Health Coaching - Chris Kresser

You know the chronic disease epidemic is reaching staggering heights, but did you know that the majority of those illnesses—over 85 percent, in fact—are driven by our behavior and environment, not our genes? That means we all have the power to prevent or reverse chronic illness just by adopting healthier habits.

As simple as that sounds, change is anything but easy. It takes drive, motivation, and strategy to change our habits—especially if we’ve been doing things a certain way for a long, long time. Most of all, it takes support—and that’s where health coaches excel.

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Your Guide to Building a Career in Health Coaching

If you’re committed to reinventing healthcare, a career as a health coach could be the right step forward. Find out what job opportunities exist, and why there’s no better time than now to become a health coach.

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Health coaches are change agents. They understand how habits form, they know how to reverse them, and they specialize in helping people overcome obstacles in pursuit of their goals. As part of a collaborative care team that includes Functional Medicine practitioners, nutritionists, and other allied health providers, health coaches support their clients as they make positive changes.

Learn more about health coaching and how it can stem the rising tide of chronic disease.

How Health Coaching Can Reverse Chronic Illness

Health coaches are among the most important healthcare partners for people battling chronic disease. Find out how health coaches help clients set and achieve health goals and build new habits.

What is health coaching? It’s a client-centered, growth-fostering, thought-provoking approach that helps clients achieve health and well-being. Find out more about what health coaching is and the four pillars at the heart of it.

What is a health coach’s job description? Details can vary quite a bit, but every coach works to facilitate change. Find out more about what health coaches do day in and day out.

By working with a health coach, this man can make progress changing his diet and lifestyle.

Change is hard. Find out how working with a health coach can help make changing your diet, exercise, and lifestyle easier.

We all need support to achieve greater health, build new health habits, and change a lifetime of health behaviors—and that’s where health coaching can play an important role.

Functional Health coaching allows coaches to view clients holistically, not as a bunch of separate, unrelated parts. This helps coaches to understand the relationships between a client’s past successes, challenges, and their future goals.

Revolution Health Radio podcast, Chris Kresser

As the health coaching profession grows, the need for professional standards and credentials becomes more crucial. The National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) has stepped in to set those standards, define what health coaches do, and offer the NBC-HWC credential to qualifying coaches. In this episode of Revolution Health Radio, I talk with Leigh-Ann Webster, the executive director of NBHWC and a board-certified health coach, about her organization and what’s next for the profession.

In today’s podcast interview, I discuss why conventional medicine has failed to address chronic disease and what we can do about it.

Health coaching is not the same as counseling. Find out how these two disciplines are different in this article from health coach Kelli Saginak.

What is a typical day for a health coach? In this article, health coach MaryAnn Jones talks with three practicing coaches to learn more about what they do day to day.

What’s the average health coach salary? Check out this article for information that can help you gauge how much you can expect to earn in this profession.

In this article, we’ve collected 16 of the best health coach blogs out there, all from ADAPT-Certified Functional Health Coaches. Read on for the latest in health coaching and wellness.

We all know we should be making healthy choices like exercising, getting plenty of rest, not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and drinking moderately—or not at all. Despite that, only 6 percent of Americans adhere to those five healthy behaviors.

The problem isn’t a lack of information; it’s that most people lack the strategy and support necessary to change a habit, even if they know they need to do it for their health.

Health coaches are highly trained professionals who draw on their skills to support their clients as they work through those changes.

They use their knowledge of nutrition and Functional Health to help clients implement treatment plans.
They utilize positive psychology and the stages of behavior change to replace old habits.
Most importantly, they build relationships with their clients based on trust, communication, and unwavering support.

Want to find out more about what health coaches do—and the methods they use to do it? Check out the resources below.

How Health Coaches Support Clients through Change

Health coaches help clients explore what changes they’re ready for, experiment with changes, and connect their goals to their long-term vision. Find out more about the behavior change techniques health coaches use to help clients.

What’s the power of listening in health coaching? It gives clients the gifts of understanding, acceptance, and trust. In this Q&A, we get to the heart of listening and hearing others.

How well a coach connects with a client will determine whether they are a fit to work together, and effective communication is part of building that connection. Find out more from health coach MaryAnn Jones.

Powerful questions cross the space between a health coach and a client to invite understanding and possibility. Find out more about the difference that powerful questions can make in health coaching.

Health coaches are trained to help their clients recognize their strengths and tap into that potential to change. Read on for real-world examples of how health coaches help their clients transform their lives.

In this episode of Revolution Health Radio, I’m joined by Dr. John Berardi, co-founder of Precision Nutrition and an expert on health coaching. We discuss Dr. Berardi’s client-centered approach to health coaching and talk about how to ask the right questions, use positive psychology in coaching, build a well-rounded base for your practice, and much more.

