Jennifer Shearin Group: Wellness Coaching: The Latest Trend in Fitness

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• Wellness Coaching The Latest Trend in Fitness

Jennifer Shearin Group
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Experts share tips about choosing a fitness
professional who can put you on the road to
better health.
Laurie Heit couldn't imagine working with a
wellness coach. In fact, she didn't even know
what a wellness coach was -- until one
transformed her life.   A compulsive overeater,
Heit had struggled with her weight since
childhood. She went on diet after diet, and was
finally ready to join Overeaters Anonymous when a
friend told her about wellness coaching. She
suggested Chere Bork, a registered dietitian and
coach. Heit jumped at the chance.
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After her first appointment, Heit was so
impressed that she decided to do more. She has
now had 12 telephone coaching sessions with Bork
at a cost of 75 each. She insists they were
worth every penny.   Although Heit has made
significant improvements to her diet and lost
weight, she says she's gained something far more
important. Through the coaching process, Heit
discovered that losing weight wasn't what she
needed most. She longed to be at home with her
family. So after debating the options, Heit quit
her insurance job and became a full-time
homemaker. She's never been happier.   "My goal
didn't change, but how I got there did," she
explains. "The time and exploration of the right
food plan helped me explore myself and my wants
in life."
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Fitness Trends   According to a recent survey by
the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM),
"educated and experienced fitness professionals"
now constitute the most important fitness trend
in the world, having jumped from third to first
place since last year. "Personal trainers" rose
from seventh to third place.   "We want to be
well. We yearn to be in control and feel better.
We want more energy," says Margaret Moore,
founder of Well Coaches, the only health and
wellness coaching certification program endorsed
by the ACSM. "But there is an enormous gap
between wanting to be well and the everyday
reality of living with the mental and physical
health penalties of overeating, underexercising,
and having too little down time."  
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That gap is growing. The CDC reports that more
than 66 of adult Americans are overweight or
obese. Worse still, about a third of the adult
population is obese. Doctors' Views on Wellness
Coaching   That's one of the reasons why Moore
and other wellness coaches have been working to
increase awareness about the field among medical
professionals. Moore readily admits, however,
that although the idea is becoming increasingly
popular with the public, it's only beginning to
catch on with doctors.
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"Physician referral to coaches is still at an
early stage," she says. "We don't have
reimbursement, and it's going to take years to
fall into place. We see grass-roots, small-scale
doctors coming to us. But most physicians just
aren't into it yet. It's still very new."   One
doctor who has embraced the idea is Michael Lano,
MD. Director of the Ridgeview Clinics, a group of
primary care facilities in suburban Minneapolis,
Lano refers several patients a month to Bork.
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Article Source http//www.webmd.com/balance/fea
tures/wellness-coaching-the-latest-trend-in-fitnes
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