How many times have you told yourself, diet starts Monday, knowing exactly what food that entails and your plan of attack? Yet, despite all your research and best intentions, do you find yourself slipping back into your less-than healthy old habits? If so, you’re not alone and a health coach app or online nutrition coach may be exactly what you need in order to make next Monday stick this time.
When it comes to health and nutrition, there is no shortage of information available online. Whatever new diet trend or approach you are thinking about dipping your toes in, a quick google search will yield all the results you need to get started. However, being armed with knowledge is sometimes not enough to stay on track with your healthy-living plan. Sometimes you need a little guidance and support. This is where an online nutrition coach, or even a health coach app can help.
If this is all hitting very close to home, then you’re in luck. In this post, we discuss what virtual health and nutrition options are out there, so you can decide which is the best match for you.
What Is an Online Nutrition Coach?
An online nutrition coach provides nutritional guidance and support to clients using a variety of different virtual platforms including:
- Video conferencing (Zoom)
- Phone conferencing
- Text messaging
- Apps (on your phone, tablet or computer)
Nutrition coaches can be found in private practice, gyms/fitness centers, corporate wellness programs or in wellness clinics. They offer assistance with food choices and cultivating healthier eating habits. They do not prescribe or diagnose.
Many nutrition coaches hold a National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC)-certification, but it’s not essential. An online nutrition coach may also be a health coach or fitness trainer. Unlike nutritionists or registered dietitians who both require a university degree and often hold a masters, there is no standard educational path for a nutrition coach.
Having your personal online nutrition coach is great, but research has shown that remote coaching works best alongside other forms of accountability, like digital tracking apps. What if there was a platform that combined the personalized support that you get from having an online coach, with the convenience of the latest digital technology? Let us introduce you to the world of health coaching apps.
What Is a Health Coach App?
Health coach apps are a relatively new approach to health. They bridge the gap between doctors’ orders and lifestyle implementation. That diet that you’ll start Monday? You know what to eat, but a health coach app can help you adhere to it and stay accountable.
Health coach apps are designed to help you:
- Lose weight
- Exercise
- Manage stress
- Develop better sleep habits
- Drink more water
- Meditate
- And then some!
Health coach apps make use of digital technology to provide a holistic approach to improving and monitoring your health and wellness. Typically, health coach apps include one-on-one coaching with a trained and certified health coach. This coach will help keep you accountable and aid in better habit formation and behavior modification to invoke lasting lifestyle changes.
Top 5 Reasons to Use a Health Coach App
Health coach apps put you in the driver’s seat when it comes to your health journey. They are convenient, cost-effective, and they are proven to get results. Let’s explore our 5 top benefits for having a health coach app:
1. Personalized Plan & Ongoing Support
There are many different approaches to coaching and a good coach knows the best one to take with you. Typically, you’ll discuss your short- and long-term goals, devise a plan, and then your coach will guide you and provide you with the tools to make sustainable behavior modification. Working one-on-one allows the coach to tailor those tools and introduce steps at a pace unique to you and your needs and personality style.
2. Accountability
Having a coach in your back pocket works! It’s been proven that we make better choices when we know we are being watched. Add in the convenience of an app with pop-up reminders and it’s a surefire recipe for success. A 12-week study demonstrated participants using a mobile coaching platform experienced significant reductions in body weight, waist circumference, and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
3. Anywhere, Anytime
That back-pocket coach, personal trainer, nutritionist, nudge coach and best friend is always at your fingertips to answer questions and provide support. While you may have established times and appointment scheduling for one-on-one sessions, resources are always a swipe away and at your fingertips. When you do have scheduled sessions, it’s a lot easier to just sign-in to an app or video chat in lieu of traveling to an in-person meeting. Showing up requires less effort on your part and you may be more likely to comply.
4. Collaboration With Your Other Practitioners
Ideally, you will share the data from your health coach app with your other healthcare practitioners. This will provide a holistic overview of your health, and will provide a more streamline approach to your care. Your health coach app will allow you to track your progress towards your health and wellness goals, thus keeping you more accountable.
