Health Coach Training with Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN), Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN), and Human Longevity Institute (Precision Longevity Coaching)
This article is to share my personal journey and experiences with the 3 core health coach training programs I have completed since 2017. What I share is purely my opinion and this is not meant to be a pro and con type of article where I am recommending any programs. Training programs change over time and my memory and experience is based on what it was during that time.
I will include a little background so you have a better context to understand my experience. I was quite sick with no particular diagnosis for over a decade. I believe most of it stemmed from extreme prolonged stress of having to constantly adjust to living in two very different cultures. I sought help in any way I could and managed to improve quite a bit through the help of a functional chiropractor, Rolfer, and several other wonderful healers.
I was constantly learning from online virtual summits years ago when they started gaining popularity. I found out about health coaching in 2017 and knew I wanted to get trained so I could help others.
I first found the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN) and enrolled right away. To be completely honest, I don’t think I understood exactly what a health coach did at that time but I just wanted to get started. Since I had been sick and had already studied a lot on my own, much of the health related information taught at IIN were things I was familiar with. At IIN, I learned how to coach clients and the scope of practice for health coaches.
IIN is a year-long program. After 4 months of starting IIN, I also started Functional Diagnostic Nutrition because I wanted to take my health coaching to the next level. Since I had been sick, I wanted to have all the tools I could possibly have as a health coach to help clients.
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition coaching program was exactly what I needed, especially at that time. We were trained to analyze and utilize 5 core functional lab tests which we got to experience first hand and get coached on. I studied so hard my brain hurt! My health improved as I learned and applied what was taught in the curriculum. The support we received from the entire FDN organization was purely amazing in every way. I really can’t say enough good things about my experience. Another huge benefit and strength of FDN is the continued support after certification. The AFDNP organization for graduates is robust, active, and continues to improve. I can honestly say I am so proud to be a certified FDN practitioner. It is training at its best.
So why didn’t I stop there? Sometimes I wish I could just do as I was trained at FDN and run the 5 core functional labs, find all the healing opportunities, and coach on the DRESS (Diet, Rest, Exercise, Stress and Sleep) protocols because I know it is effective and powerful.
Well, I faced two challenges. The first challenge hit me when I mentioned the lab cost to my mom and saw her reaction. It’s a lot of money for most people since insurance doesn’t cover it. That’s when I committed to finding a more economical way to help clients. I still love all of the functional tests I was trained in, analyzing them and educating my clients on how to use the information to improve their health IF their budget allows. But I also wanted to be able to help clients with a smaller budget.
After some research, I found a much more economical functional test. Hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) is a very useful test that evaluates the mineral levels in hair and gives insights into your health for the previous 3 months. You can get insights into how your autonomic nervous system is responding, how your adrenals and thyroid are functioning, and so much more. This is a much more affordable and practical starting point for many people. Functional analysis of bloodwork is also very economical and I have spent time to learn this as well.
The second challenge I faced was my own healing journey. I was able to reach a certain point in my health status, but I wasn’t able to completely get to the optimal health I desired. So I kept learning and trying to figure out how to heal at a deeper level. I learned about energy healing and working with my intuition to enhance my own health and coaching skills. This continued pursuit and desire to optimizing my health led me to Precision Longevity Coaching.
As soon as I heard about Precision Longevity Coaching, I knew this was the key piece I had been looking for to bring everything I have learned so far together. This training has been mind blowing in every way. I have learned so much and am thrilled to continue learning. The beautiful takeaways are many, but longevity coaching encompasses so much including our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. As a coach, you can really expand your business in any way you dream of!
This training was very comprehensive and covered the science of longevity, how to slow down and reverse biological aging, coaching framework as well as the business side of being a coach. I loved the format which included both listening to pre-recorded online lectures and live calls. I greatly enjoyed the interactive portion of this course. Since I have lifetime access to this amazing training, I will be constantly referring back and listening to new content. Another dynamite training, and I believe a very promising future for coaches.
All of our journeys are different and each training program provided me with my next best step to continue on my path to become the best health coach I possibly can become. I know I will continue to learn because I love to learn. And I finally feel like I can combine all of the knowledge from my coaching trainings as well as my farm experience raising alpacas and chickens, along with our dogs and cats and truly help people in my own unique way.
Welcome to Longevity and Wellness, Farm-style!
Thanks for reading!
I highly suggest you sign up for their newsletter and join their free webinars and events first. Learn more about FDN here.
You can get a $250 discount on the course if you use this link, but honestly, watch for their specials or if there is a referral link with a larger discount, take that 🙂 Otherwise, feel free to use my FDN link
If you want to create your own health coaching business that nurtures you while you help others on their journey, I recommend Precision Longevity Coaching program. Dr. Melissa and her team are the best! She has a gift code that will give you 30% off this training! Use code KTGIFT30 to enroll at https://humanlongevityinstitute.com/
