My Review of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) Health Coach Certification Program
In 2015 I studied at The Institute For Integrative Nutrition, also known as IIN. IIN is more than a school, it’s creating a wellness revolution around the world! Studying to become a Holistic Health Coach changed my life by enabling me to help others improve their physical and mental health, and also improved my own health drastically.
Have you played with the idea of becoming a health coach yourself? Then keep reading to:
〰 Find out if studying at IIN is the right step for you
〰 View all 18 IIN & Chopra Classes, receive the complete IIN curriculum guide, and more
〰 Receive details about the usual price of IIN and my exclusive special 4-figure tuition savings offer!
〰 Receive information about IIN’s new partnership with Chopra Global, welcoming Dr. Deepak Chopra as Chief Wellness Officer
QUICK CHECK BEFORE WE DIVE IN: COULD THE INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATIVE NUTRITION BE FOR YOU?
Are you passionate about health and wellness?
Do you want to learn more about food, nutrition and general health hacks to support yourself and your loved ones"?
Do you want to have a fulfilling career doing what you love?
Are you looking to leave the corporate 9 to 5 and have your own business in the wellness space?
Did you have personal health struggles that you’ve overcome and are now inspired to help others?
Are you an empathetic giver and want to inspire and support others through their own journey?
Do you crave work flexibility and location freedom?
If you answered HECK YEAH to one or multiple of these questions, then keep reading!
WHAT IS THE INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATIVE NUTRITION?
IIN is the world's largest nutrition school. It offers a regular 12-months and accelerated 6-months online program from which you graduate as a Certified Holistic Health Coach. The course is designed for anyone who is passionate about health and wellness, whether it is for career reasons or personal reasons. You could be interested in learning more about nutrition for your own personal benefits, launching a new and exciting career or adding to your existing degrees in health and fitness! Either way, IIN will empower you to transform your life and put you on the path to achieving your personal health and wellness goals as well as your professional goals in the health and wellness space. It is a respected market leader in the industry with over 28 years of experience, and in the last 10 years has gone completely online.
Over the years, IIN has evolved into the world’s largest integrative wellness education platform in a landmark partnership with Chopra Global (Chopra). In 2023, Dr. Deepak Chopra was named Chief Wellness Officer and will be supporting IIN directly in furthering their shared mission to heal the world. In this role, Dr. Chopra will advise on course content creation and strategy. Working together to expand and elevate all courses, products, and services, IIN will provide even more opportunities for communities to thrive in their life, health, and career. This is such an exciting time to look into studying at The Institute For Integrative Nutrition!
WHAT EXACTLY IS A HOLISTIC HEALTH COACH?
We are spending more money than ever on our health care systems and yet, according to the World Health Organisation, the top three causes of death are dietary related illnesses – heart diseases, stroke and pulmonary diseases. At the same time there’s an all time high of depression, stress, anxiety, mental illnesses and things like eating disorders are on the rise all around the world.
And so, there is a massive demand for a new kind of health professionals – in comes the Holistic Health Coach.
I like to think of it as a health support mentor, someone that educates and supports people in their journey to build health new habits and create sustainable lifestyle changes. In the gym you have a PT to hold you accountable to your workouts, so why not have someone do the same in the kitchen and in your overall goal of living a healthy life?
During the studies, health coaches acquire a broad understanding of many different dietary theories and tools to mentor people who seek to improve their overall health and wellbeing. IIN has a strong focus on the idea that health isn’t just what you eat, but recognises that things like relationships, work, exercise and spirituality all play a huge part in our health. Duh, right?! Well, its a pretty revolutionary viewpoint compared to traditional nutrition and our disease-treatment-focused health care system. IIN also strongly supports the idea of bio-individuality, being that one size does not fit all. Another way I like to explain a Health Coach to someone is essentially a life coach with an emphasis on food, self care and general healthy lifestyle choices.
