What is a health coach, and why would I benefit from having one?

Sharon created a personalized meal plan for me with extremely detailed instructions. Very thorough attention to detail, and tailored to my very weird diet. She’s always there to answer my questions. She’s nice, supportive, approachable, and inspirational.

– Kathy K.

Hello, I’m Sharon.

Thanks for stopping by. I’m a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach specializing in using food to help you heal and nourish for a thriving life.

This personal website has been in my imagination for the past decade as I worked on a healthy food blog and other projects while relocating internationally.

The Inception

I was born and raised in Shanghai, China, by a single mother, the strongest and toughest woman I’ve ever known. The consequential impact of the Cultural Revolution in China and personal life challenges caused us to move around a lot. Amid the chaos, one constant was my mother’s unwavering dedication to cooking. The taste of home carried me through my childhood years.

After being a corporate “yes” girl in commercial real estate for ten years, I quit my job and moved to the US in 2013. To stay connected with my mother, I started a healthy food blog to cook her recipes from the other side of the world. Food brought us closer despite the Pacific Ocean setting us apart.

As I grew older and gained more life experiences from different places, the blog evolved with me over the years. Little did I know that it would open the door to a vast world of nutrition, wellness, book publishing, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and online business in general. My work was featured on numerous highly reputable sites in the US.

In 2018, life took me from Austin, Texas, to Hong Kong, where I gave birth to a boy one year later.

The Widened Path

When my son was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) at one year old, I was told that the most important thing for maintaining his already low kidney function was his diet. So, I delved deeply into the world of CKD, including what foods he can and cannot eat and how much he can eat. It took months of pulling my hair out to figure out a personalized diet that wouldn’t put stress on his kidneys but still fully support his physical growth as a baby. The diet worked, and it worked so well that it replaced some of his medications, which I thought he’d be on for life.

With a joint effort from home and the Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, my son has shown exceptional physical and developmental growth. As a result, he’s become a case study and role model among families with CKD children in the hospital.

I provided the images above to my son’s dietitian at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital for her talk on dietary management for CKD in children for the Hospital Authority dietitians in July 2022.

This intense and first-hand experience of using food as medicine sent me down a path to learn more about nutrition, its role in managing chronic diseases, and its impact on our overall health as an expansion of the work I had been doing.

432 clock hours later, I earned my health coaching certificate from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). During my training, I studied foundational nutrition principles, nutrition science, over 100 dietary theories, and the ins and outs of holistic health, including personal development, goal-setting, innovative coaching methods, and much more. The program helped me tremendously on many levels and aspects of my life, as I was in a state of deep grief about the end of my marriage.

In August 2025, I was invited by the Hong Kong Children’s Hospital to host the “Eat Wise, Glow Arise” workshop, supported by the hospital and the Children’s Kidney Fund. It was a profound experience sharing my story and my learnings in preparing strict yet nutritious and fun renal meals for children with CKD. Seeing and connecting over 30 attendees—14 brave families—reminded me why this work is essential. Read the full story here.

Sharon Speaking at Eat Wise, Glow Arise Workshop

The Present

Although nutrition is vital, health is not just about the food on our plates. It’s about our emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being, too. There isn’t one diet, one lifestyle change, or one path to wellness. With this in mind, I set out on a path of self-discovery to explore how my habits and decisions have shaped me and how I can use my personal experience, growth, and self-healing to inspire others.

All of that led me to this point in my life, where I practice integrative nutrition day in and day out with myself, my loved ones, and my clients.

Integrative Nutrition: A Way of Life

You may be curious about what integrative nutrition entails.

Integrative nutrition merges traditional dietary guidelines with functional nutrition to create a more personalized approach to eating and living. It transcends standard dietary advice, encouraging us to explore how our food choices affect our unique bodies, often revealing the root causes of various health issues.

This approach is comprehensive, looking beyond what’s on our plates. It considers various aspects of our lives that influence our health and well-being, including our environment, career, relationships, spirituality, social interactions, finances, education, and physical health. Integrative nutrition evaluates all these non-nutritional factors to determine what is best for our overall health and dietary choices.

What is a health coach?

My certificate includes the accreditation of Integrative Nutrition Health Coach (INHC). That’s a mouthful. In short, it’s a health coach.

“What exactly is a health coach, and why would I benefit from having one?” I frequently receive this question, so let me clarify.

