Every career has a story. All these stories have all shades of hard work, stress, satisfaction, happiness, etc. Some are planned & some happen accidently. Some are smoothly running, some have breaks while some contains ups and downs. But all these experiences make you stronger. It is too soon to speak about my career path. But this field helps me relate to my day-to-day life. I would like to share this experience with you all.    

I am a Dietitian & Nutritionist. I chose 'Food' as my career. I am a foodie. I enjoy different cuisines, not just eating but I cook, experiment with my food & I am always ready to learn new recipes. Hence, I chose 'Food' as my career.. Yes this is a field about 'Food', about 'Nutrition' & not starvation. Hence I said.. 'I chose 'Food' as my career. We can express emotions through food. It can be care, happiness, love, affection, romance, etc.     

This is  the story of beginning of my career, about my experiences, about opinions of different people about this profession.

When I was in high school, I decided to become a dietitian and took admission in a Home Science College. Back then, in India, people were not much aware about the field of 'dietetics'. So when I used to tell people about my college, the reaction was "Oh...why Home Science? Don't you want to make a 'career'? Why do you want to go to a college to learn things useful for a home or family? Learn it from your mother." When I replied I was doing 'dietetics', they were like "Ohh....from now on, we'll eat a full meal before coming to your home....what will you give us to eat...all 'ghaas-phoos', no oil, no ghee, no sugar" etc.

Initially, these reactions used to make me nervous, but later on, I got used to it and started turning a deaf ear to these comments. I am sure all dietitians would agree with me on this.

As time passed by, I completed my graduation, post graduation and started working for different institutes to gain practical experience & polish my theoretical knowledge . I was a typical fresher; always 'on my toes' to learn new things; applying my knowledge in day-to-day life. In early days of my career, in a typical call from my mother at 2.00 PM on a workday, she used to scold me, "No lunch yet? What is this? You take care of your patients' diets, their meal times and all. What about your meal time? Go and have your lunch first."

This phase also passed by...faster than I thought.... and I got married. This was the time when I temporarily stopped applying my dietetics knowledge in my daily life. All this 'nutrition' knowledge remained at professional level only. Like any other newly married girl interested in cooking, I starting exploring my 'master-chef' skill. Thanks to my dear husband for enjoying all my successful recipes and tolerating all the failed ones.

After few years, with the glimpse of motherhood, like any new mother, I wanted to do the best for my baby. Baby's health depends on mother's nutritional status during pregnancy. In this phase, my knowledge was of great help. My awareness for my diet, physical activity, etc. kept on increasing. Let it be morning sickness, food cravings, mid-night hunger; I was able to keep a balance in everything and  enjoyed food during pregnancy.

After the birth of my baby; for breastfeeding, weaning foods, introducing solid foods & even bringing my own weight down, my knowledge was of great help.

But I must tell you, the biggest challenge is to make your toddler eat veggies & fruits. They are so picky eaters... (If your toddler eats everything, you are the luckiest parent in the universe). But I am not nagging. I am enjoying this phase as well, to the fullest. With the help of my nutritional knowledge & post marriage polished 'master chef" skills, I experiment with different recipes to make my toddler enjoy his meals. All these efforts give so much satisfaction, when  he eats & grows well. I know, day by day, this challenge is going to be bigger with him going to  school, making friends & all the media exposure (we are all surrounded by the media.. you can limit it but can't avoid it). But I know, I will come up with solutions.

All these life challenges make me stronger & grow as a better dietitian. And at the end of the day, when I look back, I feel so proud of the fact that I studied 'Home Science' & 'Masters in Dietetics'. My degrees are not limited to my office desk. My degrees are helping me take care of my family  as well as earn money. I do not leave my knowledge & work in between the walls of my office. I bring it back home, but in my case, it makes my family happy. ' Yes, I am a proud 'Home-Science' degree holder. Yes, I am a proud dietitian'. We are not letting our clients 'starve'. We bring 'balance' in their life. We help them lead a healthy life. Visit a 'Qualified dietitian' once & you'll know it.