Preventing Lifestyle Diseases
NATURALLY
ABOUT ME
Education & Certifications:​
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Master's Degree in Public Health, UC Davis
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Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach, NBHWC
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Certified Personal Trainer, NASM
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Positive Intelligence or PQ Program Graduate
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MY MISSION
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I founded Health Styles LLC with the intention of helping people find peace with food, joy from movement, and happiness from within by cultivating positive mindsets and lifestyle habits that aim to reduce the risk for adverse health events and unleash one's full potential.
Diet-related chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and obesity are PREVENTABLE by lifestyle choices.
What inspired me to become a health & wellness coach?
I first became inspired to work with this population in graduate school at UC Davis, where I learned that one in four Americans today is living with one chronic condition and a majority of those diseases are preventable by lifestyle choices.
Chronic diseases not only cost billions of dollars a year for our US healthcare system to care for, they are extremely burdensome to those who suffer with them and significantly reduce quality of life factors as well as productivity in the workplace.
Despite how much energy and time we have invested into researching and developing new medications and modalities to help care for the chronic disease population, the prevalence of chronic conditions continues to rise at astronomical rates.
What can we learn from this? The way we provide care to those with chronic illnesses NEEDS to change as the top down medical approach, isn't effective enough at driving sustainable behavior changes.
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"...the top down medical approach isn't effective at driving sustainable behavior changes."
New research is beginning to reveal that coaching interventions are extremely effective at producing positive health outcomes, lowering costs, and improving overall patient satisfaction.
Rather than diagnosing, prescribing and telling patients what they need to do to improve their health, coaches place full autonomy on the patient to make their own health decisions, while using evidence-based strategies to support patients in uncovering challenges, highlighting their strengths, and increasing their self-efficacy in reaching their desired goals.
While coaching isn't meant to replace the important care of medical providers, the partnership between a coach-provider elicits a meaningful new way to effect change among chronic patient populations that quite frankly, we desperately need.
Who do I work with?
​I work with people who are at risk for or diagnosed with diet-related chronic diseases including: pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and heart disease.
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For those with more medically complex needs, I work in partnership with their medical team and maintain ongoing communication to ensure safety is a top priority.
As a public health professional, I believe in the value of prevention and am passionate about helping people reduce their disease risk and improve their quality of life, so instead of just getting by...they can truly THRIVE.
