Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Castle.
Kimberly, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My love for fitness started at a very young age, I played every possible sport I could. As I got into working in the corporate world, I found I didn’t have the time that I used to and I was traveling and eating out entertaining all the time. I was overweight and really unhappy so I entered a fitness competition as a way to motivate myself to get back into the gym. I lost over 40 pounds and was featured on the cover of a major fitness magazine, however, I was still so unhappy. Up until that point, I kept thinking if I was only thin and pretty, my life would be amazing and I would be happy and the reality was that just wasn’t the case. Happiness is an inside job and really once the focus is shifted from how we look, it is amazing the life that we can create.
I now work with women all over the world through my Unstoppable program teaching them to live their best life and enjoy all the amazing things that life has for them now… once we do, that is when we really start to drop the weight. We have to address the thinking around our bodies, if we don’t, we really won’t be able to sustain the changes long term.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Definitely not been a smooth road. It is a lot of work to change how we think and also to change our bodies. If it were easy, everyone would do it. At the time, when my fitness career was really taking off, I was going through a divorce which rocked my world and my confidence. I was really struggling with my body image and trying to stay thin and be a certain weight and it meant that I was in the gym for hours per day and hardly eating anything to the point where I struggled with an eating disorder for quite some time. It’s important to know that it was all about control. I had no control over what was happening in my personal life and the only place I felt I did was with my body and how I looked and how I ate.
I knew that I needed to change my thinking in order to get better. I kept thinking if I was thinner, prettier, etc., maybe my marriage wouldn’t be failing.
So, my advice is your worth is not defined by how you look. You are worthy and lovable just as you are. You do not need to change who you are to please anyone else. It’s when you really come into who you really are that amazing things in your life start to happen.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
My day job is that I am a Vice President at a major insurance company where I am the head of technology but where I really shine is in my work I am doing with women and body image.
The Unstoppable program is a focus on redefining and rewriting the ideals of what beauty really is. It is about encouraging women to be more accepting of who they are, through positive language, prioritizing health before looks. It is a 6-week program for women who feel stuck in a body and a life that they may hate. Each week, we learn to upgrade a new area of our life – morning routine, environment, eating habits, magazines, and TV that we choose to watch.
With each positive upgrade that we make, what we find happening is that the urge to overeat begins to disappear, and as our life begins to feel better our bodies begin to look and feel better too! What is incredible is all the time that we have to do amazing things in the world when we stop obsessing about how we look.
Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
I think it is our own mindset. Thinking or believe that we are not worthy or that we can’t be the one to be in the spotlight.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joinunstoppable.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimberly.castle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kimberlycastle
Image Credit:
Sarah Lyons, PictureGroove
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
