When you are told you need to make lifestyle changes such as diet or exercise, those changes can be difficult. Studies have shown that 92% of all the people who make New Year’s Resolutions to change their health fail. Changing behavior is hard, and most people don’t know how to do it successfully. It is clear that the main cause for chronic conditions is not genetics as previously thought, but behavioral–that is people making the wrong choices about nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and other lifestyle factors that affect their health. 

One in two people have chronic disease, and one out of four have multiple chronic diseases. Over 70% of deaths are caused by chronic conditions. Chronic disease is a huge threat to our health, and changing behavior is the most important step we can take to repair our health and reverse chronic disease.

Health coaches are trained to help you learn to live your best life even, and especially, if you have chronic conditions. Health and wellness coaches can assist in a variety of issues, including nutrition and exercise changes, smoking cessation, addiction, and adjusting to life-altering events, among others. They don’t just speak to your condition, but to all mitigating factors in your life to help you maximize your well being. They coach to the “Personal Wellness Wheel”.

Coaching is effective for people managing a variety of health conditions. According to a recent study, coaching “results in clinically relevant improvements in multiple biomarker risk factors (including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and cardiorespiratory fitness) in diverse populations.” Coaching has also helped improve health-related quality of life and reduced hospital admissions in patients with COPD.