Behavioral Wellness

Behavioral Weight & Wellness Coaching in Hawaiʻi

Practical planning, accountability, and mental-health-informed support for sustainable weight management.

Knowing what you want to change is not always the hardest part. Following through can become much more difficult when stress, emotional eating, ADHD, depression, anxiety, poor sleep, low motivation, or an unpredictable schedule gets in the way.

Behavioral Weight & Wellness Coaching helps you create a realistic plan, identify barriers, build supportive routines, and adjust your approach over time. We look at both what you want to change and what may be making that change difficult.

Request a Weight & Wellness Consultation Call (808) 913-5625
In-person support in Kihei Telehealth across Hawaiʻi Practical, individualized planning
A small group practicing mindful, supportive wellness together outdoors in Hawaii

When Knowing What to Do Is Not Enough

Weight management is not simply a matter of willpower.

Mental health, stress, attention, motivation, sleep, emotions, routines, environment, work demands, caregiving responsibilities, and past experiences can all influence how easy—or difficult—it is to make and maintain changes.

You may relate to experiences such as:

  • Starting strong and then losing momentum
  • Eating in response to stress, boredom, loneliness, or exhaustion
  • Having difficulty planning, shopping, or preparing ahead
  • Struggling to maintain routines
  • Becoming discouraged after getting off track
  • Feeling as though one setback ruins the entire plan
  • Losing motivation when experiencing depression
  • Making impulsive choices when overwhelmed or distracted
  • Finding that poor sleep affects appetite, energy, or activity
  • Knowing what you want to do but having difficulty following through
  • Wanting additional support while another provider manages your medical care

These struggles do not mean that you are lazy or incapable of change. Coaching can help you understand what has been getting in the way and identify strategies that are more realistic for your life.

Coaching That Helps You Build a Workable Plan

This service is active and practical.

Rather than only discussing what has been difficult, we work together to decide what you want to change, identify an achievable starting point, and create specific steps you can put into practice.

Your coaching plan may involve:

  • Clarifying your priorities
  • Choosing realistic goals
  • Breaking large goals into manageable actions
  • Creating routines around meals, shopping, preparation, movement, sleep, or self-care
  • Planning for busy or unpredictable days
  • Identifying emotional and environmental triggers
  • Reviewing what worked and what did not
  • Problem-solving barriers
  • Adjusting expectations and strategies
  • Developing accountability
  • Preparing for setbacks
  • Building skills you can continue using independently

The goal is not to follow a perfect plan. The goal is to create a plan that is practical enough to use in real life.

Mental Health and Weight Management

Emotional and Stress-Related Eating

Food may sometimes become a way to manage stress, sadness, anxiety, boredom, frustration, loneliness, or exhaustion.

Coaching can help you identify triggers, understand the pattern, and develop additional ways to respond—without relying on shame or rigid rules.

ADHD and Executive Functioning

ADHD may affect planning, organization, time awareness, impulse control, task initiation, grocery shopping, preparation, and consistent follow-through.

We can work on simpler systems, visual reminders, realistic routines, environmental changes, and practical strategies designed to reduce the amount of executive functioning required.

Depression and Low Motivation

Depression may affect energy, appetite, sleep, activity, self-care, confidence, and the ability to start everyday tasks.

Your plan may focus on small, achievable steps, rebuilding routines gradually, and reducing expectations that make it harder to begin.

Anxiety and All-or-Nothing Thinking

Perfectionism can turn one difficult day into a reason to abandon an entire plan.

Coaching can help you recognize rigid expectations, develop more flexible thinking, and learn how to continue—or restart—without treating a setback as failure.

Sleep, Stress, and Daily Life

Poor sleep, chronic stress, irregular work hours, family responsibilities, and limited time can affect eating, energy, movement, and consistency.

Your plan should account for your actual life rather than assuming that you have unlimited time, energy, or resources.

How the Coaching Process Works

1

Understand Your Current Situation

We begin by discussing your goals, routines, previous experiences, current challenges, mental-health factors, and what you have already tried.

2

Choose a Realistic Starting Point

Together, we identify the area that is most useful and manageable to address first. You will not be expected to change everything at once.

3

Create a Specific Action Plan

We turn broad goals into clear, practical next steps that fit your schedule, needs, and readiness for change.

4

Review What Happened

During follow-up appointments, we review what worked, what became difficult, and what you learned. The purpose is not to judge whether you were “good” or “bad.” It is to gather information that helps us improve the plan.

5

Adjust and Build Over Time

We make changes, solve problems, prepare for future barriers, and gradually build skills and routines that are easier to maintain.

What Progress May Look Like

Progress is not limited to the number on a scale.

Depending on your goals, progress may include:

  • Greater consistency
  • Less emotional or impulsive eating
  • Improved awareness of triggers
  • More effective coping strategies
  • Better planning and follow-through
  • Improved sleep routines
  • Increased confidence
  • Less all-or-nothing thinking
  • Returning to your plan more quickly after a setback
  • Greater trust in your ability to make decisions
  • Healthier and more sustainable daily patterns

A particular amount or rate of weight loss is never guaranteed.

