The New England Journal of Medicine recognizes that those who lose weight with a support system have a far better chance of success than those who go it alone. But we really didn’t need them to tell us that. There is a reason that health coaching is the fastest growing niche in professional coaching. The pace we are moving as a society makes getting to meetings or appointments across town a drag– just one more stressful detail we need to incorporate into our already jam-packed days. With a health coach, a text, a call, an email, a Facebook message–these can be just the connection a person needs to keep them on track. For me, I didn’t need to sit in a room for 45 minutes, listening to a topic I’d heard a gazillion times before. That just wasn’t working anymore. I needed someone who had been successful doing what I wanted to do and who would explain to me the best way to make the peanut butter soft serve. Someone to share with me what happens next. Everybody has different needs. Having someone who has been there talk you through those needs is huge.