Meet Elaine Zhao | Healthy Food Blogger & College Dancer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elaine Zhao and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elaine, what are you inspired by?
My passion for healthy eating began around the summer of 2020, when I was a junior in high school. The Covid pandemic had just hit, causing schools to close and making Zoom classes from my bedroom the new normal. All of these changes, coupled with the stress of uncertainty and isolation, lead me to resort to unhealthy eating habits as a coping mechanism. A few months passed before I realized that I needed to change my lifestyle; that’s when I began researching about nutrition online. I even took a short course regarding nutrition and cancer, which left me in awe of how much the food we eat truly affects our overall health. I began to experiment in the kitchen for the first time, and I decided to make an Instagram account to showcase all of my creations. I never expected it to become something as big as this, and I’m so happy I made the leap to start this journey. The purpose went from initially helping myself to now helping thousands of others by sharing healthy recipes to the foodie community. The idea that I’m able to assist others in living their own healthier lives is my main inspiration to keep creating.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When I first began creating content, I struggled a bit with finding my specific audience, as well as with comparison – there are so many foodie accounts out there, and I would often find myself wondering which route to take with my recipes (vegan, gluten-free, solely breakfast based, etc.) in order to maximize my reach. I would attempt to look at other influencers’ accounts for inspiration before realizing that I didn’t need to compare my creations with other people’s. Throughout the process of discovering the type of food and posts I truly enjoy making, I was really able to enhance my creativity and artistic skills. Food styling, recipe planning, and photo/video editing are skills that I can see have developed immensely since the beginning; scrolling all the way through my feed is a great reminder of how far I have come since my very first post.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love spending time in La Jolla!! A perfect day would start off with morning pastries from Wayfarer Bakery & lattes from Bird Rock Coffee, then strolling along the coast walk trail and watching the seals. Other must visit spots include the Taco Stand for lunch or dinner, shopping at the UTC, and Sunset Cliffs for the most gorgeous sunsets 🙂 I also love Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo, and Coronado Island for any first time San Diego visitor!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m very fortunate to have grown up in a health-conscious family, and I would say one of the main reasons I’m even interested in the field of nutrition and holistic wellness is because of my mom. She would often educate me about healthy eating and the various health benefits of different foods when I was growing up. I was also very lucky because she would try to make all of our meals from scratch, no matter how busy she was with work and other things. My best memories from home always involve homemade food and helping my parents in the kitchen, and I often take inspiration from our family recipes in my own cooking now.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/whollymunchies