Ambition for Lifestyle Change Essay

When I was in high school during my early adolescent stage, I had various personal experiences that inspired me to become conscious about the food we eat every day. When I was in elementary school, I used to eat junk foods only because they were readily available because my father was a manager at McDonald's, one of the leading fast-food restaurants in the United States. I hated vegetables, salads, whole grains and boiled meals. Every time I could eat fast foods like pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs, French fries, sugar-sweetened soda, chicken bowls, milkshakes, cookie cups. Life was so good, and I enjoyed taking them, and I considered myself lucky for having what I wanted. My friends were eating healthy because their parents who were health professionals influenced them and whenever I tasted their meals, I could not find pleasure in them because they were tasteless and nasty.

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Years later, I realized I was obese with extra fat in my arms, waist, and thighs and started feeling lethargic, dizzy and sick. I noticed I had begun losing concentration in class and my grades became bad because all I could think of is food. On the other hand, I could not do some activities I used to do when I was not overweight like playing with my friends, mountain climbing, swimming as well as skating.

One day I became unconscious in class, and I was rushed to hospital by the paramedics and stayed in the hospital for a week. I was shocked to learn that I was diagnosed with diabetes and it was as a result of high-calorie intake and my obese condition. I was placed on a weight loss program of daily exercise and diet plan. It took me long to adapt to eating the so-called healthy meals which were nasty and disgusting. It pained me to take drugs and injecting myself every day with insulin. The health programs helped me lose weight to normal body condition as I became active compared to the past.

During the time I was visiting the clinic, I was overwhelmed because I was not used to that lifestyle but then my nutritionist encouraged me by sharing how he helped his clients to live healthily and survived terminal illnesses like cancer, kidney failure, high blood pressure and heart conditions have survived it. Later, I remembered my favorite uncle who died of kidney failure because he was an addict of alcohol for a long time. My mother had shared my uncle's experience. His kidneys were completely damaged, and he spent millions of money to have a transplant. After surviving, he started practicing clean eating and lived fifteen years before he died (Joshi 4). I felt emotional, and from that day I realized that I was digging my own grave with junks and I completely changed my diet and promised to help others learn the importance of healthy lifestyle.

My experience together with my favorite uncle's experience gave me an inspiration and courage to have an ambition that will create awareness for healthy living. I developed a desire to help people in my life to start practicing clean eating as early as possible to avoid learning the hard way as I did. I became convinced that if I had not eaten junk as my only meal, I could not have suffered a lifetime condition and so I learned that food has both short-term and long-term effects. Since then, I have a different perspective about food that is essential to know the type of food we eat and how it is prepared.

My ambition to pursue nutrition and dietetics after my high school became so strong because I was a living testimony. Nutrition is the science of food, its components and the interaction of its nutrients with an organism to maintain health and promote growth (Joshi 4). Dietetics is a guide concerned with the management and application of human nutrition in of various disorders (Shaw 3). Therefore, after my fourth grade, I went to university and enrolled in the undergraduate program of nutrition and dietetics which is supposed to take four years.

The concepts of nutrition are nutrients which help to nourish the body which includes carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. The nutrients have different functions in the body, for instance, proteins are building blocks which help to repair and maintain body tissues, and found in animal food. Carbohydrates have a major role in providing the body with energy in undertaking daily activities, as they are found in grains and cereals. Vitamins on the other hand help in energy production and strengthening of body immunity found in vegetables and fruits. Another concept is dietary fats which are dangerous if taken in excess but the body needs them in minimal amounts to maintain the cell structure and absorb fat-soluble vitamins. Dietary fats found in cheese, oils, meat, fish, and nuts. Lastly, minerals are also essential to the body because they protect the heart and the bones or skeleton. Consequently, grains, water, and fruits contain minerals.

I am glad that I managed to attain my ambition of learning nutrition and am learning more about the nutrition concepts and how they are related to each other to nourish the body. I aim to impart knowledge to individuals that lack sufficient nutrients and taken inappropriately, either in excess or inadequate, they can be harmful to the body and cause diseases. My profession has helped me overcome challenges of diabetes and I have found out that it is normal to be diabetic because I practice and stick to my meal plan without fail.