What This Service Includes

Behavioral Weight & Wellness Coaching may include:

  • Collaborative goal setting
  • Practical action planning
  • Accountability and follow-up
  • Identifying behavioral and emotional patterns
  • Emotional-eating support
  • ADHD and executive-functioning strategies
  • Motivation and problem-solving
  • Stress and coping strategies
  • General healthy-habit education
  • Routine development
  • Setback and maintenance planning
  • Coordination or referral when additional care is needed

Coaching That Works Alongside Your Existing Care

Behavioral Weight & Wellness Coaching can be used on its own or alongside care you receive from a primary care provider, specialist, dietitian, therapist, or medical weight-management provider.

While other members of your healthcare team may address medications, medical conditions, or individualized nutrition needs, our focus is on the parts of change that happen in everyday life—planning, routines, motivation, emotional eating, stress, follow-through, and adjusting when things do not go as expected.

Hale Ola Wellness Center does not prescribe or manage weight-loss medication through this service and does not replace medical or nutritional care.

When appropriate and with your authorization, we may coordinate with other members of your healthcare team so your support is aligned.

A prescription, recommendation, or treatment plan does not automatically make daily change easy. Coaching helps you turn health goals into routines you can use between appointments and in everyday life.

Who May Benefit

Behavioral Weight & Wellness Coaching may be helpful if you:

  • Want a practical plan rather than general advice
  • Have difficulty maintaining healthy routines
  • Experience emotional or stress-related eating
  • Struggle with consistency, motivation, or follow-through
  • Have ADHD-related planning or impulse-control difficulties
  • Notice that anxiety or depression affects health-related behaviors
  • Become stuck in cycles of perfectionism and giving up
  • Want support restarting after setbacks
  • Want behavioral support while another provider manages medical treatment
  • Prefer a supportive, individualized, and nonjudgmental approach

This service may not be the right starting point if you need urgent medical evaluation, medical stabilization, intensive psychotherapy, medical nutrition therapy, or specialized eating-disorder treatment.

In-Person Care in Kihei and Telehealth Across Hawaiʻi

In-Person in Kihei

In-person appointments are available at our Kihei office.

Telehealth Across Hawaiʻi

Secure telehealth appointments may also be available to eligible clients located throughout Hawaiʻi. Availability depends on provider scheduling, the nature of the service, and whether telehealth is appropriate for your needs.

Learn more about telehealth appointments →

Meet Your Provider

Krystina Smith-Claros, MSN, APRN-Rx, PMHNP-BC

Krystina Smith-Claros, MSN, APRN-Rx, PMHNP-BC

Board-Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner

Provided by a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner using a practical, behavior-focused and mental-health-informed coaching approach. Krystina is a psychiatric mental health provider at Hale Ola Wellness Center. The coaching approach combines practical behavior-change strategies with an understanding of how mental health, executive functioning, emotions, stress, sleep, and daily routines can affect weight-related goals.

Meet the Provider

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this therapy?
This is primarily a coaching-focused service. Appointments emphasize planning, goals, routines, accountability, problem-solving, and behavior change. Mental-health factors may be discussed when they affect your progress. If you need more intensive psychotherapy or treatment of a mental-health condition, a therapy or psychiatric service may be recommended.
Will you give me a meal plan?
This service does not provide individualized therapeutic meal plans or medical nutrition therapy. We may work on general routines and behaviors involving planning, shopping, preparation, consistency, and healthy habits. A registered dietitian may be recommended when individualized nutrition treatment is needed.
Is this the same as seeing a dietitian?
No. Behavioral coaching focuses on planning, motivation, routines, accountability, coping, and behavior change. A registered or licensed dietitian provides specialized nutrition assessment and may provide medical nutrition therapy.
Can coaching help with emotional eating?
Coaching can help you identify triggers, understand patterns, develop additional coping strategies, and reduce all-or-nothing responses. Some emotional-eating concerns may require psychotherapy or specialized eating-disorder treatment. We will discuss referrals when another service would be more appropriate.
Can ADHD make weight management more difficult?
ADHD can affect planning, organization, impulse control, time awareness, task initiation, working memory, and consistency. Coaching can help you develop practical systems that reduce those barriers.
Will I have to weigh myself?
Routine weigh-ins are not automatically required. Whether weight is discussed or tracked depends on your goals, preferences, and the nature of the service. The focus is broader than a number on the scale.
Is weight loss guaranteed?
No. Individual results vary, and no particular amount or rate of weight loss can be promised. The service focuses on behaviors, routines, coping, planning, and sustainable change.
Is this eating-disorder treatment?
No, unless the clinic separately identifies an appropriately qualified provider and service for that purpose. If your symptoms suggest an eating disorder or require specialized support, we may recommend an eating-disorder-informed clinician, registered dietitian, medical provider, or multidisciplinary treatment team.
Is telehealth available?
Telehealth may be available to eligible clients located in Hawaiʻi. In-person appointments are available at our Kihei office.
Does insurance cover this service?
Coverage depends on the service provided, your plan, clinical circumstances, and the clinic’s current billing arrangements. Contact our office before scheduling to learn about current payment options. Insurance coverage cannot be guaranteed.

Create a Plan That Works With Your Life

You do not need to have the perfect plan or feel completely motivated before asking for support. We can help you identify what has been getting in the way, choose a realistic starting point, and build a plan designed for your needs and daily life.

Request a Weight & Wellness Consultation

Or call (808) 913-5625

Practical coaching. Mental-health-informed support.