Aspen Club and Spa

Getting fit, losing weight and improving health often begin with a mental transformation and a determination to change the behavior that is causing the health concerns.  Working on the mental aspect and attitude is a crucial first step in any health or weight loss endeavor.  Taking the time to define your goals and strategize a specific plan to achieve those goals can mean the difference between success and another failed diet.

The field of wellness coaching involves many effective techniques for tackling the mental elements of a health or weight loss program.  A wellness coach, sometimes referred to as health coach, or weight loss coach can help people overcome the mental obstacles to reaching their health goals.  This is especially true for someone that has unsuccessfully tried many diets and weight loss programs in the past.  A wellness coach provides the support, accountability, and guidance needed to make the mental changes necessary to be successful in achieving weight loss or overall better health.

Wellness coaching is an evolving field.  If coaching is something that you would be interested in pursuing, sign up for a free consultation coaching session.  Many coaches are happy to provide this consultation so that prospective clients are fully aware of exactly what the process is going to be.  It is important when choosing a health or wellness coach to make sure that you go through a reputable company and receive a qualified coach.

Almost everyone suffers from some form of stress. Whether it comes from your work life or home life stress can have detrimental impact on your mood, performance, and overall quality of life. The negative impact often affects sleeping patterns, diet and exercise. In fact there is even a link between stress and a number of serious medical conditions including hear disease. Stress comes in many forms and from many sources. I often hear people refer to the stress caused by their jobs, personal relationships and children. Despite its prevalence and life damaging affects many people have no strategy or approach to better manage their stress.

One interesting way to deal with stress management is to seek help from a health coach, sometimes referred to as a wellness, or life coach. Coaches that I have spoken with often say that stress management is one of the leading issues confronting their clients, just behind weight loss. Coaches can help you evaluate the sources of stress in your life and find techniques to deal with both the source and resulting stress. Coaches often tell me that much of the stress their clients experience results from a lack of planning around time management. They have been able to achieve lasting results by helping clients better plan and manage their time and scheduling breaks to work on stress relieving exercises.

Many people are confused by the term life coaching and wonder just what a life coach does.  Life coaching is just one element of the growing industry of coaching.  In addition to life coaching the industry encompasses business and executive coaching, health and wellness coaching, relationship coaching, energy coaching, weight loss coaching and many other coaching disciplines.  Life coaching, as probably the broadest form of coaching, is the least understood because of the many different approaches, accreditations, and circumstances in which it is used.  In fact the entire industry draws scrutiny from the loose or lack of credentials and certifications needed to hang a shingle and begin a life coaching practice.  In my interpretation, life coaching simply provides you a facilitator to take you from where you are to where you want to be.  A coach is someone that pushes you to define your goals and then reach them by making the necessary changes in your life.

Within the broad category of life coaching is the more specific discipline of health coaching, sometimes referred to as wellness coaching.  This discipline of coaching usually attracts health and fitness professionals who through certain elements of positive psychology coach people toward achieving their health goals.  These goals often include, weight loss, lower stress levels, more energy and overall improved fitness.  Through my involvement with the Aspen Club and Spa and our branded health coaching product Aspen Life Coaching I have spoken with and interviewed many coaches who have successfully coached clients to improved health.  From my experience, the confusion around the terms life coach, and wellness coach make having a free initial consultation a critical part of any coaching program and reputable companies such as Aspen Life are happy to offer them.

When looking for a life coach, a health coach or any coach it is important to look for qualifications and certifications to ensure that you are working with a capable professional.  One important credential is an ICF (International Coaching Federation) certification.  The ICF is a nonprofit, individual membership organization that exists to build, support and preserve the integrity of the coaching profession through programs and standards supported by the individual membership.  An ICF certification ensures that a coach has received very specific coach training, has achieved a designated number of experience hours and has been coached by a mentor coach.