Interview with Health Coach in Training Kylie Cimaglia

I'm lucky to call Kylie a friend. I've watched her grow into a confident, healthy and persistent woman and I'm so proud of her. She's also in her health coaching journey, and she's going to change lives. Read on to learn more about her. You can follow her on Instagram at @avokylie and her website at www.avokylie.com.

My froomate (friend and former roommate) and health coach in training, Kylie Cimaglia

How did you get started with being an expert in your field?

My quest to be a health coach began with my own personal journey. I went from counting calories and restriction and an eating disorder to learning what it takes to live a healthy life. I incorporated more whole foods and found a way of exercising I actually enjoyed. The better I felt, the more I craved learning and the more I wanted to help others.

As a writer, I started with a passion and explored it. I loved writing as a child and into my teens and wrote every chance I got. I wrote for me, not to impress anyone else.

Do you feel like an expert? Why or why not?

I’m far from being an expert in health and wellness. I’m just at the very beginning of my health coach training and only have personal experience to go on. I’m pretty well-versed in copywriting (my day job that also pairs nicely with my side hustle) but I think there’s always something to learn so I don’t know if I’d consider myself as an expert yet. I think personal experience plays a big role in the learning process. It’s one thing to hear someone talk about a concept or read about it, but it’s another thing to put these concepts into practice. The more we do so, the more we learn and grow.

Why is it important to you to live a healthy lifestyle?

It’s important to me to live a healthy lifestyle because I know that I feel more myself when I eat whole, clean foods. Energy, clear skin, happiness—these are all wonderful side effects of a healthy lifestyle. I know that after feeling the way that I do, living this way, I could never go back. I want a long happy life with my husband-to-be and our future children and a healthy lifestyle is going to get me there.

What advice would you give someone who wants to be healthy but doesn’t know where to start?

Pick one healthy habit you want to begin to implement and start there. Whether it’s drinking more water every day or walking on your lunch break, pick something and then stick with it. It doesn’t have to be challenging or complicated either. Once you have this new habit down, pick another and keep going.

Has being engaged/ having an upcoming wedding affected your health journey? Why/why not?

Yes. I fell into the trap of feeling like I needed to “shed for the wedding.” I went through a stressful time and wasn’t feeling my best because I wasn’t taking care of myself in the best way. I turned to cleanses and programs to try and help me look good for the wedding and events leading up to it. I ultimately realized, about two months before the event, I really just needed to get back to basics and that being healthy (not thinner or “wedding-ready”) would make me feel my best on my wedding day.

You are attending IIN to be a health coach. When in your personal health journey did you realize that you wanted to become a coach?

I first heard of IIN about two years ago but the time never felt right and I was also terrified of failure. It kept creeping back into my Instagram feed over the next two years. I’d been living a healthy, clean life for about two years at that point and knew I still had a lot to learn about health.

A few months ago, my fiancé and I sat down to have a talk about what we really wanted out of life. I realized that health and wellness is my passion and I wanted to pursue a career in that. With my fiancé’s support and encouragement, I signed up for IIN. I’m still terrified but I’m more excited than anything!

When did your love of avocados start? What’s your favorite way to eat them?

My love of avocados began when I realized that healthy fats kept me full and satiated. I stopped fearing them and embraced them. Avocados make the perfect addition to almost every dish but my favorite is smushed on a piece of Ezekiel toast, topped with a fried egg, a squeeze of lemon, and Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning.

What’s the best/worst advice you’ve ever gotten? (either related to your specialty or not)

Best advice: “Start before you’re ready.” This came from Angie Lee’s podcast. I most certainly wasn’t ready but I’m in it and I’m making it happen.

I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten bad advice. I think I’ve learned something from all the advice I’ve been given. I’ve had to determine if some advice was right for me or applicable to my life. Sometimes it wasn’t but not necessarily bad advice, it just wasn’t for me.

Please write a short paragraph to yourself 10 years in the past or future

Dear Nineteen-year-old Kylie,

In the next ten years, you are going to grow so much. Though you may struggle with body image now, you're going to discover the power of a healthy lifestyle and I promise, you’ll feel better now than you did ten years ago. This healthy lifestyle comes with a love of cooking and baking. You’ll have fun rocking out to eighties music while you experiment in the kitchen. You will also meet the love of your life. You have to wait a bit but you meet a man who looks at you with love in his eyes and actually loves all of your quirks. You’ll change your career once and hop jobs a bit but you’ll find the place where you belong. I promise.

Just know you have to make all of these mistakes so that you can get here. It won’t be easy but I promise it will be worth it.

Love,

Twenty-nine-year-old Kylie

What was your first AIM screen name or email address?

Oh gosh, I’m not sure I remember. It might have had the name of a celebrity I had a crush on in it!