My ambition in life is to create awareness for the lifestyle change, and for that reason, I am committed to my studies to learn more about it. With nutrition course, I can easily reach all types of people by working as community nutritionist, food service manager, the health consultant in food corporations, dietetic technician, holistic nutritionist, health coach or sports nutritionist. Additionally, I can work in care facilities, corporations, community organizations, food industries, non-governmental organizations as well as medical clinics.

I am so much inspired to work in any place which will help enable me to advise people about the importance of lifestyle change and how it helps in preventing diseases. Every day when I wake up, I feel motivated to work hard to learn the skills I will use to counsel people. I strongly feel that am in the right direction of my ambition and my passion gives me determination and the drive to succeed in my career. I have taken time to explore and reflect on my source of inspiration and driving force, and I can gladly say that my purpose in my life is to put a smile on people's faces through the healthy lifestyle. I am privileged to have traveled and explored different parts of the world that enabled me to understand different cultures and how people behave and ways of preparing food during special occasions.

I am self-driven to help the society to make right choices as much as food is concerned. As much I give health advice, I do not forget the less fortunate who do not afford everyday quality meals. I joined a group in college whereby we visit the vulnerable individuals in the society and provide for them food on public holidays to share with them. Most of the institutions we visit are rehabilitation centers, prisons, children homes as well as old-age care centers. We visit most institutions like children homes which depend entirely on donations, buy food for them and share with them to show some love. In children homes, minors suffer from malnutrition, so it is our responsibility to initiate nutrition programs. When we put them into programs, we give them nutrition supplements that will help them gain weight to the recommended level together with health foods. Once in a month, we go back there to make follow-ups and am glad that they respond positively hence the program becomes effective.

Among the activities entails carrying out campaigns about weight control and screening of terminal illnesses like cancer and hypertension. The importance of screening is to identify the problem in its early stages and start early treatment to increase chances of combating the condition and end it completely. I am motivated that am growing in all aspects of life and gaining skills that will help me achieve my ambition as a nutritionist and dietician.

Once I graduate and start working, I would like to change different notions people have about lifestyle change. For instance, I will reach the teenagers especially girls who deny themselves food completely in the name of keeping fit. The media personalities motivate the habit of not feeding, through celebrities and advertisements shown on television in maintaining slim and fit body shape. People should know that denying the body food is not healthy hence may lead to chronic life conditions so they should eat small portions of food frequently.

Apart from that, I will reach out to ladies who practice binge type of eating; a disorder whereby individuals consume large sums of food uncontrollably (Turan 422). People with the binge eating disorder tend to use pills, injections, drugs, and creams when they realize that they are overweight which they believe will help them lose weight in the shortest time possible. I will ensure that I give them advice on how to lose weight in a healthy manner instead of using pills that are dangerous to their health. Most importantly, the society we live in does not know that food is the first medicine which is not costly compared to prescribed medicines from the hospital.

I will let the society know that food can be used to prevent diseases if eaten in the right way. People who practice clean eating are very healthy and have strong immunity hence are less vulnerable to diseases. On the other hand, people suffering from terminal diseases need to understand that even if they take their medicines as prescribed but fail to eat a balanced diet as recommended by a dietician, then they are at a higher risk of health deterioration. I will teach them how to eat according to the diseases they are suffering from. For the instant, a diabetic patient will choose, avoid and prepare food differently from the kidney failure patient.

Conclusion

In conclusion, every person has an ambition and a desire to become successful. Unfortunately, others are not sure of what they want in life hence their life become unsatisfactory. The emergence of aspiration without passion and interest results in disappointments. I love my ambition am working towards, and the experience shared at the beginning of my career. I am optimistic that I will continue to explore my career because the extensive studies continue to doctorate level. My goal is to become a consultant and an international life coach to help the world make a lifestyle choice that will help them in a lifetime.

Works Cited

Joshi, Shubhangini A. Nutrition, and Dietetics. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill

Shaw, Vanessa, ed. Clinical pediatric dietetics. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.

Turan, Senol, Cana Aksoy Poyraz, and Armagan Ozdemir. "Binge Eating Disorder." Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar 7.4 (2015)