HEALTH TALK
 

Who is a Health Coach? – With Manuo de Silva
 

On today’s Health Talk, Manuo de Silva, explains to us the nature of her profession, and what she and other health coaches have to offer to us. She is a businesswoman with work experience spanning over 20 years. She has worked in Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and Australia in various management and executive management roles. Manuo has a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Institute of Business and is a Certified Health Coach with Institute of Integrative Nutrition - New York, USA. Also she is a Certified Process Professional and A Sherwood Applied Business Security Architect. She can be contacted on +94-777-302-399.  
 

1. Who is a health coach? Who needs one?

A health coach is a wellness authority and supportive mentor who motivates individuals to cultivate positive health choices. Health coaches educate and support clients to achieve their health goals through lifestyle and behaviour adjustments. Health coaches know how to work with diverse groups of people.
 

2. How will a health coach help with basic nutrition and exercise of those who wish to restructure their lifestyles?
 

A health coach will start by assessing each individual’s current situation, habits and goals and using that information, they will work with the person to plan and implement changes in a way which is suitable for their schedule, lifestyle and budget. Together the client and coach will come up with an exercise plan and timeline in order to achieve those goals and maintain a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle.

3. Apart from diet and nutrition, what are the other issues that a health coach can help one with?
 

A health coach can help to identify the primary foods needed for each individual. Primary food is more than what is on your plate. Healthy relationships, regular physical activity, a fulfilling career and a spiritual practice can fill one’s soul and satisfy one’s hunger for life. When we use secondary food as a way to alleviate or suppress our hunger for primary food, the body and mind suffer. Weight gain is just one of the consequences.

We also work together to identify the physiological and psychological causes behind unhealthy habits and encourage a change in thinking which will lead to healthy choices.
 

4. According to you what makes the life & lifestyle of a human being holistic? What are aspects of a modern lifestyle that impede this?
 

For a person to lead a holistic lifestyle they need to have a balance between their physical, mental and spiritual lives.  In today’s busy world we face time constraints, busy schedules and a change in the home life with many families now having both parents working. There is also easy access to a multitude of convenient but unhealthy and cheap fast foods which are made more appealing by the growing cost of living. This combined with the development of technology designed to make our lives easier (think escalators, lifts, cars and three wheelers) makes it very easy to develop bad habits and reduces the amount of incidental exercise we get throughout the day.

 

By Nivedha Jeyaseelan