My Mission as a Health Coach…

Just to make it clear: I believe in science. I’m anti-guru and anti-woowoo (oooh, I’ve had my big doses of those in the past, so, “No thanks!”)

Second, I’m not all against what Western, allopathic medicine does. So much of it can alleviate our pain, suffering and save lives.

I encourage you to get your annual physicals and other screening and diagnostic tests that are necessary to monitor your midlife health — particularly your blood sugar level, thyroid function, bone density, cardiovascular, pelvic and breast health. These are especially important as we go through our menopausal transitions.

I also encourage you to seek out a naturopathic doctor who is well versed in female hormone issues. S/he can look at your medical conditions from a holistic perspective and prescribe natural remedies that are gentle for your body with minimal long-term side effects on your vital organs.

My mission as an integrative nutrition and wellness coach is to fill the gap between what traditional and naturopathic medical providers can do for you, and what else is left undone in terms of making nutrition and lifestyle adjustments to achieve your health goals. (Not sure what a health coach can do for you? Check out this article in the New York Times.)

Did You Struggle to Build Healthy Habits?

You may have noticed that past attempts to stick to any healthy diet or exercise routines often got sidetracked. “Life got in the way,” many of you have told me. Yet what is life if we can’t live it to the fullest? To do that, we need to find a sustainable way to establish a healthy routine. Once we get it down pat, we don’t have to spend extra energy to make those tiny, day-to-day decisions as what to eat and how to keep our body functioning smoothly and ailment-free. It becomes auto-pilot. But to get your butt in gear, you need accountability, and that’s the job of a health coach — to hold you accountable and keep you on track.

I believe in preventative healthcare. When it comes to chronic diseases, a lot can be done before they even develop. And it is in the prevention stage where we can reclaim our power over our physical health.

How I Can Help You Achieve Your Health Goals

 You may have done yo-yo dieting your whole life or followed the latest fad diets that seem to work for everyone else but you. You may have tried different therapies for your chronic muscle and joint pain, but any pain relief didn’t last long. You may have worked out till you drop, yet your belly fat wouldn’t budge. And you may have tried all kinds of self-care hacks and healthy recipes to fight your fatigue, insomnia and brain fog. Still, you’re struggling. And yes, you may have listened to a thousand and one health recommendations and consulted Dr. Google a million times. But unless you find a solution that addresses the specific biochemical needs of your unique body, you will continue to feel dissatisfied with the outcome.

If you work with me, I will give you tailor-made recommendations to match your blood type and genetic blueprint. The nutrition plan that you will get is unique in the whole world, just like your finger prints. And why shouldn’t you get the very best? You have done enough “elimination diets,” made enough trial and errors. It’s about time to get it right.

I have studied with many of the world’s top health and wellness experts. My education has equipped me with extensive knowledge in holistic nutrition, health coaching and disease prevention based on blood type and epigenetics. Drawing on my expertise, I work with my clients to help make lifestyle changes and choose health-promoting practices that produce real and lasting results. I hold them accountable and celebrate every one of their milestones.

If you work with me, you will develop a deeper understanding of food and lifestyle choices that work best for YOU — no “one-size-fits all,” cookie-cutter solutions. You will also witness transformations from inside out through my whole-system approach. That means I don’t just give you little tricks or “hacks” or random recipes. And that means no quick fixes. Everything fits into a larger context and that context is your bio-individuality. Nutritional plans will be based on your genetic attributes and tailor-made to your specific physiology. Even exercises I teach are based on your specific body type, hormonal profile and existing movement patterns, so you’ll be working with what you have and bring your fitness and stamina to an optimal level. For those of you who have tried all kinds of quick fixes or one-size-fits-all plans under the sky, it’s time to zoom out from the tree to look at the forest.

If you are a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) who gets overwhelmed more easily, and who needs to take things at a slower pace than 80% of the population, I’ve got good news for you. I’m a fellow HSP, and I will treat you with the utmost care and empathy. You will not just be a “number,” as in the current healthcare system. Instead, you will feel understood and cared for to the highest degree. 

How is My Approach Different?

How am I different from the healthcare professionals you have come across or worked with to improve your health metrics or manage your chronic conditions?

Dietitians and nutritionists tell you what food to eat and what food to avoid. Sometimes the advice can be really general and not specific enough to address the needs of your unique physiology.

