MORE about me
I am a survivor of anorexia, depression, and anxiety; a former Division 1 swimmer; an advocate for freedom from food; an avid Reese’s connoisseur; and a lover of various forms of physical activity.
I grew up playing every sport under the sun: tap, jazz, ballet, gymnastics, tennis, field hockey, soccer, diving, and competitive swimming. I spent my childhood working out for 6-8 hours per day, eating when I could, perfecting my school studies and — if there were any leftover hours in the day — sleeping. I was a high-achieving perfectionist in academics and athletics with an extremely rocky and unhealthy support system at home. As I navigated the turmoil that was my familial relationships, I found a problematic comfort in an aggressive eating disorder (anorexia). At the peak of my eating disorder (combined with depression and anxiety), I was given 3 months to live. Residential treatment did not suit me, so I chose to put nutritional science at the forefront of my recovery plan.
I rebuilt my mindset around the function of all food from a biological perspective. I dove into the psychology and interpersonal relationships that constructed the basis of popular diets, food myths, and styles of eating. After fighting through the overgeneralized nutrition articles and fad diets I learned that, if we understand what every food does for our body and that food has no morality, it becomes easier to make objective nutrition choices that are best for us as individuals.
After recovering from my eating disorder, I hopped back in the pool and continued my journey towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, qualified as a contestant on The Voice, and starred on the premier episode of the Katie Couric show to discuss my difficult childhood and struggles with anorexia. Recovery allowed me to pursue opportunities that required food freedom. I want to empower all individuals to feel comfortable in situations surrounding all foods, have confidence in the food choices they make, and see life’s stressors as opportunities for growth and self-discovery rather than a success or fail “chopping block”.
Nutrition never leaves us. If we want to do the things we love, we have to fuel our bodies. I love to help all individuals take back the power in their nutrition choices, discover how to view stressors as learning experiences, and learn the “why” behind seemingly subconscious food preferences and decisions.
certifications + experience
Certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner
Certified Menopause Coaching Specialist (CMCS)
Precision Nutrition L1
CF-L1, Full-time crossfit trainer for 4 years
Active member of the Louisville Eating Disorder Association
Completed QPR Gatekeeper Training (Suicide Prevention Training)
Former Division 1 swimmer
Premier guest on the Katie Couric Show with Demi Lovato to discuss my eating disorder journey
MY NUTRITION JOURNEY
Despite competing in multiple high-level sports, I never once learned how to properly fuel myself for all my sports and activities.
Performance in both school and sports was demanded during my childhood. I grew up in a high-performance household that praised low fat cooking and no sweets in the house with rest as a low priority. Strict household food rules, rocky familial relationships with food, and an athletic culture that told us that leaner athletes were more successful drove me into a nearly fatal eating disorder amongst other mental health struggles.
In trying to solidify my relationship with food, I tried all of the diets and different styles of eating: cutting out food groups, going vegan, only consuming liquid calories, eating in a time-restricted window, amongst many others. Making complicated and harshly specific food rules was not improving my relationship with food, in fact, it was adding stress and unnecessary complication into my nutrition.
My body has navigated through many different shapes, sizes, diets, deficits, surpluses, templates, and coaches. I have seen firsthand how generalized nutrition can fail people and have learned through practice the importance of individualization. Because of that I now have a nutrition tool belt that is armored with nutrition and physiology knowledge allowing me to see food for what it can do for me; not what I have to do to earn it.
Nutrition means something different to every single person based on personal experiences, trauma, childhood ways of eating, familial influence on eating behaviors, our own learned knowledge in nutrition, and daily stressors. My own life experiences have culminated a profound knowledge base and desire that allows me to help others along their own nutrition journey. I want to help people relearn their bodies, reignite their passions, and reintroduce them to the power of food.
