As nutrition coaches, we have the privilege of building close relationships with our clients as we help guide them towards their goals - be those related to aesthetics or fat loss goals, performance goals, or goals of optimal health. Along the way, as we work on building a better relationship with food and our habits, we get to share parts of our stories that are relevant to our coaching styles. We’re taking time this year to share more about us, our nutrition journeys and transformations, our road to becoming nutrition coaches and educators, and the amazing clients we have the privilege of working with.

HOW I BECAME A NUTRITION COACH

I never in my wildest imagination thought I would be a nutrition coach. I started working in the fitness industry as a 17-year-old instructing Crossfit (a job I continued in various gyms around the country until 2020). I studied exercise science and nutrition in my undergraduate degree before going on to focus my graduate studies on public health nutrition education.

Still, I did all of the above with various career goals that had nothing to do with nutrition or coaching (from pursuing a medical career to then shifting to an academic path and chasing a PhD with the goal of becoming a professor). Working in fitness or nutrition never felt like a “real” job, and I never considered it a viable career choice.

Personal experience and education brought me into the nutrition coaching world in 2015. KLN started as just a “side gig” as I offered nutrition coaching to my gym clients who (thankfully) trusted me to help them work towards their aesthetic and fitness goals. A few years, a real website, and an abandoned PhD program later, and in 2017 KLN became my full-time job.

The science and psychology of our personal nutrition have always fascinated me due to the immense impact it has on so many facets of our lives.

Our relationship with food is powerful and dynamic.

Our eating habits inform how we feel physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Our knowledge of nutrition can leave us empowered as we cut through the barrage of misinformation and diet culture often shoved our way.

My experiences, studies, and research in nutrition education and behavioral health have made me a better coach, and my personal experiences and growth in my own health and nutrition have given me empathy for all those battling the overwhelm of nutrition misinformation and the restrictive cycle of the dieting world.

MY FAVORITE PART OF BEING A NUTRITION COACH

Is it too cliché to say I like every part of being a nutrition coach? Possibly, but it’s also true. I love meeting individuals from all backgrounds, histories, and places with goals as different as they are.

I love helping my clients pursue amazing, sustainable physical changes, but often get more fired up at the progress seen in their relationship with food, their ability to live life in the gray area between being All In or All Out, and in their confidence to approach scenarios like vacations, holidays, and meals out with friends without feeling like they have to give up on their goals.

If I had to choose one favorite part, it is seeing clients become empowered as they gain knowledge of general principles of nutrition as well as their personal nutritional needs. Watching them become empowered and educated consumers (of both products and information) is invaluable because I know that it is a skill they will keep with them throughout their lives.

MY OWN PERSONAL NUTRITION JOURNEY

Despite my involvement in fitness, I struggled for years to figure out my own nutrition. I was a vegetarian for 10 years and also experimented with Paleo, Whole 30, Keto, and just about every other fad diet you can think of, but struggled to feel like my hard work in the gym was paying off. I ran, lifted weights, and ate “clean,” but was so frustrated with the lack of change I was seeing no matter how strict I was with myself. I felt like more was better, so added diet after diet on top of weeks of over-exercising and under-eating.

I was eating very little during the week as I tried to fuel intense workouts with meals made of kale, almonds, and lettuce-wrapped veggie burgers. By the end of the week, I was left miserably sore and too tired to make it to the gym. When the weekend came around I found myself binging on cookies and peanut butter because I was starving and the willpower I was relying on during the week was gone.

I was a poor, 20-year-old college student in 2014 when I became fed up with this frustrating cycle and finally took the leap of working with a coach. It was $50 — an entire week’s grocery budget for me at the time — but to say the experience was life-changing is an understatement. It not only brought awareness to my own inefficient and ill-informed eating habits but also gave me better awareness and understanding of how to navigate my nutrition through different phases of life. Since then, tracking my macros has become a temporary and occasional tool that I am able to lean on when working towards specific goals or just looking for more alignment in my nutrition.

While I am always learning and growing, that tumultuous relationship with food and my body is behind me. In the past 7+ years, fueling my body well has helped me get through graduate school, building a business, ultramarathons and CrossFit competitions, mountaineering expeditions and world travel, an international move, pregnancy, postpartum, and more.

MEET MY CLIENT: RICHARD douglas jones

Over the last (almost) 8 years, I’ve been able to support clients through so many remarkable transformations -- some physical, some mental, most a mixture of the two.

One client that has always stuck with me, and who I’ve had the pleasure of keeping in touch with, is Richard. I first met Richard in person at a Crossfit gym I was coaching at in Memphis. He was just beginning to prioritize his health and, a little over a year into his introduction to fitness, he decided to tackle his eating habits as well. He struggled with some health issues and was overwhelmed with family and work responsibilities.

Together we were able to address his nutrition not through big dramatic changes, but through small and steady shifts in habits. We focused on bringing more intention to food choices, whether he was at home or traveling for work. We ensured he was eating enough to fuel his workouts, rather than skipping meals throughout the day and showing up at the gym feeling like crap. And we ensured that every habit we introduced could be practiced long-term. Across 6 months of working together, we didn’t see a significant change in weight but saw incredible changes in body composition, energy levels, performance, and health markers. Now he continues to practice these supportive habits as he navigates his fitness goals, family responsibilities, and his work and travel as a stand up comedian!

Some words from Richard himself:

When I first approached the KLN team, I’d been doing Crossfit for about a year and a half. I hadn’t seen any real progress in my workouts and my body was a mess. I consumed way too much sugar and I was taking a handful of pills everyday because I had diabetes and hypertension. There was a legitimate disconnection between what I was eating and how it affected my health. I knew what I wanted: no more pills! and to look good naked! But I had no clue, no real clue on how to get there.

Working with Kate has completely changed the way I look at food. The guilt associated with eating “bad stuff” is totally gone and I’ve learned to be kinder to myself. I went into this expecting strict meal plans not realizing Kate was getting me ready for life. My body is much leaner, more toned, my workout energy is the highest it’s ever been, and I’m (TMI) as virile as a 20-year-old.

I cannot think of a part of my life that hasn’t been affected by my time with Kate. I am no longer diabetic, I’m well on my way to the body of my dreams, and while I still struggle, my workouts are much more productive. To put it simply, Kate saved my life and I am forever grateful.

We are committed coaches who work with committed clients and love nothing more than helping our clients find a sustainable approach to nutrition that allows them to work towards their goals without white-knuckling their way through yo-yo diets. Learn more about our KLN team here!

FROM A NUTRITION COACH: KATE LYMAN