My Story and How is a Health Coach Different from a Nutritionist or a Dietician?

So what exactly is it that you do? I get this question all the time. I also hear people interchangeably using the terms coach, nutritionist, and dietician as if they are the same, but there are differences. I also thought it would be helpful to provide some background on who I am and my journey. I went to college to become a teacher.

I majored in special education and was triple certified in resource, LD self contained, and elementary education. I love that teaching allows for the ability to directly impact other peoples' lives and make a difference. I taught for two years and then realized that the warnings about not making much money as a teacher were understated. I didn't know that unless you were married or had a roommate, it was virtually impossible to pay bills, student loans, and be able to eat. In my twenties, my food budget was low and I didn't eat the healthiest to put it mildly. I was still blessed with a really good metabolism. I wanted to still feel like I was helping people, but needed to be able to pay my bills. My best friend was an RN and suggested that I look into pharmaceutical sales. This was the up and coming industry in 2000 and I was able to land a job.

I worked in pharmaceutical sales for 17 years. Somewhere around the time I became a mom in 2007, I started looking at work differently. I felt that I had an impact on many patients indirectly with several of the products that I sold. In the fall of 2008, my daughter started getting sick. It came to a head in the spring of 2009 when I was on my first work trip that was a plane ride, not a car ride away from my daughter. When I left that morning, she was having yet another ear infection. That night, she had a febrile seizure while I was at dinner in Orlando, Florida. At the time, we lived in Greenville, North Carolina and there were limited flights in and out daily, especially with such short notice. My daughter was transported via an ambulance with her dad to the hospital and I was stuck in Orlando, until the next morning. It was one of the longest nights of my life and one of the most helpless feelings as a mom.

When I came home, we decided to start finding the source of the ear infections. My nephew had undergone the path that she was on a few years before and been diagnosed with lymphoma. I found a holistic chiropractor who had educated the pediatric residents at UNC Chapel Hill on how complimentary and traditional practices worked together. This started my journey into understanding the impact of nutrition on the body at a deeper level and I spent an incredible amount of time learning, finding a passion and deeper meaning to food. I realized the more I learned that if people truly understood the impact of food and how to make better choices, they would need less medicines, including many that I sold.

In 2013, I was part of a major corporate layoff and given advanced notice, I took the time to reflect on what my goals and purpose in life were. This past summer, I found an entry in one of my journals that described how my experience had moved me to want to help others understand and navigate their health in a proactive manner. I wrote down as a goal to earn credentials and pursue this career in some capacity in the future, but knew that then wasn't the right time. As a single mom, going back to school and not working simply weren't an option. A year later, I partnered with a health and wellness company as result of wanting desperately to continue eating as healthy as I was (cooking everything from scratch grain free sugar free), but that didn't kill my budget every month, didn't require I live constantly in the kitchen, and had some flexibility because never being able to go out to eat or have wine without suffering serious repercussions was crippling. I found exactly what I was looking for, it was safe for my daughter, and impacted my body in a way I didn't expect. I lost 18 inches and started putting on lean muscle. It turned out that because I was so open about my journey before this on social media I had friends wanting to know what I was doing because I was getting better results and it released some of the burdens I previously had.

Fast forward to 2017. I am still loving the program, cook from scratch, have flexibility and the program I was introduced to in 2014 was thankfully supplementing my income. I had spent the past four years working on a pharmaceutical sales contract, which was around a $25,000 cut in pay from what I had been making and still a single mom, so supplementing my income without a huge time sacrifice was much needed. I had been praying about when I could make the transition to full time get back to a job that fulfilled my teaching heart and felt more like I was helping people than helping corporate America. I was struggling with the values that pharmaceutical companies seemed to be caring less about the patient, the doctor, the experience, and more about the bottom line. I get it. They are businesses and their job is to make a profit, but my background and heart were in making a difference in people's lives, not about being competitive. When I lost my job in May, I struggled with whether the time was right or not to pursue my goal and finally decided to go for it.

I also decided that to branch out and have more credibility, I wanted the official credentials to validate my knowledge. There were three options to consider: dietician, nutritionist, and health & wellness coach.

Dietician

A dietician requires the most formal education as they can address specific areas that others cannot. They are the only ones that can diagnose disease states and therefore are covered by many medical insurance companies. They help in disease management. They must follow strict regulated rules, like following the food guide. This requires years of schooling, a bachelors in neutron sciences, and an internship that lasts approximately one extra year. Choose a dietician if you are dealing with a specific disease or need multiple follow-ups.

Nutritionist

A nutritionist is a term that can be defined differently depending on which state you are in. They can prescribe specific diets and supplement protocols, but they cannot diagnose diseases. They are covered by some medical insurance companies, but not as likely as a dietician. They usually have a few years of training deeper into nutrition, anatomy & physiology, and other areas. They can work with clients on addressing specific deficiencies, discover the root cause of issues, get specific tests, etc. Choose a nutritionist when you are trying to get to the root cause of an issue, but aren't looking for a diagnosis.

Health & Wellness Coach

A health and wellness coach helps clients navigate the basics and understand where to start to implement the doctors' orders of manage stress, eat healthier, and exercise. Coaches cannot diagnose diseases or prescribe supplements, meal plans, or specific dietary recommendations, therefore they are not not covered by medical insurance. Many patients leave the doctor's office confused on where to start, what does eating healthy mean, how do they fit this in to their busy schedule, etc. Coaches help clients understand the nuances of why it is important to eat healthier and how through workshops, one on one in the kitchen or even at the grocery store. Health & wellness coaches can help clients come up with a road map to work on their personal health and wellness goals incorporating lifestyle, exercise, attitude, and nutrition. When somebody states they are a health and wellness coach, it can be helpful to ask what their training is as it can vary. There is a company out there that declares anybody who buys their kit to share automatically is a coach because they are coaching others. There are different programs for certification and there is now even a board certification process.

I chose to get certified as a health and wellness coach because it best aligned with my goals and mission of helping people in a more holistic and balanced approach. I don't personally follow the national food guide and know that for many, it isn't the best option, so I wanted what I tell people to be what I believe and practice myself. Depending on people's goals, their approach to nutrition will likely need to vary and in order to be the healthiest versions of ourselves, we must practice a balanced approach to health. I chose the Dr. Sears program because it is a top ranked health coach certification program, approved by multiple respected organizations. If you are looking for help on your journey, I would love to help you.