4 Unique Skills of an Eating Psychology Coach

Did you know that there were 99,400 health educators in the United States in 2012 and by 2022 this employment figure – which includes health coaches – is projected to increase to 120,800? According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, this represents a 21% increase in growth and outpaces the average growth for all other occupations in the US. Indeed, health coaches are a new evolution in health care!

Now, for a reasonable price, you can hire someone to give you an edge when it comes to your health. Just like professional athletes hire a coach to help take them to the next level, you can hire a coach to help you get healthy, fit, well and vibrant. You no longer have to walk that journey alone.

With so many health coaches available for hire, it can be confusing to determine whom to use. One type of health coach to consider is an Eating Psychology Coach. But what sets Eating Psychology Coaches apart from other health coaches? Here are 4 unique skills of an Eating Psychology Coach and how they can help you:

1. Eating Psychology Coaches understand both nutrition AND eating psychology.

Getting healthy sometimes requires more than just a solid comprehension of nutrition. Have you noticed how you probably already have a decent understanding of healthy foods but can’t seem to make the leap to eat that food consistently?

This is where an Eating Psychology Coach can help. An Eating Psychology Coach has a strong understanding of nutrition as well as the psychology behind choices we make with food. They are trained in the fields of Dynamic Eating Psychology and Mind Body Nutrition; cutting-edge areas of study devoted to helping clients heal the most common eating challenges of our time, such as overeating, binge eating, emotional eating and more.

Eating Psychology Coaches understand that what we eat is only part of the story. They take the discussion of “eat this” and “don’t eat that” one step further by examining who we are as eaters. Eating Psychology Coaches have the tools and the skills to help you explore “why” you make certain choices with food. This allows you to get to the root cause of your eating struggles and begin the process of finally leaving them behind you.

2. Eating Psychology Coaches view your relationship with food as a wonderful teacher.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to wake up tomorrow morning and never again feel negative about your relationship to food? Instead, nutrition, how your nourish yourself and the decisions you make surrounding food would be a wonderful experience where you feel confident and empowered.

This is not a far-fetched dream. Eating Psychology Coaches view our relationship with food in this way – as an amazing teacher – and they possess the tools to help you get there as well. When you work with an Eating Psychology Coach, you learn that choices surrounding food provide insight into bigger lessons in your life.

Eating Psychology Coaches urge you to take a closer look at the world around you. Are you challenged in a relationship? Struggling with your body image? Feeling stressed at work? Overwhelmed by taking care of kids or older parents? Do you feel you are living the life you were meant to live?

Your eating struggles exist to get your attention. While it may be hard to accept right now, a challenging eating habit is a gift – a window of opportunity to change and transform bigger and more pressing areas of your life. Eating Psychology Coaches understand this and guide you on a journey into a new relationship with your heart, mind, body and soul.

3. Eating Psychology Coaches understand that every eating challenge has a brilliant and logical reason.

Eating challenges exist for a reason. Eating Psychology Coaches know how to examine eating habits holistically to devise the best plan for learning from that struggle, and finally letting it go.

Here are just a few areas that could impact your ability to make healthy eating choices: your stress level; eating speed, rhythm and pattern; protein, healthy fat and calorie intake; the quality of your food; your thoughts, feelings and beliefs about food and your body; your ability to listen to and honor your body wisdom. And this is just the start.

Eating Psychology Coaches understand that eating challenges never exist in a vacuum. All eating struggles have a cause. Eating Psychology Coaches are trained to ask powerful questions to help clients find the bottom line. This is where the real healing with food and body begins.

4. Eating Psychology Coaches are trained in protocols that help people have breakthroughs with food, weight and body.

Eating Psychology Coaches certified at the Institute for the Psychology of Eating are the only coaches in the world who train in Dynamic Eating Psychology and Mind Body Nutrition. These two new areas of study contain some of the most valuable and powerful information for helping people have the kind of breakthroughs that make a difference.

Dynamic Eating Psychology is the study of who we are as eaters. It is based on the premise that food and body powerfully influences our behavior, health and happiness. Mind Body Nutrition focuses on how our thoughts, feelings and beliefs impact nutritional metabolism and health.

Extensive study in these two areas coupled with a solid background in nutrition gives Eating Psychology Coaches a potent arsenal of tools. Working with an Eating Psychology Coach allows clients to finally break through personal barriers and find resolutions to various challenges, such as weight, overeating, binge eating, emotional eating, negative body image or inability to exercise. And, in the process, clients heal old emotional wounds or improve other areas of their lives as well.

Here at the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, we feel confident that our certified Eating Psychology Coaches possess unique skills that make them powerful and effective coaches. Their distinctive education allows them to stand out amidst the sea of health coaches in the market. So as you consider hiring a coach, take a close look at an Eating Psychology Coach.

The Institute for the Psychology of Eating
© Institute For The Psychology of Eating, All Rights Reserved, 2018