What a Health Coach is NOT is a nutritionist or someone who is qualified to prescribe any medications nor take the place of a GP or any other form of psychological or psychiatric counsellor or Dr. A Health Coach is NOT supposed to replace any of the above, rather it is there to support and complement other health care professionals.
Should I do IIN or a nutrition degree? What’s the difference?
This is one of the most frequent questions that I get asked. Ultimately, it comes down to what you want to do afterwards. I asked myself this very question when I was first looking at options back in 2015. Initially, I wanted to do a nutrition degree and whilst I’m sure I would have absolutely loved learning about nutrition in such detail and would have found the biochemistry highly fascinating, I realised that I didn’t actually want to be a nutritionist by the end of it. I loved the idea of studying nutrition, but I didn’t want to be a nutritionist.
Why not? Well, I wanted to help people with more than their diet – in fact, I wanted to help people unlearn toxic diet mentalities, learn to eat intuitively and ultimately make peace with food and their bodies. For this, I knew I needed to study somewhere that had a highly holistic approach and looked at things like mindset, exercise, self care habits, sleep routine, healthy relationships etc. For this, the Institute For Integrative Nutrition is the perfect place to study. And ultimately, this is the niche I have carved out for myself – a focus on helping women heal their relationship with food, body and themselves. As such, I do a lot of work that has nothing to do with food but more with the mindset around food, calorie counting and body image.
But don’t get me wrong, there’s many IIN alumnis who use their IIN certification to help clients with specific health issues and specialize in things like gut health, skin health, weight management, chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases or some type of ailment that they themselves have healed from in the past. Many IIN coaches also teach their clients how to cook and even go their homes to do pantry declutters or take them to the supermarket to teach them how to read nutritional labels. And you can absolutely go down any of those paths too, if you choose to.
However, if you want to be creating diet plans for people, prescribing supplements and analysing blood work, plus if you think that four or more years of studying chemistry, biochemistry, medical food science, pharmacology, pathology etc is your jam, then I would 100% recommend for you to do a nutrition degree instead. Whilst you learn about dozens of different dietary philosophies at IIN and learn about the fundamentals of how they impact the body, you do not go into the same degree of detail as you would doing a nutrition bachelor and master. It’s two completely different things! As a health coach it’s not a clinical approach at all. You are not prescribing or diagnosing but you give guidance and recommendations and offer a nurturing support system for your clients to reach their goals in a more sustainable way and empower long-term change.
“When you are looking at a role in traditional dietetics, it does not care for their primary foods and the relationship that they have with their eating habits and other aspects of their lifestyle. But only this truly helps to get to the root cause of their issues and find sustainable solutions.”
On a side note: another aspect that is unique to IIN is the big focus on coaching skills. Being a good listener, asking the right questions, holding a safe space for people to be honest and vulnerable – all those things are invaluable coaching skills that will truly enable your future clients to take control over their own physical and mental health. I don’t know if nutrition degrees teach you this, and personally I’ve found it to be one of the most rewarding lessons from the whole IIN experience. In today’s world, many people already what WHAT to eat in theory, but they struggle with the implementation due to bad habits, lack of structure and (almost always) emotional reasons, and that’s where the coaching skills become invaluable.
Ultimately, the reason why I chose to do IIN over a nutrition degree was:
I wanted to improve my own physical and mental health.
I didn’t have the time or money to do a 4-year + nutrition degree.
Whilst I liked the idea of studying nutrition, I didn’t want to create diet plans, prescribe supplements, analyse blood work and work in a clinic
I wanted a holistic approach that looked at more than just what people eat
I understood that in order to enable change within people, I needed to acquire the right coaching techniques
I wanted to help other women health their relationship with food and their body. As I recovered from my own disordered eating through the help of a Holistic Health Coach whom herself had an eating disorder in the past, I first-hand understood the power of working with someone who could relate on a deeper level, and knew it was possible to achieve my dream via IIN.
