Let's start with the health component of your goals. It's great to hear that you're staying committed with avoiding gluten. As I thought back on how I said that it took me months of easing in to being gluten-free I realized that there is one big difference between me at that point and you now, which is that I didn't have a Health Coach! At the time, I was trying to navigate this on my own and didn't have a lot of support or inspiration to guide me through so it simply took longer, which is ok. But I hope that having the motivation and guidance of a wellness partner, as well as the friends you've made in the IIN community and your own wonderfully accepting friends and family are all making it much more manageable. So let's keep it up and kick gluten to the curb.
Here are some of the foods where it could be unexpectedly hiding, so be extra careful with these foods:
- Soy sauce (unless it is gluten-free, but either way it's soy so I would avoid it entirely - coconut aminos are a good substitute though)
- Worcestershire sauce - often used in cooking beef, stews, steak, and other meat dishes
- Other sauces and marinades - definitely be careful in restaurants and ask!
- Seitan - considered a vegan/vegetarian protein, this is literally pure gluten
- Processed meat - things like sausage, hot dogs, salami, deli meats use gluten as fillers
- Hydrolyzed plant protein or textured vegan protein - this doesn't even sound like real food but just in case you encounter such things, avoid them
- Creamy soups - these often contain flour to make them so creamy
- Things that are "wheat-free" - this does not mean the same as gluten-free
- Vitamins - sometimes, as always just read the labels carefully
Black seeds, "the remedy for everything except death." I keep these in my fridge and sprinkle them over salads and soups. You can read more about them here, here, and here.
Here is my chickpea crepes recipe, they're super easy to make and you can serve them with anything!
Now let's move on to your health coaching.
We had started talking about expanding your virtual presence, however since it sounds like you have a great word-of-mouth referral network I recommend focusing on defining how your program actually works.
1. To start, reach out to a friend who can be a practice client for 3 months. Ideally this would be someone who has some health imbalance she needs support with so you have a real condition to focus on. Have a conversation with her where you agree that this health coaching relationship will be professional and treat it as if she is a real paying client. Do not ask her for feedback every step of the way, instead tell her to be mindful that this is a trial run and ask her to provide you with feedback at the end.
Start with the health history consultation. I have sent you the IIN form I customized as an example, but you can customize your own as well. Schedule times to speak with her every other other week, gather the necessary resources for each call, and really think about the flow of how you're going to guide her from one thing to the next so that there is a sequence that makes sense and is fitting for her as well, for example if she's trying to eat healthier perhaps you start by helping introduce more healthy foods into her diet to crowd out the unhealthy ones, then you provide tips on encouraging her to cook more at home, and then you help her detox. Many Health Coaches actually start with a detox but I personally think it's more sensible to first help someone get familiar with eating healthy regularly so that a detox becomes much easier and less stressful, therefore more likely to be effective. So you get the point, create a general outline and use that as your foundation, then customize that outline for the individual client's needs.
Please be sure to have at least one conversation completed with your test client by the time we speak again so we can review how it went.
2. Additionally, because it's still beneficial to have a web presence, update your website in the following ways before our next talk:
- Make your home page be your personal introduction by adding your picture and your about page description, and a way to get in touch with you. This way when someone visits your site they'll instantly see who you are.
- I read your About page and it's great, but I would expand upon your offerings as a Health Coach at the end (also, capitalize Health Coach so it sounds more professional and like a title), and guide your readers to how they can get in touch with you and how you offer a free initial health consultation. it kind of just ends abruptly right now but you want to encourage people to actually contact you and give them a reason to do so.
- Write at least 1 more blog post, with the posts/recipes on a tab other than the home page.
3. Highlight your genuine healthy happy self on social media so that friends and followers start to develop trust in you and see you as a role model, positive influence, and expert. Instagram is great for this and it is relatively easy to snap pictures of daily things like your healthy snacks, fitness, books you're reading, etc, don't be shy! This is how people to get to know you, like you, and ultimately want to work with you as a Health Coach.
One last thing, if another opportunity comes up where someone could be interested in a Health Coach, be sure to use that opportunity to invite them to a health history call. You don't have to prepare your "elevator speech" in advance but do remember to seize the moment and speak about yourself and what you offer with confidence. Take it step by step, it's just a phone call! No one has to know that you haven't worked with a real client yet, act like you know what you're doing and everyone will believe you!
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