10 Benefits

of Hiring a Functional Medicine Health Coach

Is it time to hire a health coach?

Your functional Medicine Health Coach will be your guide, cheerleader, and mentor as you transform your most difficult habits into optimal health opportunities!

They can help you with:

1. Goal-setting

2. Accountability

3. Weight loss/gain 

4. Existing medical conditions

5. Stress management

6. Mental health

7. Optimize healthy habits

8. Personalized diet

9. Movement routine

10. Connection to resources

Let’s take a closer look at how a Functional Medicine Health Coach can help you live your best life.

1. Goal-Setting

Correcting bad eating habits and managing stress are some of the hardest changes you’ll ever face. Without clear checkpoints along the way, it can be easy to get discouraged. A Functional Medicine Health Coach can help facilitate changes. Co-create healthy habits, even habit stacking to maximize  time and change. According to a 2013 systematic review of recent health and wellness literature, effective coaches activate the learning process and incorporate self-discovery. 

2. Accountability

A Functional Medicine Health Coach serves as a consistent, ongoing relationship that holds you accountable. Plus, they’re trained in behavior changes, communication, and motivational skills. For the most part, the advice you get from your Functional Medicine Health Coach can be found for free on the internet. Many times you know what changes are needed. You need to do it! We can help! They actively listen to your stories, identify obstacles, and help you self-monitor.

3. Weight Loss

Should you just hire a physical trainer and a nutritionist instead? Losing weight is first and foremost an emotional battle. Shedding the extra pounds, and keeping them off, can be a roller coaster of stress and doubt. However, a Functional Medicine Health Coach can help you overcome the slumps. Functional Medicine Health Coach can help co-design exercise routines and co-create personalized diet plans that move the needle without overwhelming you.

4. Existing Medical Conditions

Functional Medicine Health Coach can work with you and your Dr and take into account existing medical conditions that may affect your health goals that may include, but are not limited to:

• Diabetes

• Pre-diabetes

• High blood pressure

• High cholesterol

• Food allergies and intolerances

• Digestive issues

A Functional Medicine Health Coach can take the extra time to plan around these health concerns and optimize your program.

5. Stress Management

Key concepts of Functional Medicine Health Coaching are stress management and self-care. Why is stress reduction so important. Because stress can ruin your motivation and cause poor sleep, fatigue, and food cravings. Under the surface, stress can increase inflammation and trigger gut and other health issues.

6. Mental Health

If you deal with more serious mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and PTSD, your Functional Medicine Health Coach isn't  qualified to treat and diagnose yet can certainly address them in holistic and nutritional ways. For example, food plays a huge role in gut health, and gut health is strongly linked to anxiety, ADHD, autism and a host of other  diseases caused by inflammation found in our SAD (Standard American Diet) diet. By healing the gut with anti-inflammatory foods like bone broth and wild-caught salmon, you can heal the gut and support the brain.

7. Eating Habits

Deciding which foods to eat and which foods to avoid is not all that easy and sometimes the hard part can be breaking life-long food addictions. For instance, many are addicted to sugar. Believe it or not, simple carbs and sugars activate the same addictive centers as cocaine, and it can be incredibly challenging to stop eating them.  Drastically minimizing and perhaps ditching sugar is one important way for losing weight and reducing inflammation. A  Functional Medicine Health Coach can support  you during difficult times. 

8. Finding the Ideal Diet

There are enough different diet plans out there to make your head spin, and picking one can feel impossible. There are plant-based, RSW and vegan diets, high-fat, Atkin’s, Paleo, Keto, low-carb, Pegan, and a host of other diets to choose from!  Rather than just plugging into a cookie-cutter program, your Functional Medicine Health Coach can help co-create and design one with you for your specific goals in mind. Your diet can be delicious and easy to sustain. It will provide your body and brain with the nutrients they need to feel amazing. It will be personalized to account for special digestive issues. And can incorporate healthy alternative cheat meals/snacks in a way that won’t derail you.

9. Movement  

A Functional Medicine Health Coach can help you design a realistic movement program.  When it comes to maintaining a fitness plan, you shouldn’t just “go hard or go home.” Pushing too hard too fast is how you burn out and give up. More often than not, it pays to start slow and gradually build the intensity, with perhaps a variety of movement options. Variety is the spice to life!

10. Connection to Additional Resources

There are a ton of alternative techniques out there, and it all can be overwhelming! So if you’re having problems with stress and inflammation, diet, moving  more, wanting better sleep hygiene, just about anything that affects your health, a Functional Medicine Health Coach can share a host of healthy alternatives to feel more joyful in your skin! Simple as, tuning electronics off earlier, going to be and awaiting  at regular intervals, deep breathing, and cold exposure therapy. So many benefits to having a Functional Medicine Health Coach by your side!