I'll never forget a conversation I had with a lovely massage client a couple of years ago.
We were chatting away about life & the universe and after a while it came around to my work.
Amongst other things (I was massaging her at the time and also owned a gym), I mentioned Health Coaching. The lady was curious as to what that was and she immediately asked “how long does it go for?”
I explained there are a few different options but that the minimum time I work with someone is 3 months.
She said “3 months! Woah. I don’t think I could do it for that long”
Argh!!
To be clear, this is NOT a fault or criticism of this lady. It simply highlighted a HUGE misconception out there about Health Coaching...so I thought I’d talk about it.
Could this lady not cope with having someone in her corner for 3 months? Supporting, guiding, educating, listening, trialing, encouraging, adjusting? Holding space for her? Helping her achieve the health goals she was so desperately seeking?
Health Coaching is not a 21 day challenge.
Or an 8 week challenge.
Or a 12 week challenge.
Or a 6 month challenge.
Or…you get the idea.
The ‘damage’ done by short term nutrition "challenges" is exactly this. They’re too often designed to be exactly that...a challenge. CHALLENGING! Hard to stick to. Kinda punishing.
Not something anyone intends to stick with after the ‘x’ number of days is over.
Short term effort with the intention of fast dramatic results.
Now. I do not deny I’ve done AND run plenty of those "challenges" in the past myself .
In fact I still run a short group program (The 30 Day Metabolic Reset) in an ever-evolving format, deliberately layered in it's design for a more sustainable approach.
They *can* be really effective and are often a great provider of initial light bulb moments.
But overall, my focus has changed.
Health Coaching is NOT a 12 Week Challenge.
I guide behaviour change with nutrition and lifestyle. It’s intended to be slow, steady, layered, long lasting and [eventually] feel effortless. I help people build a better relationship with food. I help people reset their metabolic health, gain metabolic flexibility, get fat adapted, and manage their blood glucose.
Yep, that often involves fat loss - absolutely .
‘Results’ might be slower. But it just doesn’t float my boat anymore to 'put someone on a diet' for however many hard unsustainable weeks, knowing that they could never happily roll with it long term, and where their life completely sucks in the process!
I’ve done that before (myself).
I’ve done that before (for others).
I still get requests for it. And yes, occasionally I still bend a little and give the crowd what they want, y’know?
But my intended ‘crowd’ is different now and I don’t mind if some people prefer a different performer. There's plenty out there!
I don’t want my crowd to feel as if signing up for Health Coaching with me will be like embarking on a life & death solo journey up Mt Everest during a blizzard.
YOU can actually set the pace. We co-create. We layer the changes. If it’s too hard, we’ve gone too fast. You’re not anyone else. You’re YOU.
Your relationship with food is your own and it’s re-programmable.
Your current state of metabolic health is your own and it’s re-programmable.
You’re unique. And so is each coach/client relationship.
So if any of you reading this have wondered about Health Coaching or considered hiring a coach but felt terrified about how HARD it was going to be, and that 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, a Year of Change, would be too long...
Breathe a collective sigh of relief. That’s not how it has to be.
I get it. You’re not happy with where you’re at today. You want it to be different tomorrow. Spoiler alert: that’s just not how it works I’m afraid.
*awkward*
I’d take an educated guess though that you’re planning on being here for quite some time yet.
Yes?
So there’s time. Time to choose a sustainable approach. Time to ‘do the time’ to make it effortless. The time's going to pass anyway! You may aswell be moving the needle in the direction of better health right?
It doesn’t have to be a horrible experience along the way.
Hit me up if you want more info or you can read about my coaching and other services.
Meanwhile just be kind to yourself :)
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