How Not to Get Distracted by Motivation

January 29, 2021 • 20 MIN

In this conversation with Glenn Livingston, PhD, of Never Binge Again, Howard explores the uses - and misuses - of motivation.

Christin Bummer

November 17, 2020 • 55 MIN

Christin Bummer is a plant-based health coach who focuses on getting her clients to challenge their limiting beliefs as a precursor of significant behavior change. We chatted about her own journey, her coaching approach, and the importance of intuition and self-work for coaches.

36. Saying No to Urgency

November 10, 2020 • 20 MIN

Sometimes our clients come to us with urgent situations - often upsetting - that they want to spend the session on. It's easy to get sucked into these requests, but it's almost always a mistake. In this episode, Howard explains why urgent issues are usually a dead end, and how to counter the request in a respectful and genuinely valuable way.

35. Pivoting our clients from relief to satisfaction

October 27, 2020 • 18 MIN

In this episode, Howard talks about the difference between a relief- and a satisfaction-orientation, and how to skillfully shift our clients from relief to satisfaction while honoring their needs and perspectives.

34. When goals stop being motivating: What then? Lynette Neal and Howard Jacobson

October 16, 2020 • 36 MIN

When we set external and future goals ("lose 20 pounds in 3 months"), they can function as a GPS for our daily actions and decisions. But what happens when we either reach those goals ("I guess I'm done - let's celebrate with some junk food") or decide they aren't that motivating compared to the urge to binge in the moment?

33: Kate Galli on Working with People Pleasers, Doubters, and Foodies

October 12, 2020 • 34 MIN

Kate Galli is a personal trainer and vegan health coach in Sydney, Australia, as well as a health and animal rights activist and podcaster. Howard spoke with her about the three biggest obstacles to going plant-based that she encounters in her clients, and how she deals with them.

32: When Should Our Clients Do More or Less?

August 20, 2020 • 26 MIN

Is it better for our clients to stop doing things (eating Oreos, for example), or to start doing things (eating salad or going for walks)? When should we encourage inhibition of bad habits, or addition of good ones? Can we combine the two strategies?...

31. Dealing with Feelings

August 17, 2020 • 24 MIN

In today’s episode of the Health Coaches Podcast, Howard talks with Dr Glenn Livingston of Never Binge Again. When we get our health behaviors under control, even when strong emotions tempt us to "misbehave," we have a great opportunity to face...

30: Using Non-negotiables

August 6, 2020 • 18 MIN

You can use the concept of "non-negotiable" habits and standards with two different types of clients. The most powerful case is with "slippery" clients who haven't yet learned to keep their word to themselves. In this solo episode, Howard discusses...

29: Calling BS for our clients and ourselves

August 3, 2020 • 29 MIN

Today we talk about lying. Outright lies, white lies, lies of omission, misrepresentations, and not keeping our word to ourselves and others. What's the connection between lying and not achieving our health goals? How is it even possible to "lie to...

28: The Role of Measurement and Proof in Coaching with Robby Barbaro

July 30, 2020 • 32 MIN

Robby Barbaro co-runs Mastering Diabetes, a group program that guides type 1 and type 2 diabetes to overhaul their diets, get fit, and either reverse or halt disease progression. We spoke about the double-edged sword of frequent measurement of blood...

27: Coaching Session on Overeating and Debrief

July 27, 2020 • 48 MIN

Co-host Kevin Davis comes clean about his extra five quarantine pounds, and his eating habits that have allowed those pounds to accumulate. Co-host Howard puts on his coaching hat for a demo of a full-length process. Then we debrief the session,...

26: Coaching Demo: Overcoming Overeating

July 23, 2020 • 35 MIN

Howard coaches Valeria on her habit of overeating on healthy foods. ============================================= This episode, like every HCP podcast, is sponsored by http://WellStartCoach.com. If you're a health coach wanting a more reliable process...

25: When your client isn't struggling - what now?

