Welcome from The Complete Health Coach
I’m Neil Young and, as a health professional of long-standing experience, I am delighted to be publishing this first blog to introduce my new business, The Complete Health Coach. I am passionate about using the experience and skills that I have developed over 25 years to help my clients to change their lives for the better through a blended programme of supported healthy lifestyles activities; personal training, healthy eating advice, and behaviour change guidance. Health promotion in our society is not a priority, accounting for only 5% of overall government health expenditure, with the other 95% being spent on treatment and rehabilitation*. This leads me to believe that our National Health Service could really be called the National Sickness Service. Effectively, we have all been left to our own devices with regard to managing our health, a task that is made all the more difficult in an environment where we are bombarded by carefully-crafted marketing and the easy availability of unhealthy foods and behaviours. It can seem a huge undertaking to live a healthy life in these circumstances and feelings of helplessness are understandably common. This is where I believe that I can make the biggest difference for my clients through one-to-one, personalised support to help them break the cycle of an unhealthy life and to develop the healthy habits of exercise and eating that lead to a more fulfilling and rewarding life.
What is The Complete Health Coach concept?
This concept is an all-around package of individual support to help clients transition to a healthy lifestyle that is sustainable, rewarding, easily-manageable, and enjoyable. There are three pillars of support, and the degree to which they are employed for each client will depend on what we discover together at an initial individual lifestyle consultation. The three pillars are:
- A guided personal training programme to improve physical and emotional wellbeing
- A fully-supported and progressive transition to a healthy diet focusing on whole plant foods for lifelong health benefits
- A comprehensive, step-by-step behaviour change programme to break unhealthy habits and to create sustainable good habits.
What results can my clients expect?
- Increased fitness, strength, and everyday energy
- Improved emotional wellbeing
- Sustained weight loss for those who are overweight
- Healthier eating and an enduring love of cooking and eating food
- Lower risk of developing lifestyle diseases such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes
- A more structured lifestyle with more time for the things that you want to enjoy and achieve
- A calmer mind
- Better sleep
About me
You can view my full biography on the About page, but here is some key information about my experiences, skills, qualifications and values.
My experience
I have always been involved in sport and exercise and I have a very scientific and enquiring mind. Beyond that, what I think sets me up as an effective healthy lifestyles practitioner is the empathy that I have for my clients. I have also had years of poor health when a lack of exercise, poor diet, overwork, and excessive drinking resulted in weight gain, a lack of fitness, stress, and constant fatigue.
From the age of 40 (I am now 48) I turned this around with my personal and professional lives both being devoted to health ever since. In 2014, two important things happened; firstly, I took a job organising community health programmes and then I gave up drinking alcohol.
At work I organised weight loss and fitness programmes for adults in West London. This meant immersing myself in the UK public health system and delivering courses in line with the standard guidelines. I worked with many people who lost weight, improved their health and formed lasting friendship groups. I still work with some of these people now. Over 5 years I honed the course content and working face-to-face with the participants was the most rewarding part of my job. However, the opportunities to deliver courses in person in this managerial role were limited, which led me to leave the job in 2019 to set up as a freelance practitioner.
The other major change in 2019 was my conversion to a whole foods plant-based diet. My health improved when I gave up alcohol in 2014, but that was nothing compared to how I felt when I gave up eating meat, fish, dairy, and eggs. It was like a new lease of life. The new-found energy has helped me to lead a much more active and fulfilling life. This is now the cornerstone of my healthy eating advice for clients.
Setting up this business has been somewhat stop-start with the pandemic, but the extra time has allowed me to massively expand my learning; reading books from world-leading experts in health and behaviour change, and building an offer for my clients that goes well beyond the basic public health advice, while being practical and sustainable at the same time.
I will be sharing my knowledge and views on all things health through my regular blog and occasional long reads, but for now I will leave you with confirmation of my qualifications as well as an outline of my values.
My qualifications
- MSc Sports Science
- BSc (Hons.) Physical Education and Sports Science
- Phase IV Cardiac Rehabilitation Exercise Instructor
- Level 4 Diploma in Diabetes and Obesity Management
- Level 3 Diploma in Exercise Referral
- Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training
My values
For me, these are the most important elements of life. They are the foundation of my personal and professional practice.
- Health – focusing on my physical and emotional health is my No. 1 priority
- Connection – to nature and to other people
- Compassion – nurturing the spirit through everyday compassionate practice
- Balance – blending the many different aspects of a healthy life together
- Curiosity – being open to new experiences and learning opportunities
- Endurance – taking the long view and digging-in when times are hard
- Resilience – not letting setbacks deter me from my chosen course
- Service – leading a life that adds value to other people and to my community
Source: Funding for ill health prevention and public health in the UK, British Medical Association (2017).