Positive psychology plays an important role in how health coaches work with their clients. Find out how to use positive psychology to support your clients.

In this episode, we talk with Robert Biswas-Diener about important skills and competencies one needs to be successful as a health coach.

Today, we talk with Ken Kraybill about the importance of motivational interviewing, how it’s being applied today, and why every coach can benefit from learning this collaborative style.

In this episode of Revolution Health Radio, I talk with Oren Sofer about what nonviolent communication is and how it can help you connect with the people in your life.

One of the questions I get most frequently is how someone can become a functional medicine practitioner. There is an incredibly wide range of roles that lend themselves to this career.

What changes would you like to make to your diet? Clients with nutrition goals are a natural fit for health coaching. Find out how a coach can help you develop a road map for success.

Sleep and health go hand in hand, but in our busy lives, sleep is often the first thing we sacrifice. If you’re lacking sleep, find out how working with a health coach may help.

In the right context, stress is helpful—but chronic stress has lasting health consequences. Check out this article for strategies on managing your stress with help from health coach Will Welch.

Regular movement has benefits for your health, but many of us still struggle to exercise. Here’s how a health coach can help you get out of your own way and reach your movement goals.

What if you had the freedom to reinvent yourself and become the person you always wanted to be? You do! Working with a health coach can help you tap into your innate ability to change.

Coach Yourself: Strategies for Diet and Lifestyle Changes

If you’re making lifestyle changes, like this person getting ready to run on a track, understanding how habits form can help.

Many chronic diseases can be prevented, significantly improved, or even completely reversed simply by making diet and lifestyle changes. Find out how habits form—and how to make good ones stick.

If you’re changing habits, shrinking the change can help. Be sure to celebrate your successes, like these runners finishing a race.

Are you changing your habits? Maybe your goal is to eat healthier and lose some pounds or get more sleep. Whatever your objective, you’re more likely to achieve your goal if it's small and attainable.

Are you ready to take your health goals to the next level? Then read on for a little motivation and to discover how to use SMART goals for health.

Taking a moment to complete a journaling exercise, like this woman is doing, is an easy way to use positive psychology to improve your mood.

Your emotions impact your health. The good news is that through positive psychology, you can retrain your brain to follow healthier, more beneficial emotional patterns and learn to let go of negative ways of thinking.

Why Is Emotional Intelligence Important?

Emotional intelligence is important for leaders, for relationships, and even for your health. Find out the benefits of a high “EQ” and learn how to improve your emotional intelligence.

Meal prepping food—like this Greek chicken dish—ahead of time and storing it in reusable containers can help save you time, money, and stress.

Check out this article to learn all about the art of meal prepping, and get valuable tips for making Paleo affordable and time-saving, even if you’re on a strict budget and tight schedule.

If your friends, family, or clients have struggled to lose weight, an ancestral, Paleo diet may be the answer. Find out what the research says about eating Paleo for weight loss.

Changing from a “Standard American Diet” to a whole foods diet can produce dramatic results. Today I talk with Melissa Hartwig to discuss the best ways to help people make the leap to “real” food.

Modern lifestyles provide endless sources of distraction. Learn about how distraction literally rewires our brains and what you can do to protect yourself.

These people are lying down and conducting a body scan, which is an effective breathing exercise for stress relief.

Chronic stress can impact every part of your body. Simple breathing exercises for stress relief can help. Check out these five techniques to find relief.

We’re living in uncertain times—but there are ways to feel less anxious. Find out seven ways to reduce anxiety that are natural, effective, and sustainable.

Are you considering a new career path? One that lets you tap into your natural communication and listening skills, draws on your passion for wellness, and gives you the chance to make a real, lasting impact on other peoples’ lives? You might have exactly what it takes to become a health coach. The ADAPT Health Coach Training Program is a year-long, virtual course that offers instruction in everything you need to establish and grow your coaching career.

Our course gives you the skills you need to help others and change your own life in the process. Find out what our students had to say about their experience in the ADAPT Health Coach Training Program.

Stories from Our Health Coaches

I’m a fuller, more functional human being thanks to the course work.

After training clients in fitness for six years, I realized nutrition was the missing link for helping them achieve optimal health.

This program has literally changed my life and will have a significant impact on the way I work with clients going forward.

The coaching skills portion of the course has made such an impact on me that I was already able to transition into a new job as a health coach for a weight loss company.

Listen to What Our Students Have to Say

Want to hear more from the students of the ADAPT Health Coach Training Program? Visit our testimonials page.

You’re a change advocate, a health innovator, a lifelong learner. And you’re ready.

The world needs health coaches now more than ever. If you want to expand your knowledge and change your life, consider a career as a health coach.

Here’s how you can change the world.