THE CURRICULUM
I loved the set up of the curriculum! It's broken down into weekly modules, which allows you to consume the content in small digestible bits. I was working part-time while doing IIN and also invested a lot of time into my blog, and still had enough time to do IIN on the side. I probably spent around 5-8 hours a week in total on the 12 month course. I know of people who do IIN while working full-time with kids and I know of people who don’t work at all and do the course; either way it’s totally doable. If you decide to do the 6 month course then you will be looking at twice the amount of work per week, which could be useful if you have the time and want to graduate earlier.
A great aspect of the program is that it can really be adapted to your schedule. Got a busy week? No worries, you can always catch up with the lessons the following week. Whilst there is one new module that opens each week (with the exception of a couple of breaks), you are not required to necessarily finish the module that week. However, there are short exams after every 10 modules, so ideally you’d want to be up to date with the material in time for those exams.
It teaches over 150 different dietary theories while combining coaching techniques with in depth business training so that you leave with the greatest chance of creating a successful life as a Health Coach. The unique nutrition theory takes into account your relationships, work, exercise and spirituality as well as what you eat to build optimum health within. To be honest, that has to be one of the best parts of IIN! It introduces you to so many different diets and ways of thinking, without prejudice, so that you are able to truly form your own opinion and experiment first hand on your body to discover what lifestyle suits you best. Some of my favourite concepts that I’ve taken away from my studies at IIN include:
PRIMARY FOOD
Healthy relationships and communication, a fulfilling career, regular physical activity, and a spiritual awareness are all essential forms of nourishment. You can eat all the kale in the world, but if your primary foods aren't taken care of, your physical and mental health suffers as a result. But when these “primary foods” are balanced, what you eat becomes secondary.
BIO-INDIVIDUALITY
The concept of bio-individuality is the idea that each of us has unique food and lifestyle needs; one person’s food is another person’s poison.
CROWDING OUT
By eating foods that are good for you, you will naturally have less room and desire for unhealthy foods. Simply put, you will “crowd out” the unhealthy food in your diet. The same goes for your habits - by creating a personal "Self Care Tool Kit" you will slowly crowd out any self-destructive behaviours.
DECONSTRUCTING CRAVINGS
Cravings are there for a reason and shouldn't be ignored. When you learn how to deconstruct your cravings and understand what they’re really trying to tell you, you will be able to reclaim a sense of balance and harmony.
MORE EXAMPLES OF WHAT’S COVERED IN THE CURRICULUM
NUTRITION & HEALTH
100s of different dietary philosophies
Gut microbiome
Hormones
Mental health
Blood type diets
Bio-individuality
The importance of sleep
How stress affects your health
Supporting your adrenals
Sustainable farming
Food as functional medicine
Ayurvedic practices
Autoimmune diseases
Nutrition and government
PRIMARY FOODS
Eliminating limiting beliefs
Career fulfilment and personal finances
Ming-body consciousness
Power of connection and relationships
Self-Care
COACHING SKILLS
Learn how to do Health History consultations
Coaching through personality types
Group coaching skills
The art of active listening and reflection
How to build your own coaching programs
Coaching with mind-body lens
Future of health coaching
The different health coaching pathways
Coaching through body image and emotional eating
BUSINESS SKILLS
Business structure 101
Branding/ Marketing strategies
Developing your programs
Finding Your purpose
Choosing the right clients for you
Creating marketing plans
Leveraging your value and setting your rates
Building an online presence
Harnessing the power of your own story
How to scale your business
Coaching Circles
Whilst the majority of the program can be done at your own time and pace, you will have 6 live conference calls that are hosted by a graduate of the school. These are called Coaching Circles. They are available in all times zones and you are able to provide your location and time preference beforehand, so you will 100% be able to fit these calls into your schedule. Also, you only need to do 4 out of the 6 coaching calls.
HOW ARE THE TEACHERS?
About half of the program is taught by Joshua Rosenthal, the founder and director of IIN. Then there’s many amazing speakers including leading doctors, PhDs, researchers and authorities who are at the forefront of the health and wellness field. The list current includes Mark Hyman, Deepak Chopra, Arianna Huffington + Gabrielle Bernstein just to name a few. This was another highlight of the program for me; learning from so many different people who all have very different, and oftentimes opposing view points, really encourages you to question everything and always keep an open mind.
