Health Coaching & Pregnancy: Adapting Goals for Long-Term Success

Jess meets her health coach.

Jess met with her HealthSource Solutions Health Coach, Laura, in June 2018 for the first time. She was a new employee at her company and was very excited to hear they had a fitness center! In 2016-2017, Jess had lost about 35 pounds through healthy eating and exercise. She managed to keep most of it off for almost a year but had slowly stopped consistently working out and eating healthy. By the time she started her new job and met with Laura for the first time, she had gained around 13 pounds. She was interested in utilizing the fitness center to get back on track.

Goal Setting.

Laura discussed goals with Jess and how she might achieve them. They discussed being realistic with those goals due to work, work travel, and family life. They put together a good plan for the next 6 weeks with the incentive of Jess rewarding herself at the conclusion.  Laura checked in with Jess while traveling for work and in the office. They adjusted her activity goal of just moving more to adding strength training.

A curveball!

About six weeks after the initial coaching session, Jess discovered she was pregnant. Since she had already been active, she was determined not to allow this to derail her fitness goals (not entirely). Jess spoke with Laura again to create a realistic plan to keep moving safely and healthily.  Less than two weeks away from her due date, Jess is gaining a healthy 25-pound weight. She had to slow down but still got over 10,000 steps each day.

Jess said, “If I had not had the resources available from Laura as my fitness coach, the fitness center, and my manager, I am not sure I would have been as successful in this 10-month journey.” She believes this experience has set her up for long-term success!

(Laura is an onsite Wellness Program Manager who provides health coaching to our client.)