After more than 6 months in this program, all of the participants were re-assessed to see what impact the program had on their lives.  The results are outstanding!

In the beginning of the program, “Sam” met with Paul Ratte, ND (naturopathic doctor at Woodwinds Natural Care Center) for an evaluation; he provided some recommendations for dietary changes.  Beyond that initial meeting, it was up to “Sam” whether the suggestions would be put into practice and to see if coaching influenced whether expert suggestions were followed.

Lifestyle Changes Put Into Practice:

• Religiously taking cod liver oil and adrenal supplements each day;
• Greatly increased fruit and vegetable consumption;
• Closely following rhythmic eating recommendations (high protein for breakfast and carbohydrates for dinner);
• Writing down and tracking foods eaten; “Sam” realized this practice is critical for staying mindful and on track and is something he/she needs;
• Significantly reduced amount of hours spent working and no longer takes work home.

Physical Assessment

• Blood Pressure:  Compared to the initial assessment, “Sam’s” blood pressure remained consistent and is within the desirable range (118/68).
• Waist/Hip:  “Sam’s” waist measurement decreased 2.75 inches, and the hip measurement also decreased 0.5 inch, reducing the waist/hip ratio by 0.045.
• Weight:  “Sam” lost 4 pounds
• Body Fat:  “Sam’s” body fat increased 2.1%

What the Physical Assessment Means:

“Sam” experienced a significant health issue at month three of this program which prevented any exercise for the rest of the program.  Therefore, it is not surprising that the body fat measurements increased; body fat only decreases when one builds muscle through exercise.  It is very feasible to lose weight and inches but not lose fat.  This is why, from a coaching perspective, we focus on multiple measures of success and progress when it comes to goals of weight loss.

The waist, hip and waist/hip ratios decreasing shows that “Sam” continued to move in a healthier direction in spite of not being able to exercise.  The drop in both the waist measurement and waist/hip ratio is encouraging. “Sam” is now closer to being below the official at-risk measurement for waist girth and waist/hip ratio, but, from a clinical perspective, these are still not within the recommended range.  The waist/hip measurement is the most important improvement with “Sam” as this is an excellent indicator of insulin resistance (prediabetes).

Clinical Assessment

• Fasting Glucose:  “Sam’s” initial glucose was 95 and decreased to 89.
• Fasting Total Cholesterol:  “Sam’s” initial total cholesterol was 229 and decreased to 213
• HDL/LDL:  “Sam’s” initial HDL was 50 and increased to 51; the initial LDL measurement was 147 and decreased to 137.
• Total Cholesterol/HDL Ratio:  the initial ratio was 4.6 and decreased to 4.2.
• Triglycerides:  “Sam’s” initial triglyceride measurement was 158 and decreased to 126.

What the Clinical Assessment Means:

“Sam’s” initial glucose measurement was within the recommended range but on the border of being out of range and showed good improvement at 6 months.  Fasting blood glucose is a good day-to-day measurement of prediabetes but 2 test values are not enough data, and fasting insulin tests should be considered.  “Sam’s” triglycerides have also improved which is a significant marker for prediabetes.

The slight increase in HDL (good cholesterol) and good improvement in decreasing LDL (bad cholesterol) lowered the total cholesterol-to-HDL ratio.  This ratio is still considered to be a little high but is heading in the right direction.  Due to unrelated health issues, “Sam” was not able to exercise as he/she would have liked during the last half of the program.  Now that exercise is becoming more feasible again, we should continue to see improvement in “Sam’s” overall health by adding cardiovascular exercise and strength training and maintaining his/her current lifestyle changes.

This improvement is really due to “Sam’s” lifestyle efforts, as the supplements were minimal. Cholesterol improvement could be due to cod liver oil (CLO). It is feasible that the Super Adrenal Stress (SAS) may help his/her stress response – but we can’t say this for sure. Rhythmic eating (RE) should help with energy and blood sugar. Cutting down coffee and eliminating Diet Coke is excellent.  More importantly, “Sam” had a big realization that his/her blood work improved without taking any medication!

Life Balance Wheel

The Life Balance Wheel provides a picture of how satisfied individuals are with eight areas of their life; each one is essential to being a whole and complete balanced person. When people are not living a balanced life, the wheel is lopsided; as they become more balanced, the wheel actually starts to resemble a circle.  “Sam” filled out this tool at the beginning of the program, at the end of February, and again at the end of May.  The results are remarkable!

What the Life Balance Wheel means:

“Sam” showed steady improvement in life balance throughout this program and is remarkably more balanced at the end of the program and is clearly thinking differently about all areas of life – not just the physical health.  In fact, when “Sam” reflected on all three wheels, he/she was speechless and realized how different his/her attitude is about each area.

Intrinsic Capacity

The Hartman Value Profile (HVP) is a tool developed by the leading researcher in axiological psychology, Dr. Leon Pomeroy.  This tool examines how people value themselves and the world and shows whether people function more from their intrinsic domain (i.e. the core of their being and what is most important to them) or from extrinsic or systemic domains.  When people make choices using the intrinsic, there tends to be less conflict because choices are made from what is most important as opposed to shoulds.  “Sam” completed the HVP at the beginning of the program and at the end of 6 months of coaching; the results showed a significant increase in his/her intrinsic capacity.  According to Dr. Pomeroy, based on these results we can expect to demonstrate that Intrinsic Coaching™ strengthensone's interpersonal and intrapersonal intrinsic dimensions of valuation and thinking (valuation is the building block of thinking).