Health Coach Feature: How Daniella Malfitano Uses Her Passion for Healthy Food to Guide Others Toward Lasting Health

Chef Daniella Malfitano is a multifaceted culinary entrepreneur, author, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, and media creator. For the past decade, she has worked with several industry-leading companies as a chef, host, producer, wellness expert, and educator.

After 10 years of cooking, consulting, and restaurant management in some of the best restaurants in the country, including Chef Gabrielle Hamilton’s Prune and Chef Thomas Keller’s Per Se, Chef Daniella left F&B operations to enter the world of culinary media. In 2011, she cohosted the national syndicated radio program On the House as the resident chef with the Carey Brothers. And in 2012, she produced and hosted the television show Delicious Discoveries with Chef Daniella Malfitano on PBS for the Northern California market. She went on to publish eight cookbooks, including Best Grill Recipes Ever, Winter Stews & One-Pot Dinners, and Best Holiday Sweets & Treats, as well as a top-rated culinary app called Cook Italian. Her expertise even led her to CBS Studios in New York City to do a culinary segment with Harry Connick Jr. on his daytime talk show, Harry, as the San Francisco culinary expert. 

Currently, Chef Daniella is producing a new digital cooking series called MyChoiceKitchen, a cooking and mindfulness series for kids and families! When she is not producing content, she uses her skills and notoriety to represent the seafood brand Verlasso Salmon, America’s highest-rated sustainably farmed salmon by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, and sits on the boards of the California Avocado Commission and the California Blueberry Commission, advocating for healthy local produce. Chef Daniella is also the host and a producer at Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival, where she cooks and dances her way through the kitchen at every main stage show.

Q: What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
A: Running my culinary business as a host, producer, author, and educator!

Q: What led you to explore the Health Coach Training Program?
A: I have always had a desire to expand my education and knowledge of food as a chef and health-focused “foodie” and decided to pursue my dream by enrolling at IIN and gifting myself the IIN Health Coach Training Program for my wedding. It was my gift to myself! And the final day of my program was the day of my wedding!

Q: How has your life changed since becoming a Health Coach?
A: My life has been FILLED UP by the many gifts I have received from the IIN Health Coach Training Program. Through my work in the program, I feel like my life and my business have expanded with more purpose, more heart-centered alignment, and more passion for sustaining and maintaining lasting lifelong health!

Q: Which topics and modules were most beneficial for you?
A: Oh, there were so many wonderful lessons and modules taught in the curriculum. My personal favorites were learning about primary food, the Golden Path Steps, Morning Pages, eating well on a budget, how to conduct meaningful Health Histories, your gut microbiome, and the power of nutrition!

Q: What does a typical day look like for you now?
A: I start my day with intention, no matter what I have going on, which helps me focus for the rest of the day. I interact with clients during the first hours of the day, then take an hour break away from my office for exercise. I love any form of movement where I can get my heart rate up – bonus points if the activity makes me sweat! I love dancing, stand-up paddleboarding, or taking a TRX or yoga class. I come home and cook and eat lunch; I try to cook 2–3 homecooked meals a day. Then, for the rest of the day, I’m either shooting episodes for my YouTube series, writing content, or preparing, rehearsing, or filming shows, events, podcast recordings, or stage performances, or corporate wellness coaching! In the evenings, my husband and I take our dog for a walk and enjoy unplugged meals at home while we talk about our days! 

Q: What makes you and your practice unique?
A: I think the thing that makes my business unique is that I come to all my work with a perspective as a chef first, which allows me to dive right into the clients or projects I take on. I love helping people, families, and companies KNOW food and USE food in a practical and healthy way – this is what wakes me up every morning and gets me ready for the day!

Q: How do you help your clients be successful? Is there a recent example that stands out for you?
A: I come to every project and every client with an open heart and a passion to support them in their health. I love finding bio-individual ways to support one to be successful by identifying the specific types of routines that will help guide someone toward lasting health. I work with clients to identify what foods to eat or recipes to try, and I love recommending good books and podcasts as well as the right food products to shop for and cook with. I also have a passion for integrating movement practices, gratitude, and mindfulness practices into someone’s wellness plan because I have seen time and time again the power of pure positive intention.

Q: What do you love about your work?
A: It’s a great honor to be a witness to someone’s growth and transformation, and what I love most about this process is being able to be an advocate for someone else’s success. It is a real miracle to experience another person’s growth because it gives way to the possibility that our life is in OUR OWN HANDS! There is nothing more inspiring than that fact! It is the honor of my life to do what I do.

Q: How have you seen the need for Health Coaches change over the years?
A: YES! I believe that Health Coaches could be one of the most important factors for how our world heals because Health Coaches are true allies. I have seen that people don’t make changes based on what they hear alone, but that accountability and connection with another human can support someone to achieve real, lasting success.

Q: What’s your tip for balancing your family, work, and personal wellness?
A: My tip is simple: Do what you love and figure out any way to do that thing every day. I believe that by fulfilling one’s spirit, we will want to share our passions with our family, in our work, and in the ways that we prioritize our wellness. The balancing act of life then becomes a desire to spread our goodness in all other aspects of our life! 

Q: Tell us your favorite way to wake up each day!
A: I wake up and start my day with some sort of intentional practice, like Morning Pages, giving silent gratitudes, or doing a seated meditation. Then, I’m excited to jump into work right away!

For more information about Chef Daniella’s food philosophy and catalog of work, join the conversation with her online on Instagram and Facebook @chefdaniellamalfitano and on www.daniellamalfitano.com.

Thinking about your own transformation or helping others transform their lives? Our last class of 2019 starts today! Apply now to start your journey to becoming a Health Coach before the end of the year.