Raul Rentas has tried diets before—lots of them. And he has tried to exercise regularly, but never with much success. Although not what you would describe as obese, Rentas wanted to shed some pounds and get in shape. At 41, and a bartender for Walt Disney Company, he believed time — and his late-night lifestyle — was working against him.
So to find more motivation in changing his behavior, he called Troy Ismir, a wellness coach. That was two years ago. Today, Rentas is 198 pounds, down from 225. His long-range goal is to reach 185. “I’m happy to be under the 200 mark. It’s a personal milestone,” Rentas said. “Having to report to someone has really helped.
Troy’s always been great.” In giving credit to Ismir, he noted that, surprisingly, the two have never met, one of a number of unconventional aspects of wellness coaching. Most of the coaching is done over the telephone, lending itself to fewer distractions, greater confidentiality and a easy fit into anyone’s schedule.
For those with busy schedules — and who doesn’t fit into this category these days — a consistent line of encouragement and consultation is all that is needed. Ismir, who lives in Stoneybrook, is a health and fitness expert and a graduate of the new Wellcoaches Coach Training and Licensing Program, offered by Wellcoaches Corporation in partnership with the American College of Sports Medicine.
Like all licensees of the program, Ismir is an experienced professional. He was a personal trainer for eight years and was the director of the personaltraining program at the RDV Sportsplex in Maitland for three years.
He also holds a master’s degree in exercise and sports science and is certified as a Health and Fitness Instructor through the ACSM. As a wellness coach, Ismir offers clients support to take action to improve their well-being. This can involve all aspects of health, from physical activity to nutrition to coping with stress management.
“I play a lot of different roles with my clients,” Ismir said. “I help them find inspiration within themselves, help them find that internal motivation.” Empowerment is key to meeting a client’s goals, he said. For the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight, and the one-third who are considered obese, education is not the problem. Go into any bookstore and self-help books on weight control line the shelves.
The information is out there, but what is lacking is the will, Ismir said. And this drive to change must come from deep inside. “People want to be told what to do, but that is not effective. Instead of telling my clients what is best for them, we do a lot of brainstorming on what will work for them,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to help them learn, grow and develop beyond what they can do alone.” He also helps clients find time for themselves.
“One of the biggest challenges is to have them carve out time for what I call extreme self-care,” he said. “This can be as little as 20 minutes a day to go for a short walk or just relax.” Developing a wellness plan In co-creating a wellness plan, the initial step is a comprehensive online assessment that covers seven areas of well-being: life satisfaction, energy, mental and emotional fitness, exercise, nutrition, weight, and health.
Under this Wellcoaches Web-coaching platform, each area is broken down into specific behaviors, attitudes and activities that impact wellness. Then a health plan is drawn up. “This assessment identifies their health starting point and aims to bridge the gap between their health starting point and where they want to be in the future,” he said. “There’s a lot of strategizing done on how to achieve their goals and overcome their obstacles.
We create a wellness vision, a picture of where they want to be.” One strategy is to establish shortterm, attainable goals, making small changes in their lives that lead to greater advances. “We’re really setting up a foundation for success. How they are going to stay focused on achieving the goal,” he said. “This is not a quick fix. This is about making lasting, lifestyle changes.” Often, one such obstacle is confidence.
Before turning to Ismir, many clients have repeatedly tried, and failed at, a number of diet and exercise regimens. Some clients have had a similarly disappointing experience with smoking-cessation programs. For those who have struggled in the past, they need to rebuild their self-confidence in order to move forward. While some of the recommendations made by Ismir are born from common sense, they may elude clients who are otherwise knowledgeable and self-aware. Ismir offers none other than accomplished golfer Tiger Woods as an example of someone needing coaching to improve their “game.”
“Tiger knows his swing better than anyone, but he still has a swing coach. We all have blind spots that we need to overcome. Sometimes we just need someone to hold up a mirror,” he said. Food intake may be one such blind spot. Though Ismir doesn’t prescribe a specific diet for clients, he does offer nutritional guidelines and helps them evaluate their eating habits. “Sometimes people are not even mindful of why they are eating.
You should be eating because you’re hungry, not because you’re stressed out,” he said. Indeed, stress is often an underlying cause of ill health, he explained. Exercise can help with this stress while also helping to lose pounds. Yoga and deep-breathing exercises can relieve stress, too. Ismir includes all of these elements into the wellness plan. He then regularly follows up with his client to review progress being made, problems that arise and to discuss the upcoming goals. It is these goals that help define the difference between a wellness coach and a fitness or personal trainer, said Ismir, who has done all of the above.
Typically, his wellness clients are not looking to develop muscle or become bodybuilders through an intensive workout program. Rather, they are regular working people who are inactive and overweight, where jogging or simply walking seems to work best. In pursuit of general good health, clients often find themselves unable to stay on course. It is the behavior-modification techniques of wellness coaching that provides an added element of service.
And it seems to be catching on. Wellness coaches, previously the domain of corporations seeking preventive medicine, are now being sought out more by individuals. In 2000, Wellcoaches trained 100 coaches. Last year, the program trained 1,000. “The trend is going more toward wellness coaching,” said Ismir (troywellcoach@bellsouth.net).
Over the past two years, Dr. Chris Kovats, a physician who practices locally, said he has referred a number of patients to Ismir, knowing they can benefit from both his knowledge and his telephoneside manner. “Troy and I see eye to eye on wellness,” Kovats said. “He has a wonderful demeanor and is very passionate.”
A wellness coach such as Ismir addresses many of the common health problems Kovats’ patients face, known as metabolic syndrome, which encompasses such ailments as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and obesity. “These conditions are basically killing 500,000 Americans every year,” he said.
And the causes behind these deathly ills can be traced to… diet and a lack of exercise. “The wellness approach is a great avenue to have these people be responsible for their own health. These patients really struggle with their weight, so we need to get them back in line,” Kovats said. And they’re not alone.
“Tonight my staff and I are going to be walking the Seminole Trail,” he said. “We need to exercise too.”
