Dietetic Dilemmas Part 1: Why a career in dietetics isn’t my cup of tea right now – and why I’m totally okay with it.

(Even after dreaming about it throughout my entire undergraduate degree).

 To dietetics or not to dietetics?

THAT is the question probably on your mind after surviving undergrad trying to figure out what next. Here is the backstory to how I woke up to making my decision with no regrets – and how you can too.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Chantelle. She didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life (and to be honest, she still entirely doesn’t!). BUT, her favourite subject during high school was food technology. So, she went with her gut, enrolled in a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition) at The University of Wollongong, got accepted into a Masters of Nutrition and Dietetics somewhere in the world, immediately found a job as a clinical dietitian after graduation, and lived happily ever after.

Errr nope. That’s obviously not quite how things have panned out for me thus far… Not even close. Yet here I am forever grateful that things turned out differently from the perfect fairy-tale I envisaged.

If you’re a student, new graduate nutritionist or dietitian feeling like you’ve somehow been led off the beaten track, I am dedicating this post to you.

Admittedly this was not an easy post to write and I know some of it might shock you, but, I believe everything happens for a reason and everything will always work out in the end the way they were meant to be, even if you can’t quite see it.

I’m sure like many of you, I was highly convinced that,

“A career in dietetics is your only option.”

In all honesty, I think there is a bit too much (and I dare say, unnecessary) pressure to sign up to study dietetics. I got the impression that it was literally a life or death thing. That if you don’t pursue the dietetics pathway, you will be forever ruined. (We’re talking roughly $30 000 or more, down the drain if you don’t end up “using” your degree. Yep. Seriously). Ouch.

Well, it turns out I was wrong – unfortunately not about the debt I’ve accumulated during the course of my tertiary education (so far), but about dietetics being my “only” option.

I was so fixated on chasing this “dream” that in fact, I was completely blocked off from looking outside the box and discovering what I was truly passionate about – but more on that later.

When I want to stick to my guns, I stick to my guns.

Despite literally starting off my degree on the wrong foot by conveniently fracturing one of my fifth metatarsals on the first day of uni (oops!), I was determined to pick myself off the ground!  I wanted to run my own little private practice after completing my Masters of Nutrition and Dietetics. So, I did what anybody who wanted to make their dreams come true would do.

I put in the hard yards. I endured all the late nights and early mornings. Battled through all the exhaustion that came with my three-hour round-trip to uni and back each day. Drank multiple cups of loose-leaf tea to keep myself mental health in-check. Took up yoga – occasionally. Survived more chemistry and biochemistry labs than I could have ever imagined. Cried my way through biostatistics (twice). Sat through most of my nutrition exams feeling super hangry as they always happened to be held during prime dinner time from 6pm till 8pm (I mean, who wouldn’t get hungry writing about food and nutrition for two hours straight!?). I also networked both online and offline which was truly the biggest blessing because I met some awesome dietitians along the way. I joined far too many uni clubs for my own good and made a bunch of friends for life who tried to keep me sane through it all. It was indeed a lot of fun but understandably very draining at the same time!

At this point I assume some of you are breathing a sigh of relief that that I am still here living to tell the tale (and in one piece too), while a bunch of you may be madly hyperventilating and questioning your personal life choices.

Well, if it makes you feel any better, here comes the part where I shockingly decided to question mine.

The lightbulb moment

Towards the end of my degree I took pathophysiology as an elective unit. I was thinking “great”. This will be the most exciting and clinically-orientated subject to-date. One step closer to being a dietitian! #Winning.

But there was one problem. Regardless of finally being able to see what I was working towards much more clearly, I realised I wasn’t enjoying it, at all. This shocking realisation freaked me out. Yet despite only having one more semester of my degree to finish up, I suddenly wanted OUT. I felt as if I had completely “switched off” and I no longer had the same motivation that I started with to keep going.

Something didn’t feel quite right. And it was reaching that point, I started searching.

I had to ask myself, what was pushing me away and what was I really gravitating to?

I knew that deeply instilled within me, was this immense and burning desire to help and connect people to their health and wellbeing through nutrition. While of course that hasn’t changed in the slightest, it now seems to stem more strongly from a “prevention is better than cure” perspective, as opposed to focusing on the medical nutrition therapy side of things – which explains why I don’t really have a knack for the nitty-gritty world clinical dietetics right now – it’s not exactly my cup of tea at this very moment in time, and by taking some time to reflect on life, it probably never really has been. But that doesn’t mean I can’t and won’t come back and revisit it later down the track. Mind you, there is nothing wrong at all in pursuing a career in dietetics. We all have our unique and individual places in the world, and on a  personal level, I just don’t see myself there yet.

So how exactly did I wake up and wriggle out of my dietetic dilemmas? Why was I suddenly not afraid to set off on a different path and beat to a different drum?

As strange as that sounds, it was as if my passions had gently tapped me on the shoulder and had slowly been leading me towards my true ‘life-calling’ all this time and revealed itself as I felt I was entering “almost-quarter-life-crisis mode”. It was from the moment I acknowledged my love for the world of public health nutrition, health advocacy and equity, media and communications, paediatrics, eating psychology and behaviour-change, marketing, research, fad-fighting, health writing and journalism just to rattle off a few, that things finally ‘clicked’ for me. (Better late than never, hey?). I felt so “at home” with my decision, that I didn’t even put in an application to study dietetics (*gasp*), because I know first-hand just how competitive it is, so I didn’t think it was right to selfishly take away that position from someone who genuinely very deserving and determined. However, the most liberating part of this for me is realising that I actually don’t need to stress myself out further and have a dietetics degree behind me (yet), giving me time and space I desire to obtain some real-world experience and “play-time” in this area as possible.

To tackle the more practical side of things, I also decided to enrol in a Masters of Health Communication at The University of Sydney (which to be honest with you, I didn’t even know existed as it’s the only degree of its kind offered in Australia which I think is way cool!). Today, with one semester under my belt already, I have absolutely ZERO REGRETS! It is the perfect blend of everything I love AND, best of all, I get to apply all the evidence-based nutrition knowledge I have acquired along the way too! (Total win-win!)

So what now and where too from here?

For the moment, I plan on soaking up as much experience in the nutrition industry as I can while I’m studying and eating out at the yummiest cafes and restaurants in Sydney (because this foodie-nutritionist has got to fuel her heart and soul you know!). I also want to hone-in on developing my own niche in the world and polishing-up my writing skills, which means you’ll be seeing plenty more blogs and bits and pieces in the media from me this year (so watch this super exciting space!)

And speaking of writing…the second installation of this blog series ‘Dietetic Dilemmas’ will be headed your way shortly where I’ll provide YOU with a handy go-to guide and a bunch of life-changing advice to help YOU figure out your special unique place in the nutrition world and how to best go about heading there!

So while I acknowledge that taking the road less travelled by isn’t is a piece of cake, it can truly make all the difference to your life and those you meet along the journey. I am very excited to see where this non-traditional nutrition career path leads us all. You might see me blogging here in a few years’ time as dietitian, and you might not. But either way, I feel now more than ever that I am on the right path to finding my way – and I know it’s going to be okay.

Till next time,

Yours truly,

Chantelle Xx