5. Education
“Teach a man to fish” is more than just an idiom, it’s the truth! A coach provides the knowledge necessary to make behavior modifications. When you understand the why behind the changes you’re enacting, you may be more likely to comply and maintain that healthy lifestyle.
What Is Currently Out There?
There are a range of available health coaching apps on the market, some include nutrition coaching and others do not. When it comes to deciding which is best for you, there are multiple factors to consider. We’ve reviewed our top 11 health coaching apps to help you decide:
1. Google Fit
It may come as no surprise that Google Fit is one of the most popular health coach apps out there. They’ve partnered with the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association which allows for a broad scope of health and wellness activities to keep your heart and mind in tip-top shape. The app allows you to track your exercise and shows daily progress. What sets it apart may be its focus on improving overall mental health.
2. Samsung Health
Originally made for Samsung, this health coach app is now available on iOS as well. Samsung Health comes pretty close to having an actual personal health coach. You can check health records, count daily steps as well as monitor sleep patterns. An added bonus is a library of videos from expert coaches covering a wide range of topics.
3. Fitbit Premium
This comprehensive health coach app covers your health and fitness goals with tools ranging from sleep and stress to 200+ workouts and mindfulness sessions.
4. Sanitas Health Coach
If tracking progress and an aesthetic interface is important to you, this health coach app is a great option. A display that shows your last measured value may be the motivation and accountability you need to stick to your goals.
5. NexJ Health Coach
This is an excellent health coach app if you’re seeking to connect with a health coach and other healthcare professionals. Upon creating a personalized plan, healthcare professionals provide feedback, encouragement and support. There is also a feature to upload your medical records and grant access to a healthcare professional.
6. Personal Training Coach
Another health coach app focused on exercise, Personal Training Coach is like having your very own personal trainer on call. The app tracks your workouts and progress as well as calories burned.
7. Beurer HealthCoach
Perhaps the biggest appeal of this app is that it’s free! With a simple and easy-to-use interface plus a broad scope of values to track, it’s a great option for those looking to improve their overall health.
8. Wellness Coach
This health coach app tackles both fitness and weight management, with the ability to sync with your bathroom scale. An option to scan barcodes and learn more about food products comes in handy for those looking for dietary help.
9. Fitness Coach
From losing weight to toning up, the app helps you reach your goals in just 30 minutes a day. A health coach app that covers all your fitness needs, and quickly.
10. Fitness Coach Pro
Custom training plans and science-based exercise challenges may set this app apart from the other fitness-focused health coach apps. With a large collection of exercises to choose from, boredom is not an option.
11. myPrimalCoach
Did you know that the team from the Primal Health Coach Institute (PHCI) have launched their very own health coach app? This app is called myPrimalCoach, and it combines the best nutrition coaching with the latest digital technology to give you the ultimate resource to keep you on-track with your wellness goals.
Upon signing up, you’re granted access to a Board-Certified health coach (through the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching) with in-app messaging, unique daily activities, and live group webinars. You have the ability to schedule sessions with your coach at any time.
You’ll receive daily lessons and tips to cover the education aspect plus the one-on-one coaching to cultivate accountability. The lessons build over time and habit-stack in order to build long-term sustainable change and help you get comfortable incorporating multiple healthy habits over time. A resource section allows for unlimited access to all of your lessons.
All myPrimalCoaches are PHCI-certified, so you know that they have a sound knowledge in ancestral health. With nutrition and diet as the foundation, you have reassurance that your myPrimalCoach has the intensive education, training, and experience to ensure you reach all of your health and nutrition goals.
Interested in learning more? Get started with myPrimalCoach now.
Summary
Online nutrition coaching gives you the accountability and guidance you need to reach your health and wellness goals. Health coach apps, combine the benefits of online nutrition coaching with digital technology to provide convenience to your health journey; a must when you live a busy modern life. What are you waiting for? It’s time to choose the right health coach app for you!
