My background
I am Angela. I am “mommy” to my three children and I am wife to my husband of 10+ years. I was born and raised in Taiwan and I have been living in Ontario, Canada since I was 16.
I love food and I love to travel. My favourite food is ramen, pizza, and tacos. My bucket list travel destinations include Maldives and Scandinavia.
My education and background is in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), which is the science of behaviours and its applications. I worked in Autism services for over 10 years and I absolutely loved supporting my clients learning important skills to improve the quality of their lives.
My Journey
While I was working in Autism services, I was solely focused on getting my board certification as a behaviour analyst. I was working full time and studying for my Master’s degree part time. I worked hard to help my clients and their families and I did not put myself first. I told myself that I’d focus on my health, nutrition, and fitness later. I did not exercise regularly. I did not understand nutrition and how to nourish my body. I also ate regardless of whether I was hungry or not, and I often ate past my fullness. I ate when I was stressed, tired, or bored. I ate when I was driving in between clients’ appointments and I also ate while I was studying.
I was constantly overeating and I was overweight. The worst part was that I felt like I was not in control around food. I’d mindless eat through a huge Costco sized bag of chips while watching TV or studying, and then thought to myself, “I’ve already ruined the day. I might as well eat more of it and start over later.” After that, I felt like I could not trust myself around certain foods, like chips and ice cream, so I’d refrain from buying them. I did this without realizing that the restriction was most likely making it harder to feel in control around these foods later on when I had access to them again.
After I became a mom, it felt even harder to put myself first. I was not consistent with exercising. My meals were certainly not balanced and often consisted of a meal I made for myself plus the leftovers my children did not finish. I had wanted to be healthier for my children and did focus on having more nutrient dense foods, but I was still eating past fullness most of time and eating more food than my body needed. Worst of all, I was in the habit of “rewarding” myself at the end of the day after I put my kids’ to bed. I felt like I “deserved” to relax and unwind with my favourite snacks (Hello, Haagen-Dazs and chips) and TV. This combination of mindless, distracted eating and unhelpful mindset always led to overeating at the end of the day.
While I envisioned using ABA to help people improve nutrition and health-related behaviours very early on in my career, I thought I did not have skills to help myself, let alone coach others. I also thought I did not look “fit enough” to be a nutrition coach. I let my fixed mindset, unhelpful thoughts, and poor body image control my actions and limit my pursuit of my dreams.
Seeing my own mom deal with cancer changed my mindset and how I looked at nutrition and health. It should always be a priority. Changes do not need to be time consuming or restricting. It can be done in a sustainable and enjoyable way. It is not all or nothing – small changes add up!
I hired coaches to help me with my nutrition, eating habits, and fitness. I also did that to better understand what it feels like to be coached.
I got certified as a nutrition coach and personal trainer. I went through trainings on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and mindset. I learned about nutrition and eating behaviours. I worked on building sustainable and realistic nutrition and eating habits. I improved my relationship with food and learned to enjoy my favourite foods while still prioritizing my nutrition and health. I learned to listen to my body and built trust with myself around food. I feel confident as a role model for my children around nutrition, health, and fitness. I also feel confident that I can help others who share similar struggles as I had.
My Coaching Philosophy
Nutrition and healthy eating is not just about WHAT you eat, but also HOW and WHY you eat.
Having a list of “good” or “healthy” food to eat, knowing the macros you need to “hit,” or having a plan that tells you exactly what, when, and how much to eat is not enough to support an overall healthy eating pattern.
At least not in the long term.
Improving your nutrition and health with long lasting results needs to be built on the foundation of your values, mindset, skills, and relationship with food.
Your values will help you set realistic and meaningful goals and help you act in a way that aligns with the person you want to be.
Your mindset is the lens through which you view the world and it affects how you think, feel, and do. How you deal with setbacks and how you view your successes will affect.
Eating skills allow you to tune into your body, build balanced meals, and stop eating when full. These are skills that you will always have and can use in any situations.
Having a healthy relationship with food is key to stop seeing food as “good” vs. “bad,” or “healthy” vs. “unhealthy.” It is the secret ingredient to not beat yourself up when you feel like you have “messed up” and spiral. It allows you to feel in control with food again and gives you the freedom to enjoy food and nourish your body.
This solid foundation will help you find a way of eating that is simple, doable, and enjoyable for YOU. You will eat in a way that honours your health, without sacrificing your favourite food, and without letting healthy eating consume your life.
Education & Qualifications
I strongly believe in personal development and lifelong learning. I am still learning as a coach and I am currently working towards getting my designation as a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach.
The following is a list of certifications and degrees I have completed to date:
- Masters of Science in Applied Behaviour Analysis – St. Cloud State University
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst – Behavior Analyst Certification Board
- Precision Nutrition Level 1, Certificate in Exercise Nutrition
- Certified Personal Trainer – International Sports Sciences Association
- Certified Nutrition Coach – Working Against Gravity
- Health Mindset Coaching Certification – KJO Coaching
- Binge Eating Essentials For Health Professionals Certification – Break Binge Eating
- Certified Health and Well-being Coach – Wellcoaches
- Lifestyle Medicine Coach Certificate – American College of Lifestyle Medicine and Wellcoaches
Work with me
Want to stop yo-yo dieting, ditch all or nothing mindset, enjoy food without guilt, and gain trust in yourself? Check out my 1:1 coaching service for more info. I can’t wait to work with you!
