Food Coaching is an increasingly important sector of the coaching profession.
A food coach can be the real difference though; helping their client to develop strategies and motivation to bring about real change in their eating habits, and consequently real change in their overall wellbeing.
- This course develops your understanding of the scope and nature of food coaching.
- Learn about the practical, ethical and legal implications of establishing yourself as a food coach, to work as a responsible and effective practitioner.
Lesson Structure
There are 10 lessons in this course:
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Introduction and the Healthy Diet
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Professional Standards for Food Coaching
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Specialist Diets -Chronic Conditions
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Specialist Diets - Overeating
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Specialist Diets -Poor Nutritional Diets
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Food Coaching with Children
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Food Coaching with Adults and Seniors
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Lifestyle Changes
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Moving on
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Managing your Food Coaching Service
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims
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Explain the scope and nature of food coaching and what is meant by a healthy diet.
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Explain why food coaches should abide by a professional code, and what the legal and ethical standards are.
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Understand different types of special diet for chronic conditions and their benefits to clients, as well as a range of other special diets and their impact on health.
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Discuss what is meant by overeating, its health implications, and how to develop plans to control or reduce weight.
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Describe what diets are considered unhealthy for a range of different body types.
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Understand general nutrition requirements of adults and seniors, and to discuss possible coaching strategies for working with adults, seniors and carers
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Understand general nutrition requirements of children, and to discuss possible coaching strategies for working with children and their parents or other caregivers
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Explain the importance of changes in lifestyle to improve the benefit of food coaching.
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Explain how the client will move on after food coaching has ended.
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Explain how to organise, market and manage a food coaching service
Food Coaches work with Clients to Bring about Positive Change
Food Coaching combines coaching skills with knowledge of nutrition to help
clients choose better ways of eating and diets which are healthier for
them. Coaching is concerned with helping
clients to define their goals, and then work out ways to achieve them. Coaches encourage clients to look at their
lifestyle and how it might influence their diets and goals.
Why is Food Coaching Necessary?
Food coaching fills a void. Whilst there are practitioners in nutrition and diet, most don't offer coaching. Also, many of the government funded health initiatives are based on educating the public about diet and food choices. However, these often don't have great success rates because people lack the personal motivation and direction to commit to changes even when they are well educated.
There are many people who lack both motivation and knowledge, or who struggle with fad diets or other poor eating choices, who can benefit from having someone work with them to help them make worthwhile changes. Many of these people just don't realise how their diet is affecting their wellbeing, whether it's feeling sluggish or bloated or contributing to other health issues.
Food coaching is needed to help motivate clients to make better choices. People often don't succeed with dieting or making healthier changes to their diets because they stop trying. Perhaps because they don't fully understand the benefits of what they are doing, or maybe they receive little encouragement. As a food coach, you are there to keep them on track, and offer support and feedback.