Basic aspects of nutritional coaching

Basic principles of coaching that differentiate it from other disciplines.

In general, coaching is a tool to help other people make the personal and professional changes they desire based on self-knowledge and self-confidence, attributes that allow them to identify and manage various options to be what they want to be and feel full owners of their destinies.

The term "coach" etymologically comes from carriage, a means of transportation that allows people to move from one place to another. In a way, coaching also serves to lead people from the place in their personal or professional lives where they are, to the place where they want to be.

Most authors recognize the year 1980 as the date of origin of modern coaching, however, they affirm that some of its main postulates were also basic in the teaching methods of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, main representatives of Greek philosophy from the 4th century B.C. onwards.

Background and evolution of coaching

Socrates' influence: When talking about the origin of coaching, the most referenced figure is Socrates, who used a method called maieutics ("the art of midwifery") to reach knowledge. This method consisted of establishing a dialogue with the disciple that developed through questions, answers, debate and conclusion.

The Socratic dialogue allowed, starting from an initial erratic or ignored idea, to arrive at the final idea through intellectual discernment. For Socrates, one of the key points in learning is that the disciple is capable of extracting knowledge from himself.

Nowadays, coaches use the art of maieutics to get clients to examine their lives and find the truth through dialogue, taking into account the vision of the world around them, which allows them to obtain positive results in practice.

Plato's influence: The work of this student and follower of Socrates consists of an epistolary and a set of dialogues that are his literary and philosophical legacy. Plato recognized the importance of conversations as his teacher taught him, using in his dialogues the questions as working tools to enhance the conversation.

The structure of Plato's dialogues are recognized by many authors as primitive coaching sessions. Modern coaches also use powerful questions and active listening as a basic and common tool in coaching sessions.

Good questions arise from attentive listening and observation that allow the coach to infer the client's state of mind and emotions. Powerful questions promote awareness and the process of changing the client's attitude.

Influence of Aristotle: The main contributions of Aristotle's thought to coaching theory are:

His idea that man can become whoever he wishes to be, through positive action, moving from a present situation, "the to be", to a desired situation "the ought to be". The basic methodology to become what you should be, is action (habits). Influence of the existentialist philosophy: Existentialists affirm that man freely chooses his essence: "existence precedes essence", this means that human nature does not determine individuals, but that it is their actions that determine who they are. Existentialism defends the freedom of the individual to realize and take responsibility for his actions.

Modern coaching processes are also premised on the freedom of human beings to aspire to the future, and incessantly project themselves into it, surpassing their own limits.

Influence of phenomenology: One of the ideas of phenomenology applied to modern coaching consists in the study of the directly given, that is to say, the flow of psychic experiences without the slightest rational link. Phenomenology recommends psychological self-observation in order to analyze our own reality without prejudice.

The success of modern coaching, in the same way, appeals to the client's intuition so that he can perceive himself as he is, without taking into account preconceived knowledge, old beliefs, etc.

Influence of humanistic psychology: Humanistic psychology appeared between the 50's and 60's of the 20th century. The main considerations of humanistic psychology that are reflected in the practice of coaching are the following:

• The human being must be considered as a whole in which converge: feelings, thoughts, behaviors and actions.

• The human being develops in an interpersonal context, necessary and important, but taking into account the individuality of the human being in social relationships.

• Human beings are autonomous beings who have the capacity to make their own decisions, decisions that direct their development.

• The inner experience of the human being is experienced as personal and with a meaning that is produced by the person himself, this meaning to his experiences and experiences, are fundamental axes of the development of personal perceptions that people develop about themselves.

Influences of sports training: Coaching has received an important influence from the ideas of Timothy Gallwey, who developed a sports training methodology called "The Inner Game". Gallwey posited that, "There is always an inner game being played in your mind, regardless of the outer game you are playing. The level of awareness you have of this game can make all the difference between success and failure of the outer game."

Because of the success achieved with this new coaching methodology, his methods were employed in the fields of business, health and education.

In modern coaching, it is also recognized that there is an inner game going on in both the coach's and the client's mind, which is very important to take into account when focusing our actions. Losing perspective of our thoughts is the main enemy in achieving goals in sport and in life. Contributions of Thomas J. Leonard: The current coaching model is attributed to Thomas J. Leonard, who was responsible for adapting the method, merging business, psychological, philosophical, sports and spiritual concepts to make it applicable to everyday life, creating a process that helps people achieve more and better goals.

Definition of coaching.

It is a process where a coach and an individual (coachee) or a small group of people (coachees), are committed to work together to achieve a set of objectives, developing a plan of action. In this relationship, the coach directs and coordinates the execution of a program in which the coachee is offered a way of personal and professional growth so that his or her strategies or behaviors lead to success (Vida Salazar, Eulogio, & Vera, 2011).

In other words, coaching is a discipline where the client, with the collaboration of the coach, deploys his full potential to maximize his performance and performance, in order to achieve personal and professional fulfillment.

Fundamentals of coaching

Awareness: In order for the coachee to be able to make a real and sustained change in his/her behavior, it is necessary that he/she becomes aware of what is happening and why it is happening. Awareness implies understanding ourselves better, discovering our emotions, knowing the reason for our thoughts and actions. We must become aware of everything that happens to us in order to understand ourselves and try to change what we need to change. The coach helps to develop the client's self-awareness through questions and reflections.

Awareness does not guarantee that change will take place, however without "awareness" it is practically impossible for change to occur.

Self-confidence: Once individuals are aware of their situation, the coach must guide them to mobilize their full potential to achieve change. People have potential capabilities far beyond what they assume. These capacities are only revealed in certain limiting situations that human beings go through throughout their lives. Coaching is an excellent tool that allows the coachee to discover and bring out the best in him/herself, in order to achieve his/her goals. Responsibility: Many people are aware of the situation they are in and believe they are capable of solving it, but lack the responsibility to start the path of improvement and growth. Responsibility is a value that is in the conscience of people to face in the most positive and integral way the situations that happen to us in life. Responsibility is manifested not only in the ability to make decisions consciously, but also to assume the consequences of those decisions.

The coach must encourage the development of this value in the client, motivating him to recognize and respond to his own concerns, to improve without limits, with his own resources, the results of his actions, to assume the consequences of his faults, etc.

5. Basic principles of coaching that differentiate it from other disciplines The coachee sets the agenda, focused on the fulfillment of his particular goals.

It is based on the establishment of a relationship of trust, collaboration, and accompaniment, where the coach provides the coachee with punctual and clear feedback that favors motivation and the achievement of goals.

The coach accepts that the coachee has the necessary resources to achieve his/her goals; and also the coachee accepts that the coach is the right person to help him/her achieve the changes that have been proposed.

Coaching provides the right environment for accelerated learning that positively influences the effectiveness of the process.

Coaching facilitates the full development of the potential of the coachee and the coach throughout the process.