Accreditation
The Institute for Integrative Nutrition is recognised by the New York State Department of Education. It is the ONLY health coaching program out there that has this level of accreditation and that enables you to be accredited globally. You can even transfer the certificate towards up to 40 collage credits for a bachelor or masters to over 1500 school in the US and also some overseas universities, if you choose to go down that path. After you’ve graduated, you can also get an international health coach certification to further your standing in the international community. Lastly, becoming a health coach is becoming more and more accredited globally as you can read here. In general, IIN is pretty well known globally which is useful as you will have clients from all over the world and you have the opportunity to receive an additional certificate or degree if you wish.
What kind of career paths can you take after graduating from IIN? how do you make money as a health coach?
People do all kinds of different things. Obviously working as health coach (online, face to face, group coaching) is one of them, but it doesn’t have to stop there. In my intake, there were a few people who were also qualified PT’s or yoga teachers and combined their knowledge to offer an even more holistic approach to their clients. Some others went into Corporate Health Coaching, some started their own catering or restaurant business, others developed e-books/recipe books, and many more that dove into the health/wellness blogging scene. In certain countries like the US where health coaching is more recognised, you might even be able to secure a job alongside a medical doctor who wishes to provide nutritional guidance to patients. Quite some people who enrolled in IIN already have prior qualifications within the health profession and are looking to to expand their knowledge towards a more integrative and holistic approach. On the flip side, I know of many people who had no prior education or did IIN purely for personal reasons such as bettering their own health or that of their family, and have zero interest in pursuing a career in the field. Personally, I think that IIN is great whether you are looking to build a career in the field or just want to work on bettering yourself and your health.
Check out some of IIN’s successful graduates and what they’re doing as Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches!
But what if i’m not business-savy?
Luckily IIN supports you with setting up your own business by teaching you essential coaching and business skills. I’ve never heard of any other nutrition school offering his! In this part of the course, you will learn how to define your target audience, attract clients, market your brand, sell your awesome services and create an authentic business model.
They even provide you with a free website template, business cards and a variety of forms such as client contracts that you can use to stay organised in your business. This will save you heaps of time and research when you actually start setting up your practice, and ensures that you don’t forget about small but important things like collecting client testimonials.
How will I find clients? How do I start?
As mentioned, there is a whole business section to the IIN curriculum and the school puts a lot of effort in preparing you and helping you set up your business – from helping you identify your target market and create a pricing scheme to providing you with template documents to use with your clients. They even provide you with a website template that you can use to create your online brand.
My recommendation would be to get started on this whilst you’re still studying, so that you have a platform from which you can promote your services as soon as you have graduated. Personally, this is what I did. I had created a website and social media presence shortly prior, and slowly started sharing my passion for health, fitness, wellness and eating disorder recovery there. And as soon as I graduated, I was able to get my first clients through my online platforms. From there on, I continued to expand on my website, collect great testimonials from previous clients and got many of my new clients through word-of-mouth.
One important thing to remember is that you can have your business entirely online. In the four years that I have worked as a coach, I have only had a handful of in-person clients. The vast majority has been exclusively online, via video chat. This means that your potential client pool is massive, essentially the whole world! I’ve had clients from Switzerland, Germany, the US, UAE, UK, Italy, Australia, Denmark and France, just to name a few. I also coach in both English and German, which has proven highly valuable to clients who wanted to work with me but didn’t necessarily feel comfortable in English. If you have a 2nd language that you feel comfortable coaching in, I’d highly recommend it! You also have the opportunity to scale your coaching business in several ways either through group coaching sessions, facilitating workshops or working for or with companies that have corporate wellness initiatives.
HOW MUCH DOES IIN COST?
The core IIN program will cost you $2,995 USD.
As an ambassador of the course, I’m proud to be able to offer you 15% off IIN’s ‘The Health Coach Training Program ™’ course. To get this incredible discount, simply head to the IIN website using this link and the tuition savings offer will be automatically applied at checkout. You can also use STEFJUNG at checkout to receive at least 15% off.
The great news? This offer applies to all of IIN’s courses*, not jus the The Health Coach Training Program ™. Since I studied at IIN, they have expanded their offering to include a wonderful array of shorter, more specialised courses that you can add on to the Core Programs or enrol in as a stand alone course. Here’s the full list:
Health Coaching Certificates
Core Programs
The Health Coach Training Program ™
Chopra Coaching Certification
All Health & Wellness Courses
Chopra Meditation Certification
Chopra Health Certification
Chopra Yoga 200-Hour Certification
IIN Hormone Health Course
IIN Gut Health Course
Ayurveda for Balance: Chopra Health Enrichment
Deepening Your Practice: Chopra Meditation Enrichment
IIN Emotional Eating Course
IIN Nutrition for Life
IIN Whole Person Health Course
IIN Detox Your Life
Chopra Yoga Foundations
Chopra Meditation Foundations
Chopra Health Foundations
IIN Launch Your Dream Book
*All courses except Coaching Intensive Practicum (CIP); it is excluded from any promotions.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE COST OF TUITION?
All of your materials are included in the cost of tuition and are all online in digital form. Here’s a full list of everything you will get access to:
Access to the Digital Learning Center (making it super easy to study anywhere, anytime and for a full year post graduation!)
Access to your library where you can re-read about the all the dietary concepts for life
Your own personalized website for a year
Marketing material templates (like brochures, business cards, pitch decks, email blasts, newsletters) that you can customize for your business
Contracts
Client materials to help you start your practice (like handouts and session outlines)
5 online Fundamental Classes (they start right when you enroll)
Pre-course group calls and monthly course check-in calls.
Discussion forum where you can stay connected to the school and your fellow classmates
Group coaching circles with your own personal health coach
Access to your class Facebook group
Exclusive community-building webinars
ARe there any pre-requisites?
The only two pre-requisites are that you are 18 years old or older and that you have a high school diploma or the equivalent thereof.
What are the 2024 intake dates?
IIN offers regular 12-months programs as well as accelerated 6-months courses. They also offer the program in Spanish for all intake dates.
The next intake dates are:
Sept 23rd 2024
JOIN THE UPCOMING HEALTH COACH WEBINAR...
IIN hosts a Health Coach Webinar for everyone that is keen to learn more.
On the webinar you'll:
Learn how easy it is to access and navigate IIN’s revolutionary Learning Platform
See how the program materials, resource libraries and everything you’ll need is in one easy-to-navigate location (making it super easy to do IIN wherever you are in the world!)
Learn how IIN supports you every step of the way
Get a sneak peek at the course curriculum and the crucial holistic concepts you’ll learn
Click on the button below to sign-up for that and ask any last burning questions.
MY overall EXPERIENCE...
Studying at IIN completely changed my life. Initially, I just wanted to continue my healing journey from an eating disorder. I ended up doing exactly that PLUS creating a heart centred business helping other women heal themselves too. I connected with hundreds of like-minded souls and made friendships that I will have for the rest of my life, with people all around the world. Without IIN, I would never have created the life that I am living now. If you want to read up more bout my experience, check out these blog posts I wrote on the topic:
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Being transparent with you guys is one of my biggest priorities, so I’ll be straight up with you – I receive a small commission for every person who signs up and mentions that I have referred them. So while I officially am an ambassador for the program, I don’t shy away from saying things how they are and what I did or did not like about the program.
I actually got referred through an ambassador myself – at the time when I was researching different program options, I stumbled across an alumni group that organised monthly meet ups in Geneva, so I messaged them and asked if I could join and ask them some questions. They welcomed me with opens arms and, well, the rest is history as they say! At the end of the day, I think it comes down to which career and/or personal path you want to go down and it needs to feel right for YOU. I’ve shared my opinion, now the decision is yours.
