Abby Chan • Arizona, USA

What is your occupation?

I am a registered dietitian specializing in working with athletes to help them nourish their lives and improve their relationship with food and their bodies.

What are your sports, hobbies & interests?

Mountain biking, gravel riding, running, skiing, ceramics, aerial arts, my dogs, and cooking wildly delicious food. 

Do you have any pets?

Kona, is our 12-year-old golden retriever rescue, and it the epitome of perfection. Despite her age, she’s full of spunk and selectively deaf. Her favorite pastimes include snuggling, eating all the snacks, and taking leisurely walks. We learned quickly that she wasn’t an MTB girl, she enjoys a slower pace of life which which includes mosing around the neighborhood, in the forest.  Mochi, our tiny but mighty “ooddle,” is 5-years-old. Despite her appearance of a bougie lap dog, she adores biking, running, and hunting gophers. When she isn’t galavanting around on the trails, you can find her snuggling as close as doggily possible to you. Unfortunately, for me, she dislikes food, but we love her anyway.

What's your favorite food?

This is an unfair question. How can I choose JUST ONE?! I'm going to have to say xiao long bao, Chinese soup dumplings. 

Which of SHREDLY's values personally align with you?

As a weight-inclusive dietitian who works with individuals navigating eating disorders, I see daily how our culture, clothing industry, and health spaces often cater to a narrow range of body types. This exclusion fosters shame and disconnection—and ultimately discourages people from engaging in joyful movement, like especially biking.

Which SHREDLY piece is your favorite?

This is like trying to choose my favorite food. I adore the All Time Pant for biking, traveling, canyoneering, and I even wear them to work. They are so versatile and comfortable. 

What is a bucket list item you have yet to check off?

I’d love to bikepack on every continent.
There’s something uniquely rich about experiencing a place from the saddle of a bike. The slower pace lets you absorb the sights, sounds, smells, and connect on a much deeper level with the people and landscapes around you.

I've had the privilege of bikepacking through parts of Southeast Asia, Europe, and across the American Southwest and California. Each trip has offered its own kind of magic, and I can’t wait to keep exploring.

What is your dream mountain biking destination and why?

Right now, I’ve got Oaxaca on my mind.
Yes, the food is incredible (non-negotiable), but it’s the vibrant art culture. The pottery, textiles, and color everywhere that really draws me in. And to top it off, there are some seriously epic trails. It’s the kind of place that feeds every aspect of my being.

What song or album are you playing on repeat right now?

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with Fred Again and the Queen herself, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter is everything. On the slower side, Bon Iver’s Sable, fAble is soul-shaking and deeply necessary. I’m also fully in my DJ era and enjoy creating sets that make me smile and get people moving to beats they didn’t know they needed. There’s something magical about sharing sound in a way that surprises and connects.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

My grandfather didn’t have an easy life. He came to the U.S. from China with little more than the clothes on his back. But in his hands, he carried the gift of transforming humble ingredients into meals that nourished more than just the body. His cooking brought our family together. It became a love language, a legacy.

After scraping together every dollar they had, he and my grandmother opened a small restaurant. He worked 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, for most of his life. That little restaurant eventually served movie stars and politicians and still lives on in stories told around the table. It was a life built on sacrifice and quiet perseverance. He was never too proud to wash dishes or stay late to feed his staff.

And yet, on his deathbed, he said: “My life was good. It was so good. I would wager it was 100%.”

Those words have stayed with me as a reminder, and a compass to live in such a way that at he end of my life, I too can say:
I lived my life 100%.

Tell us about your favorite way of adventuring.

My favorite way to explore and adventure is by bike, whether it’s my mountain bike, gravel bike, or townie. The ability of bikes to bring people together in play, community, and self-discovery will always be my favorite way to connect with the world.

--
Abby Chan, MS, RDN, RYT, is an anti-diet Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, strength coach, and registered yoga teacher with a master's degree in nutrition and dietetics. She has over a decade of coaching, training, and teaching experience. She specializes in helping people re-establish their relationship to food, movement, and their bodies while practicing body acceptance and neutrality. She believes that every human deserves to connect socially and culturally with food, movement, and each other.  She is also an avid cyclist, runner, skier, and aerialist.

Follow Abby @abbytherd