7 Things You Need to Start a Health Coaching Business

Here's a list of everything you must have to start working from home as a health coach. I use these essential resources to grow my home-based online business.

1. Health Coach Certification
2. Website
3. Business cards
4. Online appointment scheduling software
5. Newsletter
6. Professional phone number
7. Online payment system

Keep reading for details about the affordable resources I used to start my health coaching business and continue to use today to operate my practice. I initially invested about $5K to start my business and spend under $30 a month to maintain it.

Health Coach Certification from Institute for Integrative Nutrition
Entering a health coach training program is the first step to starting a health coaching business. I recommend Integrative Nutrition. I'm a graduate!

During the Institute for Integrative Nutrition one year program, you will learn from inspiring leaders in the health and wellness industry as well as experts in business and marketing, connect with an amazing supportive community, and experience a remarkable personal transformation – all through a convenient online platform that makes learning on-the-go possible for anyone.

Why I Decided to Enroll in IIN's Health Coach Training Program

In July 2013, I began studying online to become a health coach at Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). I decided to enroll at IIN because:

• I had completed college over 5 years ago and craved to return to structured education, but I did not want to go to graduate school.
• I was seeking a career that would allow me to help people, grow, and earn as much as I want.
• I wanted to improve my personal health, especially to end my sugar addiction and to begin to exercise regularly.

I was excited about the possibility of becoming a health coach, but I was also a little scared because:

• I was afraid I wouldn't be able to afford it.
• I wasn't the best student in college; it was often hard for me to keep up.
• I didn't know much about nutrition and was clueless about exercise.

I am so glad I didn't let fear keep me from pursuing my new dream. I called an IIN admission rep and learned:

How to Understand Your Cravings & Stop Them Fast

Last week, I shared a really simple explanation of why sugar is bad for you. I also shared (in my newsletter, which you should totally subscribe to) how to use a food diary to track your sugar consumption. Hope those resources illuminated how much sugar you're eating and how it affects your body.

Of course, there's knowledge of how and why something is bad for you and then there's figuring out what to do about it.

Do you stick to "natural sugars" like evaporated cane juice, honey, or agave? Do you stop eating sugar completely? Is it even possible to really quit sugar without becoming a hermit?

Those are the kinds of decisions I coach my clients through. I love helping a woman slow down the self-judgement train (the one most of us have been riding on since our preteens) enough to bravely jump off, catch her breath, and look at her food and lifestyle choices from the perspective of her heart.

Here are my four go-to questions for deconstructing cravings: