Simone Holz, Nutrition, Health & Well-being Coach
Simone Holz is a certified Nutrition & Health Coach. She helps busy professionals take control of their health by making better eating and exercise choices.
Providing her clients with a long-term change by improving their eating choices, exercising strategy, and mindset. More importantly, she relates to her clients on their own level by imparting wisdom from her own health transformation story.
"Do you struggle with making healthy and enjoyable food choices? Do you feel like being unhealthy is starting to impact other areas of your life and even your mental health? I understand you because this used to be me too." She says.
Before moving to Ireland, Simone grew up in a small town on a farm in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Where she learned how to grow her own vegetables, milked a cow, and collected eggs.
“It would be best if you went to bed every Sunday evening wishing that the next morning you'll wake up and have a great week. If this is not happening, it is because you aren't doing the right thing for yourself! Change your career scares a lot, but in the end, when you start to see the results, you will feel happy.”
Simone Holz
"This is one of the most transformative periods of my life as I learned to appreciate simple things, and I cared for."
Simone also used to have a balanced routine with exercises along with eating healthy, which at the time, she didn't realise how much made her healthy and happy.
When she moved to Ireland in 2017, this all changed. With the new routine in the country, her lifestyle, exercising routine and food had changed. She began to make poor eating choices and didn't make much time for exercise.
"I was eating a lot of sugary products like chocolates, biscuits, cakes, also due to my work routine, I was going home exhausted and didn't want to cook healthy food, so pizza or popcorn was my dinner sometimes."
Simone felt that her body was changing and that her health started to ask for help. In 2018, she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a condition that she didn't accept! As she doesn't want to take medicine for the rest of her life. At that moment, Simone knew that she needed to change her lifestyle.
"After this moment of realisation, I began taking care of myself again."
Simone started making better food choices, cooking every weekend healthy food for the week. She stopped eating sugary products and added sugar in coffees. Simone also went back to exercising regularly.
"I was doing a gym workout Monday to Monday, also cycling around Galway every day."
Simone started taking courses on health & nutrition, and she got a passion for this area. In 2019 she completed a Nutrition and Health Coaching course with IINH (Irish Institute of Nutrition and Health).
"I learned how to create balanced diets using available food sources. I learned how one could use food to boost energy levels and bodily function."
She learned how to create lasting exercise routines that boost sleep patterns. Combining long-term health choices and well-being. Helping others figure out what works too.
"Taking care of myself was the most important gift I could have given to myself because after I did this, every other area of my life became more positive too. Now, I want to share the experience of this same gift."
Tell us about your current role and what you like about your career/role or areas of focus.
I'm a Nutrition and Health Coach passionate about helping people improve their lifestyle, changing their eating habits, exercise strategies and mindset.
What inspires you, motivates you, helps you to make each day count?
The opportunity to wake up every day and make this another wonderful day of my life.
Spreading my smile around and making other people happy!
Outside of your professional work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I love nature, so outdoor activities like cycling, walking in the forest, swimming in the sea or river, all these connections with nature brings me a sense of tranquillity.
I'm really interested in holistic therapies. I really like to learn techniques to connect with myself and to connect with the universe's energy. I think all of us have this energy. We just need to learn and use it.
Family is something really important for me. However, when you live abroad, it is hard to be around your family all the time. So then you build your own family, which is the friends you make along the way.
When it comes to your life chosen career, is there a phrase, quote or saying that you really like?
"The mind that opens up to a new idea never returns to its original size." - Albert Einstein
This quote from Albert is very important to me. I totally believe that when we are open to learning something different and applying changes in our life, nothing will return as it was before.
What are you most proud of in your life?
I'm proud of this new Simone I became. If I look back 4 years ago living in Brazil, I was totally stressed and didn't care too much about myself.
All of this changed in 2018 after being diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, a condition that I didn't accept, and it made me change my lifestyle.
I started introducing new routines like mindfulness techniques, eating habits, exercise routine, improving sleep, and focusing on my studies.
I'm so proud of this new me!
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Again, if I look back at my life four years ago, leaving my own country, the comfort of my house, my family, my friends, moving to another country alone, speaking another language.
