there are some people in life who know immediately what they want to do when they grow up. i’m slightly envious of those people. they’re dedicated, driven and often 100% committed to following that dream and seeing it through. these are the doctors and lawyers of the world i believe as well!
then there are others that have to find their path. what they truly want to be – do – what is their calling? for me, i knew i liked food – i mean – come on?! who doesn’t like food! and i like all aspects of food – taste, smell, how it makes me feel, how to make it, how the ingredients work in them, how to take a meal that serves 4 and make it in a 100,000lb batch at a factory – that’s what i like about food! so back in 2001 when i found out about food science, i found my calling – or so i thought.
and here i am, 16 years later, pursuing a coaching nutrition certificate to help others deal with their emotional thoughts surrounding food in addition to creating and helping them get onto a road that allows for them to have sustainable nutrition in their lives... why is that... well to answer that, we’ll have to take a step back...
1 – bullying
yup – my first reason for wanting to help focus health and nutrition for others is because of bullying. when i was a kid, i was bullied for being fat. from the age of 12-14, i was definitely a chubby kid. this was partially in part of lack of exercise but also, i don’t recall having very structured nutrition at home. there was always food, snacks, this that and the other, but i don’t recall ever having healthier options laying around. what that is important (and will be addressed on other points!) i was a chubby tween and was bullied – my nickname? bubbles. and it wasn’t for my bubbly personality. it was for the “bubbles of fat” i had on my body. i look back at pictures of myself and man – i wasn’t fat. i was a little on the chubby side but i was going through that awkward stage of being a tween. i hadn’t hit my growth spurt and was simply at that super weird age. could i have been making healthier choices – absolutely – but that was no reason for me to be bullied. but the reality – i was – because in society anytime a women has “fat” on her, that’s unacceptable (insert eye roll here!).
it got so bad though that i in turn was doing it to others – mainly as a defense mechanism, but i still was not being nice to people and that was a problem. in hind sight (which is always 20/20), those kids needed just as much help as i did – maybe it was a different kind of help, but they needed better guidance in their life just like i did...
2 – lack of exercise
also growing up (and i don’t know why this was the case), my brother started playing sports at a young age while i did not. again – i’m not sure what influenced this and maybe it was simply he expressed interest and i did not – but regardless i remember being roughly 8 years old and he was playing soccer and i wanted to play but couldn’t. i was bummed. so when i got a little older and he started playing baseball, i immediately insisted that i play softball. so that’s when i began playing sports. i was probably 12 years old when i began this extra exercise – but let’s be honest – it was softball. it takes skill don’t get me wrong, but we were only 12 and it wasn’t very aggressive at all and therefore, while i was active, i still wasn’t active enough. i remember trying out for the middle school team and not making it – i was mortified. but i just kept playing and kept trying. in high school i made the team my freshman year and played on the junior varsity squad.
my sophomore year a friend of mine asked if i had ever heard of field hockey – i had not. tryouts were in august before school even started and so at 14 i attended a clinic with her and tried out of the team a few weeks later. man! they never told me it would be SO MUCH RUNNING! i ran my ASS OFF! LITERALLY! and it was amazing! i loved how hard it was physically on me and trained my butt off. i learned a new skill and for me (being the incredibly competitive person i am) loved how aggressive i could be on the field and that was what was expected. at 14, i was no longer “bubbles” and i was teter (because vanessa is way too long to say on a field!) it also put me in prime shape for softball and made me a better player there as well. by the middle of my high school “career” i was playing on a travel softball team, moved up to varsity in both of my sports and had confidence i hadn’t had in years. i was finding myself for sure.
3 – family
family has such an influence on you and it extends literally into your whole life. as a kid you can’t wait to grow up and move out of the house and never look back and you think that your childhood was the only thing that was impacted by your immediate family – WRONG – so wrong.
over the years, i’ve watched my parents both struggle with weight. and it’s no surprise that i myself share those same struggles. i believe a lot of it is just simply how they were raised with food and the relationships with food and i’m sure it’s the same for me. let me be clear – i have no ill will here or any animosity because of it – it is what it is and it’s something i recognize and grow from. but the struggle is real – and i see it with people, specifically wives, moms and daughters who put everyone they know and love around them before themselves. and in turn, they suffer as a result.
this is normal, this is common – but it doesn’t have to be NORMAL or COMMON! we can change this and we should! because at the end of the day, if you truly want to be there for your family in the ways you need to be, you need to ensure that your health and wellness is exactly where you need and want it to be! it’s THAT IMPORTANT.
being bullied, learning how to exercise and realizing that putting my health and wellness first have all built me to be who i am today. but it’s also made me realize that not everyone can overcome those hurdles. so while i love food, i love being a food scientist, i’m starting to realize i have an untapped calling and helping others find themselves while navigating the craziness of nutrition is where my heart lies and what i want to focus more of my efforts on. it may have taken me a bit longer than the average person to figure it out, but i’m there and i’m moving forward. learning how to be a nutrition coach is a journey i simply cannot wait to start! never say it’s too late – because it never is!
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