Hi! I’m Kim! AKA “Tall Kim”, Nice to meet you!
(“just how tall are you Kim??”)
Oh.. that! Well, I’m actually only 5’12”.. the rest is heels and attitude!
(“wait.. that’s 6ft tall isn’t it?”)
Shhhh.. we don’t say that too loudly.. I don’t want to scare anyone! We’ll just stick with 5’12” and a whole lotta attitude.. ok?
Seriously.. I say “attitude’ when its really.. inner strength.. confidence.. joy.. thankfulness.. and the recognition that we are all “in this thing together” and isn’t it cool to be able to share in the journey!?!?
The course of my life has taught me many things.. among them.. to love myself just as I am.. to accept the places in life where I veered off “the path” and celebrate the places where I figured it out and “got back on track”.. I’ve learned no one is perfect and there is no such thing as a perfect anything.. and most of all I’ve learned to embrace this crazy wonderful rollercoaster of life .. because you see… we just don’t know what is waiting, lurking, bursting with possibilities.. right around the corner of tomorrow! It’s a journey for sure.. a journey of growth, discovery, happiness, and being the best me that I can be.. And something tells me.. you are on the same kind of journey.. growing into the very best wonderful, beautiful, unique YOU that you can be!
So since you came to the tab called “about Kim”.. lets get to the basics about me, Kim!..
… I’m 52.. I have identical twin sons (now 26 years old), plus two “bonus kids” (ie my stepdaughters who are 24 and 27)… I have been married, abused, cheated on, broke, divorced, even more broke, single for 13 long years and now happily remarried to the love of my life.. who also happens to be my best friend. (and if all of that doesn’t teach some “attitude”.. I don’t know what will!)
I have also worked full time for the vast majority of my life, (before the boys were born, and then all the years that they grew up.. including the many years that they needed to be shuttled to all the soccer/football/basketball/baseball practices and scout meetings etc).. .. there were also many years.. when I worked and ran the house and raised my sons totally alone while also finishing my degree….Somehow in the middle of all of this.. I also kept up a healthy social life.. So.. in case you haven’t picked up on it.. most likely.. I have been in a similar situation to where you are.. so “we can talk” cuz I’ll understand!!! Further to that.. I know from first hand experience that yes YOU CAN DO IT! And I also know.. that finding that family/work/personal balance is even more important than eating Kale.. (and that is saying A LOT!)
As for my physical being.. I started out young and fit, until I hit age 24 and then all you know what broke loose with my metabolism and my weight soared.. I finally figured out how to loose 50 lbs and kept it off for 15 years.. when.. you guessed it.. all heck broke loose again (gotta love ageing).. and yep.. I gained most of that back.. plus I was plagued with back, knee and foot pain and all the symptoms of ageing hormones and out of whack thyroid…. so here I am talking to you today.. 30 lbs lighter, strong , mostly pain free again.. and more at peace than I’ve ever been!…. since the journey never ends.. I am continuing on it.. intentionally focusing on the health and healing of my body and regaining my strength..Much of this has been through eating changes.. I’ve learned that FOOD REALLY IS MEDICINE!!! Physical Activity has been an equally critical aspect of my healing and recovery. Figuring out how to mediate the stressors in life has been a game changer too! In addition, I’ve also figured out what my body imbalances are.. and corrected them thanks to lots of blood tests etc.. & I’ve lost most of the weight that I want to (still working on those last 10 lbs.. which is another thing I have in common with.. hmm.. EVERYONE?? )
More importantly than the weight though.. is how I FEEL… My body is strong.. it is vibrant.. it is able to do what I want to do physically.. which is a THRILLING improvement from where I was a few years ago.. BTW.. Clean eating and Finding a way to get physical activity regularly is a critical component of being healthy.. I found what I like and what works for me.. a big part of working with me will be to find out what you like and what works for you!
My mental and emotional self has grown and changed so very much too.. all in a very good way.. See.. I tapped into the 10 years that I was in pharmaceutical sales…. Have taken all that knowledge and experience with how the body works along with the deep seated passion to be a resource of support, education, encouragement and change in the health of others.. and expanded my training into becoming a Healthy Life Coach. (With that has come countless hours of learning, reading, researching, exploring plus trying it ALL out on myself)!
I am so excited for all the benefit I have gained by adding so many of these holistic (that is.. “whole being”) practices into my every day life.. It’s a beautiful blending of clean eating, regular physical activity, and family/work/personal/spiritual balance.. BTW.. As your health coach.. this is the method by which we will work toward reaching your goals.. Finding what is “out of balance” and how to balance it so that you too can become “holistically healthy”!
