In this day and age there are many people calling themselves nutritionists but are they really?
Believe it or not in order to become a nutritionist one has to go through quite a few years of theoretical studies . If one wants to be respected as a nutritionist one has to go through the educational process of becoming a certified nutritionist. One can go so far as to getting a degree in nutrition.
The Life of a Nutritionist
In this post I will outline the general process in getting your degree as a nutritionist. First you will have to earn a bachelor’s degree in a related field such as nutrition, community nutrition, microbiology, anatomy and even psychology and so forth. A bachelor’s degree in any of these fields are normally about four years. While studying for your bachelor’s degree it is very common for students to partake in an internship. Once you have earned your bachelor’s degree find out what the requirements are in your state to become a licensed certified nutritionist. Most states will require that you be a graduate of an approved bachelor’s degree program, and then complete a practice program which is always followed by a national examination. And just like many other professional licensing professions one has to continue with CE, which is continued education after so many years. One can then decide to extend your knowledge in nutrition by getting degrees in other fields such as medical nutrition therapy, molecular biology and so forth. One can go so far as to attain a doctorate in a field that will complement one’s nutritionist qualifications.
A nutritionist is a person that studies nutrition, and normally nutrition that concerns humans. Despite what some people may think, in order for one to be called a nutritionist one has to be licensed and one will also be legally bound. Unfortunately there are people out there that call themselves a nutritionist or a diet expert but have absolutely no theoretical knowledge concerning the subject. Like I have said before every state in the US has different licensing criteria for being a licensed nutritionist.
A certified nutritionists life is pretty much the same as many other people. A typical day would be to answer phone calls,emails, update website information, making sure that you are on par with the latest nutritional information and research that is out there and of course the most important part is consulting one’s clients.
When consulting with a client a nutritionist will inquire about the clients sleeping habits, eating habits and other habits that involves the client’s general health and well-being. The nutritionist will generally come with calculated programs for their client. The nutritionist will come up with a dietary program that involves the intake of food and the nutritionist will also advise their client on certain exercise programs and will also introduce a supplement program too. The nutritionists main goal is to help people become healthier. One will find that as a nutritionist one is always part of a bigger group of experts. An example of this would be when a medical doctor refers his or her patient to you due to your expertise in nutrition. Another example would be a fitness trainer will recommend that his or her client to you as a nutritionist to make sure that their client performs to their best ability and to make the desired goals attainable much quicker and healthy.
The pros and cons of being a nutritionist. According to me there are many pros in being a nutritionist. One of the pros that I will put on top of my list will be the fact that a nutritionist lands up meeting many people. Getting to know people is my passion, and as a certified nutritionist getting to know what people eat every day gives me a chance to get to know them at a much deeper level. As a nutritionist one develops a very close relationship with one’s clients. The fact that a client will trust you with their health bears a great responsibility. One can almost not help from developing close relationship with the client due to this reason. It is very common to have a strong friendship developed between a client and a nutritionist, due to the amount of trust that is given to you. So if you like people and the like spending time with people, and you like promoting a healthy lifestyle then being a nutritionist might be right up your alley.
Another pro in being a certified nutritionist is that this particular field is always evolving, always changing and continually growing. There is continually new research coming out in regards to eating healthy, new research on foods, new nutritional techniques and so forth. So the field of nutrition will always stimulate you if you like learning, the education will never stop. Fortunately we live in a world that information is easily accessible, because of the internet nutritionists from all over the world share their knowledge and information on various forums, so it’s easy to stay abreast of what the latest information is regarding nutrition.
If one is entering into this field it is important to know what the potential earnings is going to be at the present time and what it is projected to pay in the future. The demand for qualified and certified nutritionists is growing every year. Normally one will take two routes when earning a living as a nutritionist. The most common route is to be employed by a health company, nutrition company and so forth. The other route as to go into private practice and work for yourself. The average certified nutritionist earn between $55,000-$75,000 per year, while being your own boss and having your own business could have its pros and cons. If you are a self motivated person and if you have your own business you could do pretty well for yourself.
So I hope that I have shed some light on the field of nutritionists, and hope I have inspired you to follow your dreams and I also hope I have created some form of enthusiasm in you to follow your part as a future nutritionist.