A supportive guide and facilitator

Say you’re a health-conscious individual seeking self-directed, lasting lifestyle changes to enhance your well-being. A health coach aligned with your values is a supportive guide and facilitator who meets you where you are and partners with you to set self-determined health goals, break them down into actionable steps, and hold you accountable every step of the way. You will achieve your goals while focusing on the process.

Health coaching isn’t limited to helping you eat healthier or increase your exercise. More often, it empowers you to make sustainable changes across all aspects of health—physical, mental, relational, emotional, spiritual, and environmental. This holistic approach requires a safe, non-judgmental environment with unconditional positive regard that fosters your potential for change by mobilizing your internal strengths and external resources.

It’s a process honoring you as the expert and sage of your life.

The bridge between you and your doctors

Here is another way to understand what a health coach does.

As a health coach, I serve as a bridge between you and your doctors, helping to connect traditional healthcare with your personal health journey. With the average doctor’s appointment lasting just eight minutes, there’s often not enough time to address the root causes of health issues.

I invest more time in one-on-one sessions, guiding you to understand and heal yourself because you are the expert on your life. In a safe, non-judgmental environment, we engage in deep conversations to explore all aspects of your life. This allows me to recommend personalized food and lifestyle techniques tailored to your health goals.

For instance, when a nutritionist or a dietitian provides a detailed dietary plan, I help you translate those numbers into enjoyable daily meals. Together, we’ll discover the foods that truly nourish you, ensuring that your diet is sustainable and satisfying. By identifying your “power foods,” you’ll feel great without resorting to junk, all while staying within your nutritionist’s guidelines.

A two-way street

Coaching is a two-way street. In my sessions with clients, insights and learning flow both ways. It’s not just about guiding them; it’s also about listening and understanding their unique perspectives. Each session becomes a collaborative journey where we share experiences, challenge assumptions, and explore new ideas together. For example, a client’s personal challenge may spark a new insight for me, enhancing our connection and the coaching experience.

Therefore, I’m using this website as a canvas for exploring the expansive world of integrative nutrition and holistic health. It’s also a space to document the insights from this lifelong endeavor of living to the fullest and a safe haven for our shared experiences on this imperfect, messy, yet beautiful journey together.

If you feel we vibrate at a similar frequency, I invite you to join me. Together, we learn to eat well and live fully.

How to Work with Me

Read my values: Health is personal. To work together, I first need to earn your trust, and the foundation of trust is based on aligned values. I’ve shared my core values and philosophy, which externalize who I am, what I believe in, how I show up in the world, and what you can expect from me. I invite you to read it here.
Sign up for the Mind Body Sage Newsletter (MBSN): If you feel our values are aligned and you’d like to be on this journey with me, I invite you to join my newsletter. MBSN is a free newsletter in collaboration with you to find foods that feed our body, mind, and spirit. It’s also a way of navigating the world of holistic health and longevity. As a bonus, you’ll be the first to know about all my latest offers and content. Learn more and join here.
Book a one-on-one call with me: During a 50-minute initial discovery call, we’ll identify the areas in which I can support you. It’s also an opportunity for us to get to know each other and see if coaching together is a good fit. You’ll likely be invited to join one of my coaching programs at the end of the call. Regardless, you’ll walk away with a more precise and deeper understanding of your current holistic state and what changes you need to make to move toward your desired state. Book a call here.

Some Fun Facts About Me

I’m petite, and my feet are a size 5.
I competed in running, volleyball, table tennis, and badminton throughout my school years.
I ran a half-marathon at age 13.
I dislocated my kneecaps respectively twice in my life, once on a dance floor and once on a rock-climbing wall, exactly two years apart. My running years ended with arthroscopic knee surgeries. After my recovery, swimming–particularly freestyle–became part of my life.

I watched the full ten seasons of Friends three times to learn English. The first time with Chinese subtitles, the second time with English subtitles, and the third time without.
I majored in International Economics and Trade but spent ten years in commercial real estate before moving to the US.
In a span of six years between 2013 and 2018, I lived in San Francisco, CA, Jacksonville, FL, and Austin, TX.

My Western cuisine journey started with a photography gig at Food.com that lasted for three years. I cooked hundreds of recipes from American kitchens nationwide and photographed them.
I’m a minimalist with little furniture but a huge dining table to host gatherings.
I taught myself acrylic painting and am now diving into an online piano course despite having no prior experience. The sole purpose is to keep my brain sharp and healthy.