Primal Health Coaching
What Is a Primal Health Coach?
A Primal Health Coach, like all well-trained health coaches, is a wellness expert who educates, motivates and guides clients toward lifestyle and behavior choices that support optimal well-being. But Primal Health Coaches go a step further. They collaborate with clients to create lives of maximum vitality using nutrition and fitness strategies based on scientifically validated ancestral health principles. The primal approach brings wellness back to the basics—eating, moving, living, and thriving as our bodies were designed to.
We get back to the basics... back to a time when processed food was rare rather than the norm. When movement was a natural part of life. When entertainment involved getting together with other humans for an adventure and socializing rather than binge-watching Netflix.
Our great grandparents wouldn’t even recognize the boxed and packaged fare of today as food. And even when we know better, it’s tempting to pop a pre-made meal into the microwave after a full day’s work, when we are too fatigued to do much more than sit in front of the television at night.
That’s why “primal” at its core means “fundamental,” because we focus on what needs to come first before all else—your health. And the fundamentals of health are real, nutritious food, movement and activity that utilizes both our muscles and cardiovascular systems, and life choices that keep stress at a minimum, sleep at a maximum, and balance at the center.
Because while technology has advanced and populations have boomed, there is one thing that hasn’t changed...from our primitive ancestors...to our great grandparents...to 21st-century humans—our very life processes.
And the optimal functioning of these life processes depend on getting back to the basics. On eating the way our bodies were designed to eat—real food foraged from plants and animals raised in natural conditions, grass-fed and free of hormones and antibiotics. On moving more like our ancestors, and living life with the occasional acute stressor while managing the imminent threat of chronic stress that comes with modern living. On playing more, resting well, and connecting often.
Just as plants have a root system that feeds and anchors an entire forest, so too do humans. And living life with a primal purpose keeps those roots strong and supported.
Ancestral/Evolutionary
Evolutionary biologists and ancestral health scientists focus on how evolution has shaped human biology and health, and how following the blueprint of our earliest ancestors can help prevent and reverse modern health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. While there’s never a one-size-fits-all prescription for health, living according to evolutionary science makes wellness more attainable.
It’s one fundamental philosophy with unlimited applications.
- Have a client who needs help managing blood sugar? Great! A low-carb ancestral approach can help!
- Prefer a more plant-based game plan? No problem. Plants are at the base of the ancestral food ecosystem.
- Working with high-level athletes that need clean fuel? Perfect! Following a balanced, smart-carb primal blueprint is just the right fit!
Based on evolutionary science, primal is a nutrient-dense, whole-food, low-inflammatory approach to food choices. It’s all about finding the right strategy for each individual client and tailoring it to his/her needs, preferences, and goals.
The Primal Blueprint
Primal Health Coach Institute founder Mark Sisson, considered one of the pioneers of the ancestral health movement, wrote the wildly successful book, The Primal Blueprint, which started an entire primal movement! He wrote several followup books, including Primal Endurance, The Primal Connection, The Primal Blueprint Cookbook, and The Keto Reset Diet, a New York Times bestseller.
The Primal Health Coach Institute health, fitness, and nutrition coursework is based on those books, going deeper than ever before, expanding and expounding. And as a Primal Health Coach grad, you get the benefit of both the knowledge and the built-in niche, to distinguish yourself from other health coaches in this burgeoning wellness field.
What Makes Primal Different?
Primal isn’t just a diet. In fact, it’s not even a diet. Primal is a template for eating, moving, living, and thriving.
Primal health incorporates diet and nutrition within a holistic framework that includes exercise, stress management, sun exposure, and lifestyle behaviors.
And it doesn’t end there: living primally means spending time in nature, nurturing relationships and social connections, balancing work and play, and becoming a sleep master. Because every single choice we make affects our health and wellness.