VALDOSTA — For Simone Martinez, leading a healthy life involves so much more that just diets and doctors. She knows because she is submerged in both worlds as a nurse and a student studying towards her health coach certification.

“I will graduate by the end of August,” said Martinez.

Martinez is currently going to school online through a one year program to receive her health coach certification with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Upon graduation in August, Martinez will enter an immersion program through the institute to further her education in the field.

Martinez was born and raised in East Germany. In 2002, she began working as a nurse in Germany after graduating with her general nurse license.

“I’ve been a Registered Nurse (RN) for ten years,” said Martinez.

 In 2005, she moved to Kaiserslautern, Germany where she met her husband — who is in the Air Force — in 2006. In 2008, Martinez and her husband moved to the United States. Initially, her husband was stationed at Moody Air Force base. However, her husband was leaving the military and changing careers. As a result, they moved to San Antonio, Texas in 2009.

While there, Martinez worked as a nurse at a university hospital. Switching from becoming a nurse in Germany to one in the United States was no easy task.

“I had to retake nursing boards in America,” said Martinez.

She obtained a Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) certification.

“I wanted to show that I got education in America,” said Martinez.

In 2010, Martinez and her husband moved back to Valdosta and since September of 2010, she has been working part-time in the intensive care unit at Smith Northview Hospital.

“In addition to being a nurse . . . I wanted to help patients more integratively,” said Martinez.

Martinez hopes to eventually become a full-time health coach. She feels in that profession, she will be able to be hands-on in different aspects of her client’s lives which ultimately will overall improve their quality of life.

“It’s focused on the individual; it’s health and healing,” said Martinez. “The human is a whole person.”

While Martinez won’t have her official health coach certification until August, she currently has a provisional license that allows her to practice. Having worked with just a handful of clients, Martinez has already seen the impact that her work can have on people’s lives.

“When you suggest minor changes, you can change their well-being,” said Martinez. “The coach, patient relationship is the center to the healing process.”

Martinez is currently engaged in workshops in Valdosta where she has had a good turnout.

One of the workshops that she recently held dealt with sugar cravings.

“I basically talk about the history of sugar and some shocking factors to engage the audience,” said Martinez.

Some of those shocking factors that Martinez shared included America being the largest consumer of sugar in the world and on average, Americans consume 576 cans (individually) of sugar based soda per year.

Martinez also goes over the causes of sugar cravings which include things like dehydration and malnutrition.

“It just creates further cravings,” said Martinez.

Becoming a health coach really appealed to Martinez after gaining so much experience in the health field. She noticed a lack of focus on nutrition in the hospitals and truly wanted to assist patients and/or clients in a more hands- on and integrative way.

The program is very self-driven and Martinez in large part acts as a guide.

“My client is primarily in the drivers seat,” said Martinez.

The program that Martinez offers is 12 sessions over a six month span. First, clients receive a one hour free consultation where Martinez reviews history and health concerns. She then gives clients items such as activities or eating habits to change.

“Every session builds on the last session,” said Martinez.

Each client is different and so Martinez’s approach varies from person to person.

Martinez can testify to the program as she has seen results from it herself.

“I did have some health concerns myself that I was able to improve by using information from the school,” said Martinez.

Most importantly, Martinez doesn’t just focus on nutrition, she focuses on the person’s lifestyle as a whole.

Things like sleep, work, digestion, physical activity and even emotion can affect a person’s overall well-being, so naturally, Martinez includes those sort of things into her program.

Martinez’s ultimate goal is to work in partnership with other professionals including medical doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists so that she may expand the pool of people that can she help.

For more information on Simone Martinez, visit www.simonemartinez.com. She will also be holding a class on July 26 at the Wooden Nickel. RSVP is necessary and that can be done by calling (229) 444-7152.

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