ABOUT KIMBERLEY RECORD
Hello! I’m Kimberley, Women’s Self-Image Coach and Author of the women’s self-empowerment book Finding Your Forever Body.
And I’m on a mission: to help women stop the pursuit of the ‘perfect’ image so they can live their most vibrant, fulfilling life—by their own standards.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
This quote—probably my favourite of all time—serves as my daily reminder. It guides me in my work, in my relationships, and in being a role-model to my daughter.
But I also admit that this ‘greatest accomplishment,’ to always be myself, has been my greatest challenge and greatest source of grief and struggle.
For the first 30 years of my life, I’d bought into external standards of what my beauty, success, and happiness ‘should’ be.
And guess what?
I never felt beautiful enough, successful enough, and definitely not happy enough. And then I wondered what the heck was wrong with me!
Have you ever felt this way too?
I imagine if you’re a woman who’s exposed everyday to media and marketing messages around (unrealistic and harmful) standards for your health, beauty, happiness and success, then you probably have.
Deeply grateful for my long and difficult journey to full self-love and -acceptance, I now get fired up to help other women build a strong foundation for their positive self-image and confidence—inside and out—and achieve life’s ‘greatest accomplishment.’
I believe that everyone deserves to—and can—have this.
All it takes is having the right tools to overcome the subconscious programming that leads us to the (oh-so-common) self-sabotaging thoughts and behaviours, so we can rewrite the script for the standards we live by.
AND create a vibrant body and fulfilling life in the process!
So, I’ve become a tool maker. 😊
I write, coach, and teach on proven methods for personal transformation (which includes all aspects of mental, emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing).
“What could you possibly know about negative body image?”
This is a question I’ve heard more than once in the years since I began speaking out on this topic.
Admittedly, it’s a fair question (the answer to which I delve into deeper in my book), so if you’re wondering this too, please allow me to share a bit of my story:
Despite doing pretty well in the ‘genetic lottery’ (thanks Mom and Dad), this didn’t stop me from hating my body and sabotaging my health for much of my life:
My emotional relationship with food and my body/self-image was a huge, distracting struggle for me from a very early age.
One might even say it’s a problem I was born with…
From the time I was just three years old (!!), I complained regularly—to my mom’s dismay—of having “fat thighs.”
This lead me to jump on the diet train quite early as well. I was 11 years old when I tried my first diet, straight out of a teen magazine.
Then I became a teen model and at 17 was rejected by a reputable agency for being overweight (at 137lbs on a 5’8 ½” frame).
Though that ended my modeling pursuit, it marked the beginning of YEARS of body-weight obsession, calorie-counting, and a relentless focus on my imperfections.
ALL areas of my life suffered, and it was only when I realized, over a decade later, that my life was on hold because I’d subscribed to someone else’s standards that things began to turn around.
It didn’t happen overnight, but by taking the very first step towards discovering my own standards, I realized that:
There’s no such thing as the perfect body; and the only way to truly love our bodies is to first love WHO we are.
My body became a secondary focus to learning about who I was, what I was passionate about, and what kind of life I wanted to create for myself.
However, each step closer I got to feeling my true self, my body did indeed transform—as nutrition, fitness and good mental, emotional and spiritual health became foundational elements for helping me move forward.
Feeling amazing in my body became a bonus side-effect of creating the life I wanted!
I learned that my body is my vehicle, not my identity
Today, I know that my body is nothing more than the vehicle that transports me through my life’s journey.
I respect it for the role it plays in helping me express who I am, but it’s not who I am.
This mindset of course requires on-going maintenance (I’m still human after all!)…
But it’s been worth the effort to develop the maintenance tools—especially now as a mom and role-model to my daughter, Eve.
I want her to grow up with the tools to:
- separate her size from her self-worth;
- nourish her body because she loves it;
- enjoy and appreciate nutritious food; and
- be confident in WHO she is, no matter what opinion anyone may express about her looks.
And I don’t just want that for her – I want that for all women, of all ages.
From that desire, has come a vision for a new definition of beauty:
(If you’d like to see this too, please give this video a thumbs up and share it!)
I’ve spent the past 15+ years helping women shift their habits and confidence from the inside-out, so that can feel vibrant, joyful, and fulfilled—in their body and life.
With my background as a Registered Holistic Nutritionist (RHN) and Certified High Performance Coach (CHPC), I support my clients in not only cultivating a positive self-image and permanent habit changes, but also in achieving a state of unconditional self-love that allows them to discover and shine their unique gifts and beauty, and make the impact they want to make.
And I’d be honoured to help you too, through my inside-out approach to cultivating vibrant health and confidence.
I look forward to connecting with you!
P.S. Some of my favourite tools in my own toolbox include:
Yoga, writing/journaling, beach walks, gratitude, smoothies, running outdoors, hot/cold water therapy, inspirational books, dedicated “play” days and movie-nights, and a firm belief in angels and miracles…and of course, there’s always room for more—which I love to share on my blog, Facebook and Instagram.
P.P.S. If you’re like me, and want to help make a difference in the self-esteem, future, and quality of life of young girls everywhere, I highly recommend checking out my favourite global campaign for this cause: Because I am a Girl
