meet the coachesKimberly Zehnder
Nutrition coachkimberly zehnder
I am a certified Nutrition Therapy Practitioner, eating disorder survivor, and former D1 athlete guiding clients away from restrictive past eating habits and toward food freedom with a body built on trust and respect.
Experience: +7 yrs
Helping clients build food freedom, confidence, and resilience through a flexible, real-life approach to nutrition
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, 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.
sound like you?i love working with…
Anyone who feels stuck in cycles of food rules, guilt, or dieting and want to rebuild trust with food through education and mindset work
Individuals who train, compete, or focus on staying active and want nutrition support that enhances performance and confidence
Those managing health conditions or hormonal transitions (including menopause) and want sustainable, evidence-based guidance
Credentials & 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
My 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 toolbox jam-packed full of skills to fend off disordered eating and "clean" food myths all while having FUN with food and enjoying food freedom.
let's get personal...Get to know ME
non-guilty pleasureA bacon burger with sweet potatoes fries and a Reese’s blizzard
walk out songI Did Something Bad by Taylor Swift (Swiftie over here!)
Fun FactI qualified for The Voice in 2014 singing an acapella version of Adam Lambert's "Whataya Want From Me" (woohoo, team Blake!)
my own nutrition journey
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.
“My mindset and my relationship with food have completely transformed – my body just came along for the ride.
Like most of us, I had tried everything - diets, fasting, non-diet diets, seeing a registered dietitian – you name it, I tried it. I also had a history with eating disorders, so I wanted someone who understood my situation and could help me carefully navigate my relationship with food.
Not only did Kim help me achieve the fittest version of myself, but she helped me change my mindset around food, stress, self care, and so much more than just nutrition. Kim feels like a long-time trusted friend and mentor. If you’re looking for the last nutrition coach you’ll ever need, you just found her!”
Amber, 43
"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.
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.
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 after a tough time in life, she helped me form new relationships, mindsets, beliefs, and habits with myself, with nutrition, and with life in general!”
Zoe, 23
