Oh, hello there! I’m Kim.
I am glad you stopped by. I feel like I know you already. You are kind, intelligent, committed and an amazing friend, loving human to everyone in your life. You are excellent at your job, you write your friends birthday cards to send in the mail, you try eat enough green veggies and work out at least 4 times a week and not watch too much TV. You also get overwhelmed. You try to be good at everything all the time. You usually ARE and you always do the right thing. It is a lot. You get tired.
You feel like you have to be perfect all the time. A lot is black and white thinking submerged in perfection. You know this, you see it, but you LIKE being the good one. If you don’t do it, you feel like you messed up, are bad and a failure. And then you are hard on yourself for BEING hard on yourself! What a cycle. There IS a middle ground and you don't have to be any less you. It just means you don't put as much pressure on yourself and everything feels EASIER.
I spent a long long time from a young age feeling like I needed to be thin to be good. I decided I needed to weight 125 - 135 pounds because according to the BMI scale that was what I was "supposed" to be. I labeled foods as good and bad. If I ate too much pasta it was bad and I was bad. If I ate salad or steamed broccoli with plain chicken, it was good and I was good. There was no middle ground. 15 + years of thinking this way never helped or solved a problem. I was stuck in that place. It left me feeling amazing on days I only ate “good” food and depressed on days I ate pizza at 2am with friends or started snacking on cookies at 9PM because I was tired and lonely. I was stuck in shame and judgement of myself and ALL my actions.
It wasn’t just food though. It was with my job, relationships and pretty much everything I was doing in my life. I had shit jobs (well dream jobs that turned into jobs I hated), relationships that sucked, friends I didn’t know why I was friends with and a lot of travel pins on my pinterest board of places I wanted to travel to, but never went because of time/money/no one to go with and a heaping lack of confidence and trust in myself. I didn't think I was good enough or worthy.
What changed?
I started walking and then running. I learned what I felt like to be connected to my body and enjoy movement.
I took solo travel trips (Germany, Italy, Turkey) and learned to believe in myself.
I stopped thinking the things I wanted were only for other people. I was good enough.
I started to ask myself WHY NOT ME. That question focused me, pushed me and helped me question all the things I used to tell myself.
I started doing all the things on my list of things I "couldn't" do. One small step (but sometimes big leap) at a time.
I learned that extremes never work
They did not work with what I ate or with my life. I learned how to pay attention to what feels good for me. Sometimes I do eat cake for breakfast. Sometimes I eat eggs and spinach. I don't set rules for myself that make me feel bad or guilty. I move my body because it makes me feel strong and connected and calm and clears my mind. I do what feels good - not what other people say I should do or what burns the most calories in the shortest amount of time.
What you get when you work with me are not quick fixes, BS or long lists of expensive ingredients you have never heard of and will stop using after 4 weeks. I care deeply about this work because I know we live in a world where we are we constantly being told how/why/what do do with food and with our lives. We apply body and beauty expectations against ourselves. These expectations cause real and lasting harm. We do not want to pass this onto future generations. You don't have to keep living your life this way.
I’ve been in your shoes. I know you just want to talk to someone that GETS IT instead of someone telling you you need to meditate every day for 30 minutes. I have lived/studied/worked in countries around the globe and worked with people from different cultures and of all ages. What ties us all together is the same story about how we are supposed to live our lives and how we should look based on outside expectations. I've had the same conversations with 8 year old girls, young women in their late teens, 35 year olds and women in their 50s and 60s. I understand this work and I care deeply about it. I want you to stop passing mirrors and feeling bad or scrolling through your facebook/instagram feed and comparing your BODY and your LIFE with everyone else's. I'm here with you to do this work together.
How am I different?
I work with intelligent, kind, committed people who ALWAYS want to do the right thing. We apply external body and beauty expectations against ourselves. It causes real and lasting harm. This is not what we want to pass onto future generations. We do the sugar detoxes, the juice cleanses, we take yoga because we are "supposed to." We do the right thing, the good thing. There is more to wellness than the singular image of a white woman with perfect abs that buys all organic food. I don’t advocate for any one body type. I listen and do not give you a pre-packaged book and tell you YOU CAN DO IT! (I know you can!!!, but you need more than a cheer. This work is hard and I'm going to support, skill build, hold you accountable and build new muscles around you want for your life.
Professional bits you probably don't care about, but I will share anyway:
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from George Washington University in Washington DC, USA
I have a Masters degree in Public Relations from London College of Communication in London, UK
I am a Certified Body Trust Provider (CBTP) with the Center for Body Trust in Portland. Oregon
I am a Certified Holistic Health Coach from the Institute of integrative Nutrition in New York, USA
I have worked with Weight Watchers (this is how I know the big companies don't really care), Girls Incorporated, and Girls on the Run and Girl Scouts, U.N. Women, SISU Girls.
I am member of the Body Positive Fitness Alliance (BPFA) and Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH)
I have experience working in the United States, United Kingdom, China, and Singapore and have worked with people all over the world. I know you don't need another person giving you another diet plan or cleanse marketed as something else that is actually just another diet. I am sharing this so you know that people around the world struggle with similar issues. None of us are alone.