8 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR HEALTH COACH
If you've already started working with a health coach, congratulations! You've taken a significant step toward achieving your health and wellness goals. However, to maximize your progress, it's crucial to engage actively and ensure you're fully leveraging your coach's expertise.
Read on for more information on the role of an effective health coach, plus 10 essential questions to ask your coach to further your progress and deepen your understanding of your health journey.
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What is a health coach?
A health coach is a skilled professional who helps individuals achieve their health and wellness goals through personalized guidance and support.
The goals that a health coach can help you reach are manyfold—whether it’s simply feeling more energized, improving your athletic performance, or shedding stubborn weight. Often, individuals approach a health coach with more than one goal in mind, such as losing weight while also improving an underlying health condition.
Health coaches come from various backgrounds, including nutrition, fitness, psychology, and lifestyle management. They utilize evidence-based practices to help clients develop sustainable healthy habits and overcome barriers.
The 6 key roles of a health coach:
- Assessment: Evaluating your current health status.
- Goal setting: Helping you define realistic and achievable targets.
- Education: Providing information on nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle changes.
- Motivation: Keeping you motivated through uncharted challenges.
- Accountability: Regularly checking in to maintain accountability.
- Support: Offering emotional and practical support to navigate your health journey.
Health coaches tailor their approach to meet individual needs. When it comes to weight loss, they can be instrumental in designing a personalized plan that includes balanced nutrition, effective exercise routines, stress management techniques, and other lifestyle modifications to support your goals.
How does health and wellness coaching work?
Health coaching typically involves regular sessions, which can be weekly, biweekly, or monthly, depending on your schedule and need for support. These sessions can be in-person or virtual, with many clients preferring the convenience of virtual meetings.
When you join Calibrate, you’re matched with a coach who supports your goals. Your coach will help keep you accountable, celebrate your successes, and guide you through Calibrate’s Four Pillars of Metabolic Health: food, exercise, sleep, and emotional health.
You’ll have 15-minute video sessions with your coach every two weeks. In addition to coaching, you’ll have an appointment with a licensed Calibrate clinician, typically an obesity specialist, who will review your labs and may prescribe anti-obesity medications such as GLP-1 medication (e.g. Ozempic®, Wegovy®, or Zepbound®) as clinically appropriate and insurance-eligible.
Alongside coaching and clinical support, Calibrate members gain access to a comprehensive, evidence-based curriculum. This curriculum, developed by experts, complements your GLP-1 medication (if you’re clinically eligible), enhancing its effectiveness and helping you achieve and maintain your weight loss goals.
During your coaching sessions, your Calibrate coach will personalize the curriculum to meet your unique needs, help you overcome any obstacles, and set achievable, relevant goals.
Top 8 questions to ask your health coach
1. How is my progress so far?
It's important to understand how far you've come in your health journey. Ask your health coach for a detailed assessment of your progress: this can include changes in weight, improvements in fitness levels, emotional well-being, or any other health metrics you've been tracking. A clear picture of your progress can help you stay motivated and adjust your goals if necessary.
Your health coach should be able to provide commentary on your metrics as it relates to your food, exercise, sleep and emotional health milestones. These quantifiable measures give you a tangible sense of accomplishment and highlight areas that may need more focus.
As a Calibrate member, you’ll have access to tracking and metrics at your fingertips within the Calibrate app—including your food log, energy tracking, and weight.
2. What adjustments should we make to my plan?
As you progress, your initial plan may need adjustments. Ask your health coach what modifications can be made to your current plan to better align with your evolving needs and goals. This could involve changes in diet, exercise routines, or even mindfulness strategies.
For example, if you’ve plateaued in your weight loss journey, your coach might suggest intensifying your workouts or adjusting your food habits. If mental fatigue is setting in, mindfulness practices or stress management techniques could be incorporated to keep you on track.
3. Are there additional resources or tools I could benefit from?
Your health and wellness coach might know about new resources—like fitness apps, online forums, or wearable tech—that could further support your journey. Ask if there are any additional materials, apps, or digital platforms you could use to enhance your progress.
Calibrate offers a comprehensive app-based curriculum to support members in their weight loss journey. Our evidence-based curriculum is designed to help you make lasting improvements across food, exercise, sleep, and emotional health.
As a Calibrate member, you’ll progress through learning modules in the Calibrate app, reinforcing and putting new ideas into practice with support from your coach. You’ll also be able to track your progress and key metrics directly within the app.
Effective use of digital tools can significantly enhance your journey. Regularly updating your data, setting reminders, and engaging with online communities can provide continuous motivation and guidance.