July 20, 2020 • 24 MIN

Sometimes a client will show up to a coaching session with no problems. Everything's going great. They're succeeding effortlessly. They've got nothing to brainstorm or debrief. Yikes! What do I do now? We're so trained to focus on problems, we can get...

24: Empowering Clients by Challenging Their Perception of Reality with Andrew Taylor

July 16, 2020 • 27 MIN

Andrew Taylor has a unique coaching "origin story." An obese, diabetic food addict, he decided to quit eating the way an alcoholic gives up booze and a cocaine addict abstains from blow. Since eliminating food entirely wasn't possible, he decided to...

23: Making the Most of Our Clients' Guilt

July 13, 2020 • 30 MIN

In today’s episode, Howard and Kevin talk about what to do when clients fail to move forward due to feelings of guilt. Experiencing guilt is uncomfortable, and our clients' efforts NOT to feel it often trigger their worst impulses, as well as...

22: Avoiding the Deprivation Trap with Sharon McRae

July 9, 2020 • 42 MIN

Sharon McRae joins Howard to talk about the chief obstacles she sees in clients who begin the journey toward a whole food, plant-based diet. We talk about the "deprivation trap," in which people obsess about all the foods they "can't have" anymore....

21: When Clients Don't Follow Through

July 6, 2020 • 31 MIN

In today’s episode, Howard and Kevin chew on how to get clients going when they aren’t taking action. We discuss FAST assessments, barriers to action, why Howard doesn’t believe in grades, and more. If your clients have ever committed to doing...

20: Helping Clients Confront and Transcend Their Edge Moments with Margaret Moore aka Coach Meg

July 2, 2020 • 51 MIN

Margaret "Coach Meg" Moore is one of the Founding Parents of Health Coaching. With a bio a mile long and several important books to her name, Moore has driven the professionalization of health coaching in two related domains: constructing a...

19: How to Help People Who Don't Want our Help

June 29, 2020 • 34 MIN

What do we do when we see people struggilng with their health, and we just know that if they got "woke" about diet and lifestyle, they'd be so much happier? And healthier. And probably live longer. Kevin and Howard explore the intersection of coaching...

18: How white health coaches can work effectively with clients of color with Vince Rountree

June 26, 2020 • 50 MIN

Now that white America is waking up to the scourge of systemic racism and the injustices and injuries it causes, how can white coaches be effective in working with clients of color? I (Howard) have noticed many assumptions that I've made over the...

17. How to Leverage the Awesome Power of Identity to Help Clients Change

June 23, 2020 • 33 MIN

When clients are new to a set of behaviors, habits, and standards, it often feels like they're "faking it" when they start. That's OK - as long as they understand that they create their identity as a health-seeking person through those daily habits...

16. Assessing Client Commitment and Helping without "Fixing" with Adam and Shoshana Chaim

June 19, 2020 • 33 MIN

The Plant Trainers, Adam and Shoshana Chaim, join Howard for a wide-ranging conversation on the challenges and pitfalls common to coaching for health. From marketing too aggressively (and so ending up with uncommitted clients), to missing the ideal...

15. The WHAM Model: Assessing Obstacles to Action

June 12, 2020 • 32 MIN

One of the ways coaches can get stuck is by failing to assess what's the client's current sticking point. Often we assume that the issue is motivation, when it may be skill or follow-through of self-efficacy. Other times we think that all the client...

14. How to Build an Online Coaching Practice with Margot Freitag

June 11, 2020 • 32 MIN

Margot Freitag is a health coach who now teaches health coaches to develop thriving and effective online practices. As a long-time schoolteacher and learning specialist, Margot emphasizes being aware of and catering to multiple learning styles. In our...

13. How to grow your business and get clients even without a website with Amber Reynolds

June 10, 2020 • 51 MIN

Amber is one of the Graduate Mentors for the Online Trainer Academy Certification and also owns her own business, Glow Mama Fitness. She specializes helping students with creating great client experiences, gifting, and creating systems to support...

