Point Pleasant, NJ - If anyone is uniquely positioned to discuss the very individualized relationship people have with food it would be Katie Patterson. She has long been a pastry chef, restaurateur, and caterer who spent many years learning that the health regime that works for one person might fail another. Despite being a success in multiple career arenas (that also included vocal performance), she often suffered from bulimia. And then she had an unexpected bout with breast cancer. The endless days of surgery, health battles, and ravaging treatments made her rethink her life and led her to the discovery of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. With a bit of time to spare, Katie invested in courses and became a health and nutrition coach. She still has multiple loves though and runs Katie Cakes as well as My Kind of Healthy.
Katie went to culinary school in 2001 and had a job before she even graduated. But she also had ambitions for Broadway and went to auditions and toured in Europe first. She then lived in Florida and worked at The Breakers and Ritz Carlton in Palm Beach, where she met a guy, got married and had kids. The marriage didn’t work out, and she returned to her home ground, The Jersey Shore, and a job at Aqua Blue, a restaurant and nightclub. She has lived in New Jersey since, running a specialty cake business, that she still has. When it comes to brides, she is able to offer them advice on calming down and loving their bodies along with the stunning tiers of cake.
Katie emphasizes that everyone’s world is different, with different lifestyles, stressors, exercise routines, etc. and everyone’s physical make up is different, their allergies, limitations, and digestive issues for example. No one diet (and she doesn’t even like that word because “die” is inside it) fits all. She says that our bodies talk to us and all we have to do is listen and find a balance between what we like and what we need. Katie helps people discover the meal regime that works best for them personally. This is how the My Kind of Healthy name evolved.
“Food is always an emotional experience, whether good or bad. For many people it is about feeling angry or alone. For me, it was about self-esteem. I went on all those auditions and left thinking I was not good enough, skinny enough or pretty enough.”
In her podcast interview, Katie will talk more about her health philosophy and the backstory of how and why she began to follow the teachings of Joshua Rosenthal and integrative nutrition. She will explain why eating healthier is such an individual thing. Katie will talk about having a daughter and what she wants her to understand as she grows up. And she will share tips on things we can all do to optimize the way the body functions. For instance, learn to read food labels, incorporate daily movement, or increase our water intake. She will talk about how culture and media influence our bodies. She might even share one of the recipes from her lovely website.
Katie is appearing on Close Up because of their Empowering Women series. She loves to help and support other women, from those in the culinary arts field (outnumbered and outmaneuvered by males) to brides who are having less than the most perfect day of their lives. And when it comes to launching your own business, she loves to help other women with that.
“Women are getting louder, and we are going out on our own more. It’s about time.”
Katie also believes people with certain lifestyles need to stop and take care of their own health too. This is particularly true for caregivers, a role she has taken on recently. She is going to launch a special coaching group for those caught up in caregiver stress.
Learn more about this program and all of Katies’s sage advice in the February podcast.
For more information about her life, work and health views, visit https://mykindofhealthy.com/
You can also explore her cake and bridal business at https://katie-cakes.com/
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