I am a qualified Health Coach for the Healthy Lifestyle Service which supports people to get physically active, stop smoking, reduce the amount of alcohol they drink and to eat a healthy diet.
Being a Health Coach is brilliant! I support people to take the steps needed to improve their health and wellbeing. Working with people to make these changes is an incredibly rewarding journey to be a part of!
Health coaching
I support others by talking to them about exercise! I let them know that 150 minutes a week, or 20 minutes a day, is the recommended government guideline for physical activity. When you break it down into 20 minutes a day, it becomes quite an achievable goal, and it is so important to maintain an active lifestyle so that you prevent long-term health problems.
The people that I work with go from being inactive, to moving regularly, and even achieving quite adventurous goals, like completing a 5k ‘Race for Life’! I like to talk with the people I work with about what a typical day looks like for them. The topic of exercise always comes up, and then we can start building things in, starting with activities around the house that can help to build up towards regularly exercising.
This one-to-one health coaching support is crucial for some people who need regular contact each week. I think you are more likely to achieve your goals with the support of a health coach.
Building a relationship
I listen to the people I work with, building a good working relationship where I can find out why they may not be active. Sometimes they have not found the exercises that they enjoy, don’t have the money, lack the time, or have health limitations. Talking about these issues helps to resolve what’s in the way to make way for activity. Exercise then starts to play a big role in their journey towards a healthier lifestyle.
Our service is non-judgemental and that is the thing people we work with find very comforting. We offer 12 weeks of free support and during lockdown we have given additional support where needed.
How I stay active
Like many people, I am currently working from home, so I like to take two-minute breaks away from the screen to go up and down my stairs a few times (it all adds up!). Later in the day I use my cross trainer for half an hour and then I like to follow up with some floor exercises, focusing on strength and stretching.
The Healthy Lifestyles Service provides up to 12 weeks of FREE one-to-one health coaching to support you to get more active, lose weight, reduce alcohol consumption or stop smoking. Find out more >
