Welcome Episode

Welcome to  the Nest of Nutrition. 

My name is Kaylee, I am a future dietician, and I wanted to make a podcast that tries to talk about nutrition in a plain yet nuanced way. Welcome into my nest, where I will dive deep into research about a topic and try to translate it into a digestible format. You see, when I first thought of this podcast, over a year ago (thanks procrastination), I thought that this was filling a gap. However, recently I went back and searched the term “nutrition” in podcasts again. I kept on scrolling--- and scrolling-- and yeah, they seemed to never end. Many are from certified Dietitians. 

So as is a common thread in life in this messy world, I had to face the fact that the idea was not in the slightest original. It made me question- should I even do it?

But here I am anyway, so you are witnessing my decision. 

So who am I? 

I am an undergraduate student who is getting a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. When I finish undergrad I hope to get into an intensive program for 2 years where I can get all of my observation hours and graduate degree simultaneously. So, I will not have an official certificate for a few years. 

Yes, I do want to cry about the amount of school I have left. 

Student debt is no joke, so I will take sponsorships if they get offered to me. However, I will not be pushing you any skinny teas or miracle gummies.  

But again you ask, who is speaking to me?

 I am a dog-loving white girl in her twenties from Indiana with acne who is addicted to her phone, and has attention issues. I feel like that sums me up.

You see: I have a lot of passions, and it took me until my freshman year of college to realize that I wanted to be a dietician. 

Up until then, I had been on a path of possibly trying to become a veterinarian. I grew up glued to Animal Planet and I have always loved animals more than people. 

In high school, I was a part of FFA- which used to stand for Future Farmers of America- and is a student-led leadership organization with a basis in agriculture. The person I am today doesn’t agree about the practices and some of the messages that FFA promotes, but that is a different rant. 

However, being in it engaged me in the idea of growing food, and that interest led me to the alternative forms of agriculture. Urban and community, vertical and hydroponic, rooftop and container: all agriculture that could help give access to food for those who need it. 

I began to understand the power of growing your own food. I am now passionate about the sourcing of food and constantly wondering how we can empower individuals and communities to grow their own food.

I started to understand the privilege it was to have access to a grocery store.

I could list and deep dive for like three hours, so I digress- I will leave it for later podcast episodes. 

See part of what solidified my decision to become a dietician is the idea of preventative nutrition. As a future Dietician, I want to educate my hypothetical patients, not shame them for their food choices. I live in an independent philosophy. 

As a midwest girl, I love lots of fatty unhealthy foods, and I have a crazy sweet tooth. Food is connected to emotions, it can activate memories- good and bad. 

Food is a form of power, it creates community and it is tied to culture.  

As an American, we hear a constant narrative about how obese we are and how all these other countries see as unhealthy and overeaters. I want to investigate the data we have on these things and also how our culture seems to shape the broader sense of society’s relationship with food and health. 

This won’t be a self-help podcast and it isn’t supposed to be advice on what your diet should be- that is between you and a dietician and your doctor- because everyone is different. This podcast will be educational and informative, and encouragement for you to get curious about your food and the food system. 

I am thinking of this as a class, and each episode is a lesson, building on your knowledge from the previous episode. So next episode I am going to explain the difference between a nutritionist and a dietician. I will talk about the certification process, and what all to spot on some of the phony people who are using misleading titles to make you think they got schooling- when they never did. I will investigate the other popular titles such as a “fitness coach”, “health coach” and “wellness coach”. I will also cover some of the specialties that a dietitian might take, and talk about my dream path of my career.  

In my life, I live by the ‘everything is connected’ rule. I also live with a scatterbrain, so I will be reading out my pre-researched script. 

Additionally, I want to be as inclusive of the deaf and hard of hearing community. I will be posting the transcript version of the podcast on my website blog- called Discovering Nutrition. The link will be in the show notes or show description. I will also add closed captioning to this podcast’s video format on Youtube. 

Since I am learning right alongside you about most of the topics I will also link the document of my research in the show notes and at the end of the transcript.

I hope to eventually be able to have guest interviews and experts on the podcast, but for now, it will just be me.

I would love to hear from you though! You can email me at NestOfNutPod@gmail.com.

 

Thank you for listening to this first episode of the Nest of Nutrition Podcast.

I am sending you good vibes and positive wavelengths.  

Stay Curious