasses health, to get to root causes of lifestyle habits that don’t serve us.

Through the coaching process, an individual comes face to face with what is keeping them stuck, which is a key step in unravelling their health issues.

Why people need health coaches

Cases of non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, are rising throughout the world. However, there is light at the end of this tunnel, as the world gradually catches on to health coaching as a realistic solution.

This specialist area of coaching has been described as the missing link in healthcare.

When people have the opportunity to identify their barriers to change for the better, they have a fighting chance of removing them for good.

Imagine all those hurdles that have stopped you from achieving the level of health and life you want gone. That’s what can happen with commitment to health coaching. Truly great things can happen when a person commits to actions that align with their goals and values.

It can be so incredibly empowering when we take responsibility for our own health with the support of a coach. Engaging with our inner wisdom holds the solution to what’s important to us.

As a health coach, I work with my clients to create health improvement plans that are manageable and achievable — because they come from within the individual.

You could think of it like a gap analysis:

Where are you now?
Where do you want to be?
What's in your way?

Nutrition and lifestyle mentoring

Life coaches are not there to dole out advice, and the same can be said of a health coach. However, it’s not exactly the same, as a health coach can educate their clients on how the body works and what it needs to function well.

So, health coaches can be said to wear the hat of nutrition and lifestyle mentor at appropriate moments in the coaching process.

Even so, any wisdom they impart to their client will always be in the spirit of suggestions rather than directions. It is always up to the client to decide what is best for them. So, yes, a coach can offer guidance, but they will only do so with their client’s permission.

Working with me means you’ll receive person-centred nutrition guidance that is easy to follow and integrate into your everyday life. You’ll still get to eat foods you enjoy and the plan we create together will not leave you feeling hungry and sad.

It’s founded on three basic principles that are flexible and adaptable enough to apply to each and every individual I work with. They all have the aim of balancing blood sugar throughout the day.

The three key principles are:

Eat every 3 to 4 hours, and leave a minimum of 12 hours between your last meal of the day and breakfast the next day
ALWAYS eat protein with every meal or snack
Carefully select the amount and type of starchy carbohydrates you eat

There’ll be more on these principles in my upcoming articles.

Complementary healthcare support

Health coaching works alongside other modalities of health care. The current healthcare system in the UK and many other countries does not allow people the time or space to explore what could help them as an individual or how they feel. People are used to being told what to do rather than thinking about what they need for themselves.

A coach can create an environment for change, where a person gets the time they need to explore their health issues and barriers to change on an individual basis.

A good coach can provide support that leads to a mindset shift. This in turn leads to a commitment to change that’s different to past approaches someone may have tried.