12: Small Steps and Self-Awareness for Habit Change with Sid Garza-Hillman

June 9, 2020 • 54 MIN

Sid Garza-Hillman is a nutritionist, health coach, and running coach who is extremely thoughtful, entertaining, and skillful in his approach to helping clients change. In this conversation, Sid and Howard talked about how clients come in beating...

11: How text-based coaching differs from real-time coaching

June 8, 2020 • 42 MIN

On today's podcast, Howard grills Kevin about the do's and don'ts of text-based coaching. When do you ask questions? When do you offer suggestions. How do you deal with the time delays, the lack of auditory and visual cues, and the shortened SMS...

10. How to Run an Effective Group Coaching Practice with Susan Epstein

May 28, 2020 • 26 MIN

Group coaching can be more efficient, more lucrative, and more exciting than working with individuals one at a time. And, to my surprise, it can also provide a more effective vehicle for client transformation than the "gold standard" of private,...

9: The Most Effective Coaching Technique Ever?

May 28, 2020 • 27 MIN

Kevin and Howard talk about the coaching technique that leads to more client breakthroughs than just about any other: questions that require the client to move from generalities to specifics. It's such a simple move, and tactically quite easy to do;...

8. Mindfulness as the Ultimate Leverage in Habit Change

May 28, 2020 • 34 MIN

Lani Muelrath is author of The Mindful Vegan, and has been teaching and coaching people to lead healthy lives for decades. Over the past five years, she has studied mindfulness and now incorporates its practice into her life, and those of her clients...

7: What should a health coach be curious about?

May 21, 2020 • 23 MIN

Coaches are naturally curious, but sometimes we can get curious about the wrong things. That is, we can ask questions that get our clients even more stuck in their heads, their negative self-talk, and their bad habits. In this episode, Kevin and...

6: Managing Habits and Beating Stress During Pandemic and Lockdown with Glenn Murphy

May 15, 2020 • 63 MIN

Stressproof master and coach Glenn Murphy talks with me about the particular challenges of maintaining healthy habits during pandemic and lockdown. One of the biggest hurdles people face these days is a stress-ridden nervous system. When our bodies...

5: How to Read Books as a Coach

May 14, 2020 • 39 MIN

Howard announced on a recent Plant Yourself Podcast that he had changed his approach to dietary change based on a new book, Fiber Fueled, by Will Bulsiewicz, MD. This prompted Kevin to inquire as to the nature of the change, and to wonder, more...

4: How do we help clients if we've "fallen off the wagon" ourselves?

May 8, 2020 • 20 MIN

Howard and Kevin explores the do's and don'ts of "admitting" to clients that we haven't been, um, perfect in our choices and behaviors either. Sponsored by the WellStart Health Coach Training Academy: http://wellstartcoach.com

3: Anxiety Coaching with Kelli Walker, RN, MSN

May 5, 2020 • 42 MIN

Kelli Walker, R.N., M.S.N. is a nurse, a health coach, and a mother of 2.5 year old twins. She specializes in helping people move past anxiety and panic attacks. Oh, and she and Kevin used to host the Anxiety Coaches Podcast together. In this episode,...

2: Why Self-Love Isn't the Answer to Binge Eating with Glenn Livingston

May 4, 2020 • 44 MIN

Glenn Livingston, PhD is a clinical psychologist, marketing expert, and master health coach. His specialty is helping people overcoming bingeing and emotional eating. In this conversation, Glenn and Howard cover his transition from psychotherapy to...

1: Introduction to the Health Coaches Podcast

April 30, 2020 • 16 MIN

Kevin Davis and Howard Jacobson kick off the first episode of the brand spanking new Health Coaches Podcast. It's for health coaches, health professionals who use coaching to get patients to develop health habits, and anyone in the Lifestyle Medicine...