Personal trainer puts ‘green’ into getting lean

Personal training is a promising field, expected to grow by leaps and bounds in coming years. Attention to green living is also on the rise. The natural synthesis of these two areas is a personal trainer who integrates green values into a holistic fitness and nutrition program that creates lean machines. Which fits Paisley Meekin to a tee. Not only does the Portland-based personal trainer talk the talk when it comes to exercise and nutrition, she walks the walk with her own practice of exercise, bike commuting, and organic-based cooking. “I believe in a holistic approach to nutrition and fitness because that’s the only way it works in my mind,” Meekin said. “When I work with clients who need help with weight loss, improved muscle tone or nutrition, I tell them it is not just about the physical act of eating or working out. You have to look at the whole picture.” Meekin has worked as a personal trainer and nutritionist for several years and currently operates out of Portland Team Fitness in northeast Portland. She has steadily grown her clientele with her decidedly green approach to fitness and nutrition. “It’s all about results,” Meekin said. “The most satisfying thing for me is seeing clients reaching the goals they set. When they see results, they get excited and energized to reach even higher. I feel good when that happens.” Meekin believes in organic-based nutrition for her clients and for herself. She spends what she calls “geek-out creative time” in her kitchen on a weekly basis. The results of those creative sessions become recipes available to her clients (and the world) on her web site, www.honestpt.com. She hopes to someday have a cookbook published. “My approach is aimed at getting clients excited about eating better,” she said. “People know salad is better than Cheetos, but they need inspiration. I want to get them to get back in the kitchen so they can rediscover that cooking is fun, relaxing and good for the soul. My recipes are intended to keep things fresh, give ideas and options.” Meekin backs up her fitness and nutrition programs with a lifestyle that includes regular workouts, daily bike commuting and a diet of mostly organic, home-prepared food. “I fell in love with the identity of bike commuting when I was in college,” she recalls. “I was too poor to own a car, anyway, but I felt like I was saving the planet one bike ride at a time. One of the reasons I moved to Portland was that I wanted to live in a city where I could bike.” Getting the training gig in Portland was a process. It involved an upbringing in frigid, remote Alaska. Her father, Mike, owns and operates a charter flying service. His adventurous, self-sufficient example had traction with his daughter, who always dreamed of owning her own business. “My dad has been a huge inspiration to me,” Meekin said. “He’s a self-made man and has been a bush pilot since I was small. He flies people in and out to hunt or fish or just for flightseeing. I’ve always respected the way he runs his business and how he treats people.” The interest in organic nutrition came from her mom, a health enthusiast who ran an organic produce co-op out of their home. “Some of my first memories are of helping her carry around and weigh veggies for her co-op,” Meekin said. “People from the community would come to our house to buy their produce, which in Alaska is a delicacy.” A career in personal training and nutrition first came into focus during Meekin’s final years at the University of Nevada-Reno. But first there was indecision, and good times. “My original plan was to become a dietician. But that kind of washed away during several years of partying. It no longer appealed to me,” she says. Her interest in working out was born largely as a way of getting herself into shape after several years of college. Ironically, this included breaking a habit of making fun of people who worked out in the gym. “I realized I could change my body through strength training and I was fighting the 15-20 pounds I had put on during college. So I got hooked on working out, and that opened the door to personal training and nutrition as a career,” she said. After graduation, she lived in upstate New York briefly, before returning to Alaska. She got a job in a gym, earned her Personal Training certification and started making a little money. But she now found Alaska stifling. One night, partly on impulse and partly as part of a half-baked plan, she bought a plane ticket, packed her things and moved to Portland. “I was a real jerk,” Meekin said. “My parents were in Europe and I up and left without telling them. I didn’t even leave a note. Fortunately, it all worked out. I got an apartment and found a job within a couple of weeks. Now I have a great clientele and I enjoy the benefits of living in a terrific, progressive community. I’m really lucky things turned out so well. I really feel the love here.”