Integrative Nutrition Certification Improvements

I’m more than half-way there and in six months I will have become a health coach through IIN! At the end, I’ll have my Integrative Nutrition Certification. Having reached this point, we’ve been asked to reflect on our improvements throughout the program.

Thinking back over the past six months, my journey on this path has mostly been a steady climb and as I’ve climbed I’ve been reassured that I truly am exactly “where I need to be.”

Integrative Nutrition Certification Improvements

Some of the improvements I’ve noticed:

• more energy
• improved understanding of how food effects me as an individual (physically and mentally)
• weight loss
• elevated mood
• growing health and wellness coaching practice
• increased confidence and self esteem

But the improvements I’m most proud of haven’t been the ones I’ve experienced within myself. Instead, they’ve been improvements I’ve seen from friends and family.

To be honest, my family has never taken an active interest in health and wellness. That’s not to say they’re unhealthy, but I also would never expect them to buy anything organic or even shun sugar. So imagine my surprise when my mom called me yesterday to tell me she was on her way back from Trader Joe’s having just purchased a bottle of raw agave nectar for her coffee!

But there’s more. They’re also buying free-range, organic eggs and say they can taste the difference. Moreover, my dad forwards articles from his medical journals touting the benefits of a whole foods diet. They even gave me two vegan cookbooks as Christmas presents this year. Slowly, they’re making small changes in their diets and taking a greater interest in their health. I also notice they’re taking more interest in the passion that drives my work as a health and wellness coach.

Then and Now

When I think about where they were six months ago and the lack of support I felt from my family as I embarked on my health coach journey, these are tremendous improvements.

Even more so, it’s been just as important to me to understand how and why these changes happened. It wasn’t through preaching, or force feeding or scare tactics. Rather, I led by example. I’ve stopped expecting other people to do as I do and instead meet them where they were. Most importantly, I believe in myself.

I see this outcome as a mirror for the way I work with my clients: gently, to make small but lasting changes to their diets and lifestyles.

Through this Integrative Nutrition certification journey I’ve been proud to share, I realized that my family has taught me a lesson they’ve always wanted me to learn: when one stops kicking and screaming, the Universe aligns and all is as it should be.