Welcome to my Friday Foodie series, where I interview my favourite health and wellness stars. Each week, they share their tips for healthy living and one very special recipe.
This week I am excited to introduce Kylie Anderson who is one of the amazing and inspirational women I met through Rachel MacDonald’s Bright-Eyed & Blog-Hearted Course. Kylie is a personal trainer, fitness & self-care coach, wellness events mentor and a writer/blogger and you can find her over at Be Your Radiant Self.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, your family, what you do and what inspired you to lead a healthier lifestyle?
I am 29 and from Melbourne. I am married to a beautiful man named Dean and we share our home with our two adorable cats, Lulu and Delilah. Our family will be expanding in May with the arrival of our little bub, which we are both so excited about.
I am a personal trainer, fitness & self-care coach, wellness events mentor and a writer/blogger. I have my own business, Be Your Radiant Self (formerly Radiant Personal Training).
I put on quite a few kilos about 5 years ago and I went on this health kick where I lost the weight but also realised how great it feels to be healthy. I wanted to spread the word with women everywhere. I found self-love and self-care about 18 months ago, and that partnered with exercise and nutritious food is just the perfect combination to live a healthy life. I then quit my job in the events industry and became a personal trainer and coach. I slowly grew my business up to what it is today, where I now work for myself full time. I have never been happier or more content.
What tips would you give to someone who has just commenced living a healthier lifestyle?
Take your time and do what works for you; leave the rest at the door.
It is easy to get caught up in what other people are doing, but with living a healthy lifestyle, you need to listen to number one, YOU! What works for your friend may not work for you, so listen to your body and do right by it. The results will then follow without the stress.
Also do it all from a place of love. Exercise because you love your body, not because you loath it. The same goes for food and self-care.
Do you have any tips for eating well on a budget?
Eating good nutritious food doesn’t have to be expensive. It is as simple as homemade muesli for breakfast; salad for lunch and a steak with vege for dinner. Also, making your own snacks is not only a lot healthier because you can control what goes into it but it works out to be cheaper. Get creative and don’t let what you read overwhelm you; take it back to the basics.
How do you deal with food struggles from your children and/or family?
I don’t have children as yet, so this will be interesting to experience in a few years’ time. But my husband has a sweet tooth, as do I, but he loves his lollies and ice cream and not to mention muesli bars. Sugar laden food is what he enjoys and I am always offering to bake muesli bars for him but he never seems to come to the party. I just let him go and I stick with what I love. He is really open to dinners though, and is happy to cook and eat whatever I like such as paleo recipes.
What is your favourite food?
Goodness me…what a question! So many options but I will narrow it down…
Chocolate, I must admit I do enjoy a good Cadbury dairy milk chocolate every now and then but my regular go-to is Loving Earth raw cacao chocolate either salted caramel or mint.
Avocado, I used to hate avocado when I was a teenager and now I can’t get enough. Spread on toast, in a salad or into a smoothie; I am all over this fruit.
Who is your favourite foodie and why?
It changes but at the moment I am loving Pete Evans and what he is doing for the paleo way of eating. His passion is infectious. I’m not one for cutting things out of your diet but I definitely see the benefits in paleo and love the whole organic, free range, buy local and be kind to animal’s message. It is so beautiful and something we all need to keep in mind when grocery shopping. Start asking…where does this come from.
What is something that you enjoy doing when you have some ‘me’ time?
Oh I love ‘me’ time…I enjoy going outside in the sunshine with a good book and a cup of herbal tea. I always make sure I take my shoes off and walk in the grass barefoot as I find this really grounds me and clears my head. I can’t go past a relaxing bubble bath either.
What is your favourite recipe to cook? Can you share the recipe with us?
I love cooking anything and everything. But I have the most fun making bliss balls, I know they are simple but I love experimenting with different flavours and combinations. I am a sucker for a good lemon slice so I used that as inspiration to make a bliss ball flavour and it is delicious.
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PinIngredients
- 1 cup dates
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 + 1/2 tbs organic coconut oil
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 tbs chia seeds
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
Instructions
- Put all ingredients into a food processor and mix until the nuts and dates are in small pieces, and the mixture is combined.
- Roll the mixture into balls; 1tbs of mixture is usually a good amount per ball.
- Put into an air tight container and pop them into the fridge to set. Then enjoy once cold!
A little more about Kylie and where you can find her
Kylie Anderson is the founder of Be Your Radiant Self formerly Radiant Personal Training. Kylie is a renowned personal trainer, fitness & self-care coach & writer. Her mission in life is to show and teach women everywhere that they are strong, beautiful and deserve all the happiness in the world and to do this it is all about nourishing and moving your mind, body and spirit. Kylie does this by combining her personal training skills and coaching skills into one to give her clients the best tools for success with their lifestyle change. She adores her blog and writes to inspire, inform and connect with her Radiant tribe through meaningful conversation, tips and opinions to get her readers thinking and exploring different aspects of themselves and life.
You can find Kylie writing away on her website, popping up inspiration on her Facebook page and taking lot’s of photos on Instagram.