4. How can I better manage setbacks and challenges?
Setbacks are a natural part of any health journey, but how you manage them makes all the difference. Ask your coach for strategies to navigate challenges more effectively. These could include stress-relief techniques, motivational tips, or adjustments in your routine to avoid burnout.
For instance, your health coach might recommend deep-breathing exercises, mindful meditation, or even a short break to rejuvenate your emotional state. Understanding how to handle setbacks can help you maintain (or avoid losing) your progress even through difficult times—and help you sustain your progress for the long haul.
5. What can I do to accelerate my progress?
While it's essential to set realistic goals, sometimes you might be eager to see quicker results. Ask your coach what additional steps you can take to accelerate your progress. This could involve intensifying workouts, fine-tuning your diet, or incorporating new wellness practices.
Calibrate's program, for instance, may suggest specific behavioral changes or therapeutic interventions to accelerate weight loss and improve metabolic health. Activities like resistance training or intermittent fasting might be recommended based on your capacity and current progress.
6. Can we revisit and refine my goals?
Your goals can evolve over time as you make progress. It's beneficial to revisit and refine your objectives periodically. Ask your coach to help you set new, more challenging goals or modify existing ones to reflect your current capabilities and aspirations.
By reassessing and updating your goals, you’ll stay motivated to tackle the next small step—rather than be overwhelmed by a major leap that lies ahead. Whether it’s setting a new weight target, aiming for a specific fitness milestone, or integrating emotional wellness goals, regular updates ensure your goals remain relevant and encouraging.
7. How can I better integrate mindfulness and stress management?
Emotional well-being is a significant component of overall health. Ask your coach how you can better integrate mindfulness and stress management into your plan. Techniques such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, or yoga can be incredibly beneficial.
At Calibrate, holistic approaches that encompass mindset are incorporated to ensure a well-rounded path to wellness. Your coach can guide you in integrating these practices seamlessly into your daily routine, enhancing both emotinoal and physical well-being.
8. Are there any success stories you can share that are relevant to my journey?
Hearing about others' success can be both inspiring and insightful. Ask your coach if they can share stories or testimonials from clients who had similar goals or faced similar challenges.
Understanding what has worked for others can provide you with new strategies and boost your motivation—plus, success stories often come with practical tips and reassurance. Learning about others' journeys can help you see possibilities for your own progress and feel less isolated in your challenges.
Browse some of our Calibrate member success stories here.
Personal health coaching: The Calibrate difference
If you're looking for a program that integrates comprehensive support with proven strategies, Calibrate could be a great fit. We offer a holistic, science-backed approach to weight loss and health improvement through personalized coaching and medical supervision.
Calibrate’s approach to weight loss goes beyond diet and exercise. It includes:
- Clinical team visits: Medical professionals oversee your progress, ensuring that any health issues are promptly addressed.
- Prescription GLP-1 medication: Calibrate incorporates FDA-approved medications to improve metabolic health.
- Science-backed curriculum: The program includes a thorough curriculum that covers nutrition, exercise, and behavioral changes to support sustained weight loss and wellness.
- 1:1 accountability coaching: Personalized coaching sessions help you set goals, overcome obstacles, and make meaningful progress.
At Calibrate, we focus on long-term success rather than quick fixes. Our program's methods are designed to create lasting change by addressing the root causes of obesity and helping members make meaningful changes in food, exercise, sleep, and emotional health.
Calibrate's methodology is grounded in scientific research on metabolic health. The program aims to reset your metabolic system, improving how your body processes food and stores energy, thereby facilitating sustainable weight loss.
The 1:1 coaching sessions included in the Calibrate program ensure that you receive tailored advice and support. Whether you need help with meal planning, motivation, or managing setbacks, your coach is there to provide personalized guidance every step of the way.
Am I eligible for Calibrate? Take the quiz.
Key takeaways: Accelerate your results with a health coach
Working with a health coach is a dynamic and ongoing process—but active engagement and open communication with your coach can make all the difference in reaching your potential.
By asking the 10 questions above, you can ensure that you are fully leveraging your coach's expertise, making necessary adjustments, and staying on the path to achieving your goals.
Whether you're working with a nutrition health coach, a health and fitness coach, or starting out on a comprehensive program like Calibrate’s, these questions will help you maximize your progress and continue making meaningful strides in your health and wellness journey.
Are you interested in a whole-body metabolic reset? Learn more about Calibrate.
We’re a modern, medical approach that combines clinician-prescribed medication with 1:1 accountability coaching—all personalized to your biology, your goals, and your life for a metabolic reset that lasts and 10% Weight Loss Guaranteed (see terms).
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