Things weren't easy. It is necessary to be open-minded and learn to deal with things that you never imagined going through. It is necessary to be strong and put yourself first-ever, doing what you believe is right for you.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles?
I'm following and get inspired by a lot of professionals out there. If I list everyone here, I wouldn't have enough space.
Nowadays, social media tells us a lot of lies, especially in the health sector. So, I am always following honest people who use their own experience to help and motivate people.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I like to follow companies that care about people's health and the environment.
I follow a company called Olam, a global agriculture company that is recreating new agriculture methods worldwide.
I also think that many small local businesses are doing great work when we think about farming methods, sustainability, unprocessed and healthy food.
There are lots of great opportunities in the market nowadays to help people keep healthy.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
The best advice I have ever learned was from my manager. He always said to me: "listen more". In Ireland, I really learned to listen more to what people have to say and just go silent.
Nowadays, I'm using this advice again in my career. It is my time to listen to everything my clients have to say and then give them my advice. Can you recognise every feedback in your life and use it at some point?
What drives or motivates you each day in a work environment?
The opportunity to help someone, make someone's health better, and see this person happy.
I love to make people smile!
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
Social media can be such a fun and entertaining way to communicate, catch up, and keep in touch with family and friends; also, how business is migrating a lot to social media platforms.
What is good, I agree, is helping business grow up faster. There is lots of good content that is really helpful for everyone who wants to learn something new and free. However, it is necessary to pay attention to some contents, especially in the health area. Sometimes you can find things that are not good!
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
I'm using LinkedIn every day. Every week, I write and add content about nutrition and health, giving my audience more information about the same topics above.
I like LinkedIn because it is more professional. People will interact with you as a professional, not just another blogger.
I also use Instagram and Facebook because there are people in the health industry on all the platforms available. So I need to interact in all the ways to spread my knowledge in order to help people directly and indirectly.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever been a mentor to anyone?
Yes, I started my business with a mentor from Brazil, Ricardo Dalbosco. He is an excellent expert in his area, and the way he communicates, teaches, and motivates shows his passion for his job.
I also have another coach, my friend, Antonio Neto, who is as passionate about helping others as I. He is also teaching a lot about marketing on social media.
As a coach, I have the privilege to help other people change their lifestyle. Doing things that are right for them.
How do you network? What is your prefered way to network?
I'm using LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook to add value to everyone's life with my daily posts and articles.
I think your network will be built when you interact with people somehow, but add something to their life, even if it is a small tip about what to eat for breakfast.
I also like to talk a lot, so If I go somewhere like a course, conference, dinner, or even go on a walk, I always interact with someone.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work?
I would like to answer this question by saying to everyone that is not happy in their jobs. If you are not happy, there is no point in you keep doing what you are doing.
It would be best if you went to bed every Sunday evening wishing that the next morning you'll wake up and have a great week. If this is not happening, it is because you aren't doing the right thing for yourself!
The process to change your career scares a lot, and it will take time, but in the end, when you start to see the results, start to have that success you always wanted, you will feel happy and wake up every Monday morning with the feeling you are on the right way to make a good week.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
This answer is easy. It is my own answer sometimes!
People are afraid of someone's judgment or comparing themselves with other people, or they don't feel ready to give up something that is not right and start a new thing.
Most of the time, feeling "I'm not good enough" is in mind, and it makes a lot of people give up their own dreams.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
Nowadays, I know that success will depend on how much positive impact you can make in someone's life. As an example, I always know that my mission in the world is to help people, and I was trying to figure out how.
I needed to move to Ireland, get a health problem, become a Health Coach, and understand that what gives me pleasure to work is helping other people improve their health. And this is to be successful for me!
If you think that you want to be successful in your career, think about how you will contribute to someone's life or the world. If you just think that success is to have a big bank account or an expensive car, you won't succeed.
What skills do you feel have helped you to become successful?
I learn to be patient and leave the things to happen on the way that needs to happen.
I started to apply everything I have been learning into practice. And be prepared for the failures that can come up during the way.
Is there anything new that you are working on or involved in that you would like to share?
I'm working on my own program to help people engage with 6 steps in their life. Very soon, I'll launch this program on my website.