Health coach recommendations?

[Anonymous]

Hello, I am looking for some sort of health/weight loss coach for my husband. He generally knows what to do with respect to nutrition, exercise, and sleep, but he needs help with the accountability/motivation piece, largely because of competing priorities in his life. I think he would do well with some sort of individualized one-to-one coaching (not a buddy system, not an app, not something generic like Noom) where he had a weekly check-in, but multiple touch points per week. He'd like to lose about 20 pounds through a good diet and some exercise, rather than medication, so I think someone who is nutrition focused would be useful. We're in Northern Virginia, though I think virtual coaching would be fine. I'm not sure what I should be looking for - a health coach, a registered dietician, etc.? I would appreciate any recommendations!!

[Anonymous]

Since no one else answered, I'll tell you that there are no licensing boards for health coaches. Anyone can be a coach.

The International Coach Federation provides ethical guidelines and accountability with a board of ethics for their certified members. You can start with their coach finder search.

There's coaching.com to search for a certified health coach.

There are National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching certified coaches. You can try a search for that.

Ideally, you want a coach that is ICF and NBHW certified health and wellness coach. Both of these have stringent training requirements for initial and renewal certifications.

Interview more than one coach until you find the right one.

You could try group coaching first and see if your DH likes the approach, and then individual coaching.

I had a personal trainer who was very good and very motivating. We met three times a week. I worked out for an hour. I still can't believe I did that much.

Hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

There’s an amazing group on Facebook called macros Inc. They offer amazing 24 seven free advice and follow a fantastic method of being sure that you are getting the right nutrition through macros – your protein, calories, carbs and fat. They also offer coaching services for workouts and for nutrition. They are absolute rock stars in their field and the people that follow their advice – actually follow it – an amazing results and post the photos. I haven’t used their services yet, but they seem amazing. Highly recommend! MACROS INC!

[Anonymous]

Why can't you do it? Do you not eat meals together? Who cooks?

[Anonymous]

Nourish has registered dietitians. You meet on zoom. I do it every two weeks, but there is an app where you can log stuff, and message your dietitian. She started slow with me. Just getting me to vary my breakfasts to start the day. Focused on protein and fiber. Then we moved to lunches and more macro discussions.

After a two month plateau, just changing up my breakfasts instead of eating the same thing each day, I just lost 3 pounds in a week. Maybe coincidence. Maybe not. But I'm happy.

[Anonymous]

Some health insurance plans offer health coaching as a perk. My insurance-provided coach was pretty helpful. She was a registered dietitian and helped make meal plans and grocery lists. We spoke once per week to start and tapered down over time once routines were established. I lost about 15 lbs while working with her.

[Anonymous]

This is the OP. Thank you all SO much for these helpful responses. I am looking into several of them. To the poster asking why I can't do it, I think having your spouse try to "health coach" you would probably be annoying. I personally don't want my husband critiquing my own diet or reminding me to exercise! I do try to offer a lot of support without being a nag, but he would like something more formal. We are both busy working professionals who work 50+ hours a week. We do eat dinner together, and we take turns cooking healthy dinners, but he needs more fulsome support. There are some great suggestions on here that I'm going to look into.