Katie Jillson

Hello and welcome to my health coach page!  I am happy to meet you on this journey we call life, a path where the terrain is always changing. It forms who we are and as our journey changes, so do we.  A major part of this journey is our health, and it too can have both high and low points.  With this said, we only have one body, and the body is an amazing thing: it has the ability to tell us what it needs very clearly. But sometimes because of external environments, experiences, relationships, and careers, it is sometimes hard to hear what the body is saying.  In your work with me, I will help you to hear the messages your body is telling you.  We will examine life holistically through the five main pillars that contribute to your health: nutrition, exercise, career, spirituality and relationships.

I am a graduate of the Integrative Institute of Nutrition, where I studied hundreds of dietary theories from all over the world. As a health coach, I will examine your nutrition and show you how to eat in a way that will increase your energy, help with sugar cravings, help you lose weight, and help you to feel your best and live the life you were meant to live!

My Journey

I grew up on a small vegetable farm in central Maine owned by my family.   The youngest of four children, I spent many days in my childhood tagging along side my Dad and Mom picking strawberries and helping with farm chores.   My family worked long hours and though we had every vegetable known at our finger tips, sometimes my parents were so tired and stressed from managing a farm that ordering a pizza or going to the local fast food joint was easier than making a meal at home.  From an early age, I was exposed to the addictive junk food cycle, and this led me to spending my childhood and teen years in an obese body.   It was a challenging young life.  Feeling trapped in my body, I was unhappy and sad.  The one thing that made me stand out was my singing voice.   I was always a musical child, starting on the piano and age 5 and later singing in junior high and in high school, and singing saved me from bullying and depression.  And so after I graduated from high school, I decided to study voice at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.  Moving from my small town in Maine to an urban city and perusing my passion was an amazing opportunity! It not only gave me the musical education and experience that I longed for, it also eventually provided me with the information that my body was telling me: it was time to change my lifestyle. 

Shortly after school was done, I began to change my lifestyle.  I changed my eating patterns, and I began to walk.  I started this journey at a weight of 347 lbs and worked my way to 159 lbs. I worked really hard.  I started working out at a gym and eventually began running and ran a series of 5k, 10 mile and half marathon races. I was living a life in a body I never thought was possible.  I was glad that I did it, but my success was bitter sweet.  Through my weight loss journey, I had gone to the other side of things.  I was now obsessed with maintaining and losing more weight.  I obsessively exercised and counted everything I put in my mouth.  Once again, I felt isolated in my body. I sought professional help, and I finally got myself to a healthier, more manageable weight.  I later went to work at Whole Foods Market where I was exposed to some of the best food in the world.  Here I rebuilt my relationship with food on a whole new level.  I got to see all the amazing foods that the world had to offer.  I began to see how all types of people enjoyed food on many levels, and that food was good and it nourished us.  I realized that the statement “you are what you eat” was true.  The folks that ate whole nutritious food were happy and full of energy.  The ritual of making a meal with friends and family was a beautiful event and putting our love into the food only made it taste better.  I began to transform my vision completely of food and at the same time listen to my body and recognize what my body was wanting for nourishment. I also began to realize that sometimes, my body needed nourishment in other forms.   If I felt stressed, it wasn’t a call to eat something, but perhaps go for a walk, call a friend, meditate.  My usual relationship with food was beginning to change.  And thus my journey was ever changing.

Today I continue to sing and to learn and to help others develop a healthy relationship with food, along with a sense of well-being. There is nothing I enjoy more than empowering others – including myself – to lead a fulfilling, healthy lifestyle!