HI, I’M KATE!
MORE about me
I am the KL behind KLN and the wife to a wonderful and supportive husband who plays a big role in KLN. We met at a Crossfit gym in Utah in 2013 and now live in Oaxaca, Mexico with the mountains right outside our front door and trails aplenty. I’m Mom to our son Milo, owner of an ugly cat named William, an avid Spikeball player, a loyal Dave Matthews Band fan, and an unreasonably competitive person.
I grew up in a family focused on health and fitness, on outdoor adventures, and on working hard but playing even harder. My love of the outdoors, fitness, health, learning, and doing everything with intensity propelled me through competitive high school sports, years of working in the fitness industry, years of demanding schooling, and also an intense relationship with diet culture.
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.
Now I work alongside some of the most incredible, knowledgeable nutrition coaches in this space as we provide the best, most supportive coaching possible to every single individual we work with.
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.
For me, working out and focusing on my nutrition is about being as healthy as I can in order to live a life full of intensity and as many adventures as possible, and coaching is about helping my clients do the same.
I believe in good workout buddies and big and scary physical challenges, a daily diet coke, a 9 pm bedtime, making nutrition information more accessible, and sharing evidence-based truths with those who are also striving to live a well-fueled life full of adventure.
certifications + experience
BS in Exercise Science
Masters in Public Health, focused on health behavior change and nutrition education
Certified Health Education Specialist
Certified in Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism
Certified Menopause Coaching Specialist
CrossFit trainer since 2011: CF-L2
Completed Chrissy King's Anti-Racism for Wellness Professionals Course
MY 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 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.
The process of tracking my macros allowed me to see beyond popular nutrition fads and fuel my body with what I needed to both look better and feel better and has set me up with long-term habits that allow me to navigate nutrition regardless of what life throws my way.
WHAT MY CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT ME
get to know me
ROLE
Owner and nutrition coach, outdoor explorer, & avid spikeballer
BORING CREDENTIALS
B.S. in Exercise Science; Masters in Public Health; CHES; CFL1
GO-TO DRINK
Diet Dr. Pepper (with fresh lime if I'm feeling fancy)
NON-GUILTY PLEASURE
Pink frosting sugar cookies with sprinkles
WALK OUT SONG
Semi Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind (this has been my pump up jam since age 10)
FUN FACT
I love my teeth. I have an obsessive need to floss my teeth every time I get in my car & I can't sleep without my retainers in.
COACHING SUPERPOWER
I'm a great coach, but an even better teammate. I meet my clients where they're at & together we work through old habits, limiting beliefs, and the restrictive diet rules they've believed for far too long. Nothing is more fulfilling than showing clients that working towards their goals doesn't mandate misery or restriction.
on instagram: @klnutrition