Katie is a proud Canadian with a wild case of wanderlust calling Australia home! She is a body positivity & self-love champion, a little bit obsessed with essential oils and holistic wellness and is super passionate about leaving this world better than she found it. As a women’s self-love coach, Katie leads women from being stuck in a place of self-loathing, having a loud inner critic, living an unhealthy lifestyle, and treating their bodies like they’re worthless to falling in love with all that they are so that they can care for their whole selves, and step into their next chapter feeling balanced, empowered & free!
Katie is a proud Canadian with a wild case of wanderlust calling Australia home! She is a body positivity & self-love champion, a little bit obsessed with essential oils and holistic wellness and is super passionate about leaving this world better than she found it. As a women’s self-love coach, Katie leads women from being stuck in a place of self-loathing, having a loud inner critic, living an unhealthy lifestyle, and treating their bodies like they’re worthless to falling in love with all that they are so that they can care for their whole selves, and step into their next chapter feeling balanced, empowered & free!
As a certified TCM Mastery level coach, Katie brings her professional expertise, experience, and passion to help her clients learn to embrace who they are and create a life filled with self-kindness, unconditional love, and self-compassion they never thought possible. To find out more about Katie, visit her website at www.katieallen.co
Find inspiration as we talk to Katie Allen in our #StrongHealthyWomen interview.
Hi Katie! Thank you for being part of the Health and Fitness Travel, Strong, Healthy Women Interview Series, where we are shining a light on the importance of self-care, not as an indulgence but a necessity to reduce stress and general health issues.
Is there such a thing as a typical day for you and what does that look like?
A typical day for me looks like getting up around 6:00 AM and taking my pup Archie for a walk. I am lucky to be a morning person, and when I can I like to allow my body to just wake when it’s ready! In fact, I rarely need an alarm clock and sleeping any later than 6:30 AM feels luxurious to me. After a brisk walk, I come home to have a cup of tea with my partner on the front porch and to connect before jumping into the workday! I’m lucky to have an office at home, and I try to be at my desk around 8:30 AM or so.
The first 30 minutes of my day is dedicated to mindset work. This looks like meditation, EFT, journaling, or some combination of these things! Then I typically have 1-2 client appointments in the morning, take some time to answer emails and connect on social media mid-day, and work on networking, marketing, learning, or building my program offers in the afternoon. I round out my day around 5:00 PM with another mindset check in and then like to do some at home yoga or a workout before signing off and making dinner.
Can you share a time when you felt your well-being was challenged in the past and what did you do to overcome it?
My well-being has been challenged many times in my life. One specific occurrence was at the end of 2016 when I ended up in hospital. After about a month of fevers, chills, and being told by many doctors that it was just the flu and to let it run its course, I ended up in the emergency room with severe stomach pain. I was diagnosed with liver tumors, but nobody knew what had caused them. This resulted in a 6 week hospital stay with various antibiotics, minor surgery, drains, a pic-line (an IV line that runs basically to the top of your heart) and a whole lot of stress and anxiety, I was FINALLY diagnosed with a parasite and it was easily treated with two small tablets.
The recovery time after this was long and challenging – to be honest my body is still not what it was more than three years after the fact. My digestive system was wiped clean and I had months of chronic stomach upset and inflammation. My sleep was rocky which was unusual for me. And it took a long time before I felt mentally & emotionally like myself. To overcome this, I did few things. Firstly, I took it easy on myself. Being kind & compassionate when going through a tough time is, in my opinion, the MOST important thing you can do. Breathe deep and trust that it will be okay. I also found natural alternatives that could help my body get back to a normal, balanced state. Discovering essential oils and using them to support my digestive health, my sleep, and my overall well-being was a game changer!
The last thing I did to overcome this was check in with myself and use my support system. Specifically, I meditated and journaled throughout this period. Making sure that I was opening up, getting my feelings out, and being honest with myself about where I was. And I spoke to my partner, my family and friends about my struggles daily. I am blessed to have some absolutely incredible people in my life, and I don’t know how I would have gotten through this challenging time without them!
What does ‘being healthy’ mean to you and how do you keep this at the forefront when life gets unavoidably busy?
Being healthy means a lot of things to me. It encompasses the physical, mental & emotional aspects of life. Being physically healthy is about caring for your body – getting enough sleep, choosing nourishing food, reducing your exposure to toxins and reducing stress. Being mentally healthy is caring for your mind – getting the support you need to deal with stress or overwhelm, talking about your challenges, and using your support system. And being emotionally healthy is caring for your emotional and spiritual self – learning, growing, loving who you are and checking in with yourself on a regular basis. For me this also encompasses all of your relationships and how you speak to yourself. Your inner critic, the way you see yourself, and the things you think about yourself affect your health in a profound way yet are often ignored in the health conversation.
Keeping myself healthy is a top priority for me. I literally schedule in my workouts, yoga, and my daily mindset work. I often meal prep on weekends and like to experiment with a variety of plant-based recipes! Being in the kitchen is fun for me and I often have to stop myself from making too many new, healthy recipes because it’ll go off before we have a chance to eat it all. I also decided last year to stop weighing myself. So often the conversation in society is that you can only be healthy if you are a specific weight. I completely reject that!
You are healthy when you are at a happy weight for your unique body. And often the stress and anxiety that comes from obsessively weighing yourself (as I did for years) is counter-productive and damaging to mental health. Health may seem complex, yet it can be so simple. Listen to your body and your intuition. Work on your mindset of feeling worthy of good health. Eat real food. Move your body. Care for your mind. And stay in your own lane when it comes to diets and fads. You are your own best health expert, and when you begin to believe, this keeping yourself healthy becomes fun and easy!
Have you ever taken a holiday specifically for your well-being? Can you share what the experience was like?
I have not ever taken a holiday specifically for my well-being. That being said, every holiday I have been on has benefited my well-being in some way! Taking a step back from normal daily life and focusing on fun is a beautiful chance to reflect, reset, and take care of your wellness.
Every woman’s idea of self-care is different, please tell us what does self-care mean to you?
To me, self-care is anything that feels yummy and nourishing! It looks like a LOT of different things, and honestly varies from day to day. A few items include:
• Journaling & meditation
• Taking a walk-in nature
• Making my favourite cup of tea
• Putting the phone down and having a social media break
• Getting a great night’s sleep
• Choosing foods that energize me instead of depleting me
• Looking in the mirror and smiling at what I see and really deeply feeling love for myself
• Drinking cool, clean water throughout the day
• Having a day off of everything and just vegging on the couch
• All of these items look different but FEEL the same. Like I matter. I am a priority. I am taken care of. I come first. My health & well-being are #1 on the to-do list. Self-care is a feeling, and when it’s integrated into your life on a daily basis it is a game changer!
Want to tell your story? Reach out to us via info@healthandfitnesstravel.com.au and be featured as our next strong, healthy woman.
