Holistic Nutrition

Earlier this year, I was accepted into a program here at school called TRIO Student Support Services. I applied because they help students in the program pay for college; that was my primary reason for applying was to receive free money. However, there are also a lot of requirements I must fulfill each semester to stay a member of TRIO, including monthly meetings with a counselor/staff member and going to various workshops. My counselor recently told me that I needed to decide what I planned to do with my major after college, and I've been thinking about that question a lot recently.

An English major? Psychology and Theology minors? What do I do with those, exactly?
Well, honestly, I will probably never do anything with psychology. I just minored in it because I enjoyed the classes. As for theology, I could potentially use that if i decided to apply for Navigators Core Team after I graduate. Other than that, I don't see much of a use for that minor either.

English. My thought for this has always been to become a journalist; I would LOVE to be on staff at VegNews, Vegetarian Times, Food Network Magazine, or some food related journalism opportunity. Right now, that is where my decision has stayed. I want my future job to involve writing and food. I would also love to write a cookbook or some sort of vegan friendly book. Anything, really. Or write a novel. Hmmm.

Recently though, I've been regretting my decision to become an English major. I'm not going to lie; Xavier's English program is rather crappy if your future job is not going to involve teaching or criticizing books. I really have not learned anything from my English classes and I have learned more about journalism from being on staff at The Newswire and writing and revising tons of articles. Too bad Xavier doesn't offer a journalism major. They should really get on that.

Hahaha- I love this!

I thought about applying to culinary school for college; I should have done that! I mean, come on, I cook all the time and am constantly reading about nutrition (although that's a more recent development, thanks to recently becoming a vegan). It's so enjoyable. I constantly think about food and eating and health related issues.

So, my recent decision is that I should have gone to college at a school where a culinary arts program or holistic nutrition major existed. The University of Cincinnati has a Culinary Arts program as well as Dietetics and Food & Nutrition programs. And they also have Journalism and English majors. I totes could have double majored!

I've found myself studying holistic nutrition. What is it, exactly? According to www.holisticnutrition.com, it is:

Proper Nutrition is the basis for optimum health and well being. Holistic nutrition is the modern natural approach to developing a healthy balanced diet while taking into account the person as whole. Holistic nutrition is considered to be part of holistic health.

Holistic health is an approach to treating a person’s well being by taking into consideration all aspects of life. A long term course of action includes emotional and spiritual health along with the physical body. Modern medicine focuses on treating a symptom rather than the root cause. If a person is experiencing a symptom or chronic condition, the problem has most likely been developing for some time. The goal of holistic nutrition is to facilitate a health recovery plan as well as build a strong foundation for long term optimum health.

• Educating yourself on basic nutritional terms
• Incorporating natural and organic foods
• Overcoming obstacles in practicing holistic nutrition
• Creating simple holistic menus
• Developing a customized holistic diet
• Addressing the role of natural holistic supplements
• Reviewing the latest nutritional studies
• Addressing chronic health conditions with holistic nutrition

Food not only provides the energy needed to function in our daily lives but constantly supplies the nutrients which are required to build and regenerate body tissue, bone, muscle, fat and blood. The nutrients in food are also necessary to produce substances for the chemical processes that take place in our bodies millions of times a day.

Sounds pretty sweet to me. And I totally believe that the way you feel depends on what you eat and how you treat your body. Becoming a vegan has taught me that more than anything.

This is a random picture I found from MaryVancenc.com -
it basically just shows the main foods we should
focus on eating!!

Instead of studying for my final exams this week, I have been trying to find somewhere I could take a class in holistic nutrition over the summer. So far, no luck. I might have to buy some books and read up on it instead. But taking classes would look SO much better if I ever wanted to apply for, say, a summer internship at VegNews (English major + food experience + being vegan + educated in holistic nutrition? WINNER!)

Finally, let me say this: I'm not trying to bash my English major. I appreciate it, I love my teachers, and I'm sure my writing has probably improved (even though I've written so many pointless papers on stupid books I can't even tell you). The English major will totally help me land a job in journalism, and my love for food will help me gain the food aspect of food journalism. 

But what should I do after I graduate? (An early graduation, a semester early, is in store for me, I hope!) Go to culinary school at the Natural Gourmet Institute and complete their 5 1/2 month training program? Apply for a VegNews Internship in California? Stay in Cincinnati and pursue a smaller journalism option? Go to college part-time for holistic nutrition? What should I do?! 

Any advice/thoughts?