WHAT MY CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT ME
“Prior to working with Kim, I had struggled to find the core nutritional truths out there in the internet world of hyped up myths and biased opinions. I was caught in a loop of second guessing everything based on conflicting information. Kim brought the steady mentality I needed and cut through the nonsense with facts. Her coaching led me to results I had not seen before when going it alone. She guided me to a deeper understanding of nutrition but also coached me into a better headspace when it comes to food. You will be surprised at what you learn and how much you improve (both mirror and mind) when you work with her.
You can FEEL Kim’s energy. She will support you with genuine enthusiasm for your progress no matter where you are in the journey. I trust her completely with my nutrition but more importantly, she’s just a good person. You’re getting one of the best with Kim.”
“I had a distorted view of how I was and definitely wasn’t eating enough. Kimberly met me where I was at and pushed me when I needed a push. Now I know how to take rest time, keep stress levels low, when to work out, when to eat, and to eat. It’s okay to eat, nothing bad is going to happen.”
“My journey with nutrition has been unconventional. Coming from a fitness and nutrition education, job, and background made it easy to feel like I had it all figured out. Halfway through college I found myself way smaller than I had ever been before, and wasn’t sure how I got there. After many months of convincing myself I could handle it myself, I finally invested in a health coach to help me through it.
It took a long time, but with the help of Kim I finally started to gain weight back. There were so many things I had to work on that fell out of whack after spending way too much time in a body that was too small for me.”
ZOE, 23 YEARS OLD
“I always thought I didn’t need help because I had the education and experience in science and nutrition, but Kim became more than just what I thought I knew. She was another mind to guide me through such a hard and challenging time in my life, to remind me of things I needed to hear, to encourage me when it got hard, someone to lean on and turn to when I was unsure. Kim helped me realize the things that may have been holding me back in the past, and slowly showed me things I had never realized about myself.
1 year and 30 lbs later, I am the happiest I have felt in a very long time, and much of that thanks to Kim. Not only did she help me gain my weight back, she helped me form new relationships, mindsets, beliefs, and habits with myself, with nutrition, and with life in general!”
“Kim was careful to help me separate feelings and emotions from foods. She never once said “you can’t eat this” or “no more than this amount of that.” She helped me identify the reasons behind my relationships with certain foods and empowered me to take more control. I still ate pizza, candy, and dessert, but within reason and without the associated guilt and shame.
Kim helped me to realize that success with nutrition means a long term adjustment. It does not require 100% perfection in choices. It is about consistency and awareness. It’s about making lots of small, easy decisions over a long period of time rather than huge, hard decisions over a short period of time.
I had tried casually and on my own all sorts of things. Whole30, low carb, intermittent fasting, carb cycling, and on and on. Looking back, it seems crazy because Kim has made it so much simpler and more attainable. I am not perfect and don’t expect to ever be perfect. But I feel in control and capable of continuing with a reasonable nutritional plan for the long haul. Kim’s boundless positivity and enthusiasm are infectious and will rub off on you. She is one of the good ones and I consider myself so lucky to have had her guidance.
”
BRYAN, 38 YEARS OLD
KIM’S QUICK FACTS
ROLE
Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, defender against disordered eating habits, & Reese's connoisseur
BORING CREDENTIALS
B.S., Certified NTP, Certified Menopause Coaching Specialist, Precision Nutrition L1, CFL1
GO-TO DRINK
Fountain Diet Coke with lime
NON-GUILTY PLEASURE
A bacon burger with sweet potatoes fries and a Reese’s blizzard
WALK OUT SONG
I Did Something Bad by Taylor Swift (superfan over here)
FUN FACT
I qualified for The Voice in 2014 singing an acapella version of Adam Lambert's "Whataya Want From Me" (woohoo, team Blake!), but made the tough decision to pursue my D1 swimming career instead.
COACHING SUPERPOWER
I empathize with life’s stressors and utilize a positive outlook to help clients create both efficient and sustainable habits. I aim to armor clients with a nutrition toolbelt jam-packed full of skills to fend off disordered eating and "clean" food myths all while having FUN with food and enjoying food freedom.
on instagram: @kimberlyzehnder
WORK WITH KIMBERLY