I can’t begin to tell you the very real and very noticeable benefit I have experienced in learning how to really (I mean REALLY) “eat clean” .. which is a hot buzz word of late.. but do you actually know what it entails? I do! I also refer to how I eat as “lifestyle eating” NOT a “diet”… (cuz its not!) while on that.. do you realize that there are over 100 different dietary theories.. all claiming to be the “right and best way”.. (Ketogenic Diet, Paleo, Auto-Immune Paleo Diet, Mediterranean diet, Intermittent Fasting to name a few..) and yet.. due to our bio-individuality.. no one method is right for everyone.. the trick is to find what works FOR YOU!!!
As for the dreaded “E” word (exercise) .. we’ll just call it physical activity ok? There are so many options.. I’m sure we can find a good fit for you! For example.. besides good long walks and bike rides… I’ve steadily expanded my normal gym workouts.. (which now include weight training, as well as spin classes and HIIT/Cross fit).. I am also LOVING Yoga.. (and I NEVER thought I would say that… but I tried it.. and I’ll be derned if it isn’t just as cool as people say it is!) ..I know of others that go to ball room dancing several times a week, take a run in the mornings or go to kick boxing classes… the list and options are endless! Lets find what you love to do so you can get active!
Now lets talk about drinking shall we? And I’m not talking about “adult beverages” either! (which sadly.. end up causing a lot more harm than they are worth.. so its worth noting that less is better..while on the subject, I have had to change my habits a lot in this area (less wine, G&T’s, margs, beer.. you get the idea..).. and you know what? I lost weight and feel better.. huh! Imagine that?! We can talk about ways to lower your alcohol intake too if you want to!)
But I digress.. When I started this journey back in September of 2015.. I was told.. (and thought “they” were nuts when I heard it) that I should drink “half my body weight in ounces” of water per day.. (HOW MUCH?!) well .. I did.. and felt so good.. I kept it up. (yes I pee a lot.. its ok..) .. and now if I go a day without 90-100 oz of water (which yes.. if you are paying attention.. used to be half my body weight…. yup!).. and now if I don’t drink that much.. I feel totally Sahara desert dehydrated, but when I do drink that much.. I feel GREAT! So… I think you can tell where I’m headed with this.. this general rule of water in-take is universal… so plan on drinking more WATER.. cuz it “does a body good”!
And then there are the other crazy things that made me question my sanity to try.. but I love the results and so now these are regulars in my world too! (meditative skin brushing, deep belly breathing, using coconut oil in my cooking, on me, in my hair and pretty much everywhere! (its nature’s magic ingredient!!) meditation, oil pulling, defusing oils into my home, and drinking apple cider vinegar to name a few!) We can talk about options to incorporate into your life.. to relieve stress, help your body to get healthy and to bring calm and peace into your world.
So then we get to the topic of spirituality.. which is a REALLY heavily loaded word, that means soooooooooooooo much to each person..Wherever your faith is.. its ok, because the truth is.. in this context.. it doesn’t have to only be religious belief. Spirituality can be where you find your peace.. your centeredness.. your strength and direction.. it can be in nature.. by the water.. in meditation.. any of countless other ways.. and yes naturally.. in church and in prayer.. the trick is to find where you are fed.. in that special place of your spiritual self.. For me.. it’s a mixture of quiet time with God in the morning, in prayer as I feel led, in study of the Word in a service or privately.. and also.. for me.. its in the garden.. its walking through a path in nature.. its spending time on or in the water.. (the clearer deep blue the water the better!).. its in quietly sitting in my backyard listening to all the birds, the wind chimes, the water features and soaking in the colors of the flowers and the kiss of the breeze on my skin.. so for this area.. think.. What is your spirituality.. How do you bring it inside of you? How do you make it a regular focus? If you aren’t able to answer that.. we can explore your spirituality further in our sessions together if you would like to.
In addition to all of the above, I have also learned a very powerful new method of understanding ourselves and each other ….In getting trained and certified as a Gallup/Clifton Strength Finder Coach… taking the assessment personally and working with clients who have also taken it (including my family – which has been FANTASTIC in learning about myself… as well as my family members..) I feel very strongly that in this information we all have a valuable tool to be able to support and communicate with each other.. (Talk about a great way to get some balance in the family, as well as being able to understand friends, co-workers.. EVERYONE!! ! Wow!) I offer strength finder coaching as a stand alone package or as part of a larger program. Together we’ll figure out how your strengths best work for you!
(OK.. PAUSE!!! BREATH!!!….) I know we have touched on ALOT so far.. “but WAIT THERE’S MORE”!!! (isn’t there always MORE to all of us than what first meets the eye?) If you have a question, just ask.. I’m an open book.. If you found a connection.. CONTACT ME & lets talk! If you are curious about what drives me? Read on in “a few of my favorite things“!