Karen Lynne Knaup

Certified Health Coach

Advanced Training in Mindset Coaching

My Story:
I joke that I came out of the womb a Weight Watcher. It seems that my mom was always watching her weight, and by the time I was in elementary school, I somehow knew (by osmosis?) that a serving of chicken was 4 oz.

As early as 7th grade, I joined in on the aerobics craze. I was on the dance team, a gymnast, and pretty muscular. I was fit but certainly wasn't "skinny" like some of the other girls. When I was a senior in high school, the dance team was my life. I was named captain of the team in my senior year. Shortly after tryouts, my coach informed me that I would need to start eating salads because she was not taking a fat captain to the state competition. My weight became a constant concern. Moving to college, I remained active. I seemed to battle the same 10 pounds and even created my own "Weight Watcher"esque tracking form I could use when the need to drop a few pounds came up.

I met my husband who was studying to be a chef. Our dating life revolved around eating at restaurants nearly every day. We married after my Junior year in college and he continued to impress his new bride (accustomed to eating salads and sandwiches out of a dorm fridge) with things like cream sauce and real butter. After 9 months (and a spring and summer in elastic-waisted shorts and oversized tank tops), I suspected I may have put on a few pounds. Knowing I'd be student teaching, I suspected my clothes might be snug, but I couldn't even get them ON! I panicked. I had a complete professional wardrobe I'd need to replace or I could pay to do "one of those diet plans." Oprah had recently lost a ton of weight on a shake-only diet plan that had a location nearby, so I bit the bullet. I only drank chocolate shakes for six months! I literally didn't CHEW for SIX MONTHS. Of course, the weight came off. My hair fell out by the handful and I was so thin I looked like death. (Ironically, I was still at least 10 pounds OVER the highest range of my WW goal weight.)

Over the next several decades, I continued to gain and lose another 35, 50, 70, 85, 100 pounds, each time gaining more than I’d lost. I finally swore off diet plans. Despite eating healthy meals, my weight continued to creep up. I bought elastic-waisted pants and lived my life. When I couldn’t climb the stairs from the basement to our second-floor bedroom without a 10-minute recovery session or even put on my socks, I knew something had to change.

When I saw Carrie on Facebook not long after my doctor noted concern about my weight continuing to creep up and signs of a fatty liver, I scheduled a call. The claim that this was the “last nutritional advice you’d ever need” was a bold one. In my decades of dieting, I’d never heard of blood sugar stabilization. It made sense, and paired with the coaching support and lifetime access, seemed like there may be a chance it was true. I jumped into the portal each morning, took it day by day, threw out the scale, and haven’t looked back. I immediately started feeling better and I focused on those victories. Eventually, my body started changing and the things I learned about mindset benefitted other areas of my life. Most importantly, I’m at peace with food.

What is your favorite nutrition tip?
When you speak your body’s love language (through blood sugar stabilization), you will achieve you optimal health.

Why are you passionate about helping others?
After being a professional dieter my whole teenage/adult life, I’ve found the answer and want to help others do the same!

What is your favorite mindset tip?
Reaching your optimal health will result in reaching your optimal weight. Focus on recognizing and celebrating your non-scale progress!

What is your favorite sustainability tip?
How you lose weight has to be how you keep it off.

Email: 
[email protected]

Instagram:
@@coachkarenlynne