Trying to Break Unhealthy Habits? There’s a Health Coach for That!

The conventional medical paradigm is out of date. The methods of delivering care don’t work for complex, multi-symptom chronic conditions. And, more importantly, they are not equipped to help you make the actual diet and lifestyle changes you need if you want to regain your health.

The rise in chronic disease is further indication that conventional medicine is lacking.

Today, seven of ten deaths in the United States are caused by chronic disease.

More than two-thirds of all deaths are caused by one or more of these five chronic diseases: heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes.

According to the CDC, the top five behaviors for preventing chronic disease include:

• not smoking
• getting regular physical activity
• consuming moderate amounts of alcohol or none at all
• maintaining a healthy body weight
• obtaining sufficient daily sleep

It’s evident that chronic disease is the single biggest threat to our health today. What is really needed to prevent and reverse chronic disease is behavior change. However, the reality is that behavior change is hard, and most people don’t know how to do it successfully.

Health coaches can help

Studies show that health coaches can help people manage chronic conditions (like diabetes), lose weight, and keep it off, increase movement and activity, and generally improve their physical and mental health.

Health coaches fill a void by offering more intensive, client-centered care. They’re masters at helping patients break bad habits and form new, healthy behaviors

Ninety-six percent of behavior occurs out of habit, either unconsciously or in reaction to external elements. The good news is that people can take control and make lasting changes in their lives when they are taught how to do it.

Health coaches are trained extensively in habit formation and reversal. They give you the tools you need to break bad habits and build healthy behaviors.

Health coaching has risen 38% in the last few years. With the turn toward preventative medicine to reduce health costs, as well as the push to address chronic illness, health coaches will be in an excellent position to create their own health-coaching business or get a job in a clinic, hospital, or corporate setting.

It’s expected that the demand for health coaches will continue to grow. In a hurried medical environment, promoting long-term healthy behavior change (a major undertaking) is nearly impossible, even for the most caring of practitioners.

Find a health coach today

If you currently have a chronic disease and you need help implementing the lifestyle changes your doctor prescribed, you should consider working with a health coach.

Health coaches are an excellent resource for people who want to break unhealthy habits and prevent an illness before it becomes a significant problem.