Ask The Health Coach

Discussions are initiated and goals are set, there are common areas for discussion. The coach-client conversations include diet, exercise, health problems, and nutrition. Often the discussions are enlightening for the client as sometimes they will look into what’s going on “inside” personal Dietary habits. Many “incorrect” behavioral tendencies relating to dietary choices and preferences are driven by learned behaviors. These revelations come out during discussion of life experiences. Our eating and living habits are shifted and molded through our upbringing, mental disposition, and life challenges or even tragedies. During this discovery period, the Coach and the client will be goal oriented in setting new correct Dietary patterns. These new custom eating behaviors will result in improvements in thought processes as they relate to food. Time and again when an individual reaches these new areas of stability regarding something in their past experience, it improves lifestyle habits. 

These psychological elements are complexly woven into a subject as a whole which is referred to as “Primary Food”. Our fun, our love, our play, and our theology are all elements of Primary Food. Primary Food is certainly not limited to these concepts, as it can refer to really anything that makes us happy in life. Having proper nutrition is something which allows the neurological health to flourish. This allows for feelings of well-being, and increased pleasure in the positives we acquire from life. It has been said “eating properly helps us feel happy”. Conversely, emotional well-being apart from food nutrition is something that is REQUIRED for proper metabolic function. 

Mental contentment allows for neural pathways to be opened which wouldn’t otherwise be under pressure. It does not matter if we are affected by a prompt stressful situation or long-term psychological injury. It can be easy to overlook the strong effect that our mental health has on our physical health. The Primary Food is the core concept which is preferred and addresses the “whole person”.  Clients and Coaches work together to supply adequate primary food to achieve overall wellness. The next step is Secondary food which is the model of nutrition and supplementation in the body. 

Although specific dietary premise seems to take a backseat to primary food, health coaches have studied hundreds of dietary theories and how they affect the metabolic system and a person’s well being. Health coaches do not subscribe solely to one dietary theory, but realistically recognize that not all ways of living/eating work for each different individual.