Meal planners go into more details about what exactly you should prepare for each meal but the choice of ingredients are not specifically tailored to your specific body’s needs either. Often, their choices are based on what they think is right for you — yet the choices may very well work against your body’s unique biochemistry.

If you have food cravings, you may see a therapist. You may work on the mental level but you may not get clear action steps or instructions on how to address the issue of food cravings in relation to gut microbiome imbalance. Addressing the psychological side of food cravings is a necessary step, but not having a clear and exact guideline on what exactly to eat and what not to eat will only leave you half way on the road toward your weight-loss and health goals.

Doctors often don’t address the root cause of physical symptoms. Instead, they prescribe medications that help you manage or mask the symptoms. If you stop taking pills — many of which have long-term side effects on your vital organs — your symptoms will come back. When it comes to metabolic diseases such as diabetes, they often don’t have the nutritional background to give you specific advice on what exactly to eat, as well as the frequency and quantity. As diet and lifestyle choices are at the crux of metabolic diseases, patients can’t expect to reverse their diseases or be cured if they simply rely on medications. If you have been diagnosed with diet- and lifestyle-related conditions such as diabetes or elevated cholesterol, your doctor may tell you to pay attention to your diet and exercise and leave it at that. But what exactly do you need to eat or not eat? How much and how often should you eat the food that you should eat? What kind of exercises should you do, and how frequently should you do them?

By contrast, as an integrative nutrition health coach, I work with my clients every step of the way — from tailor-made food choices, frequency, quantity, to the type of exercises, stress-reduction activities tailored to your body type, to rest and sleep, emotional health, social connections, to life purpose.

My approach is to address the root cause of health conditions and guide clients toward whole body-mind healing by addressing the 7 pillars of health.

The Seven Pillars of Health

The 7 pillars of health are shown below:

Now, a Little about Me…

I’m the creator of the “Eat Right Chef” YouTube Channel and founder of Midlife Sisterhood — A Global Community for Women in Midlife and Beyond. 

Every day, I come across women who are struggling with weight and body image issues, and people who feel their bodies are failing them — all because the foods they are eating are not the right ones for their unique body types. 

This was my struggle too. But discovering  how my blood type had to do with my digestion, metabolism, immunity and overall well-being had transformed my health 180 degrees. 

Turning Crises into Learning Opportunities

The overhaul of my dietary and lifestyle habits came at the heels of my father’s death to leukemia, and my own diagnosis of a few gigantic fibroid tumors as well as a large number of fibrosystic lumps in my breasts. This was a crude wake-up call and it ushered in the Second Act of my life prematurely. I was 37 at the time and didn’t realize I had already been in peri-menopause for a few years.

Since I changed my diet and lifestyle in 2009, I have completely gotten rid of the fibrocystic lumps in my breasts and healed from a myriad of ailments, many of which were life-long — stomach ache, acid reflux, constipation, severe seasonal allergies, frequent headaches, PMS, excess mucus, frequent colds and flus. And the best of all? I sailed through menopause when it hit, at the age of 44, without many of the common symptoms.

My positive experience awakened in me a calling to help transform people’s health through natural ways — one bite at a time. 

A Calling was Born

In 2017, I graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and became a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. I learned how to work with clients to meet them where they are and build healthy habits by asking the right questions and holding them accountable.

When I worked with my private clients as a coach and a personal health chef, I helped heal some of them of digestive disorders deemed incurable by conventional medicine.

I have given live cooking classes and seminars in New York City to raise the awareness for the importance of adjusting our diet and lifestyle to exactly what would match our unique bodies.

I also created an online cooking course, “Cooking with Love,” to teach people how to cook for their blood type.

Originally from Hong Kong, I combine my nutritional knowledge with the gift of healing inherited from my Indonesian Chinese grandmother, the creative cooking skills from my mother, and the passion for art and storytelling from my late father.

In addition, I bring insights and understanding through my work as a medical interpreter for Cantonese-speaking people in the U.S., Canada and the UK. From having served thousands of medical calls, I witnessed countless occasions where Western medicine failed to get to the root of chronic illnesses like hypertension, diabetes, and acid reflux. I also witnessed the distress of family members when a beloved elder succumbs to cancer, dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease. I have felt what patients and their families went through, and I’m convinced there’s a better way.