You are what you eat – Jess’ dietitian journal

[Natasha.97]

^ Yes, I know it’s extremely cliché, but it’s true!

Hi! I’m Jess, and I finished the HSC in 2017. I’ll be doing a Bachelor of Science for the next 3 years with majors in Nutrition Science and Physiology, and if all goes to plan, another two years in the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics

Why become a dietitian?

I knew that I wanted to do something Science related, but specifically pinning it down to becoming a dietitian wasn’t until last year. I wasn’t the healthiest growing up (Macca’s every day, confectionary, chips, you name it!) but as I had various extracurriculars, I didn’t see the side effects until I quit them. I put on a LOT of weight and that just lead to more binge-eating junk food and extreme quantities of sugar (I put 10 packs of sugar in a cup of hot chocolate ). In the back of my mind, I knew that this lifestyle wasn’t exactly sustainable in terms of prolonging my life (I have an extremely high risk of developing diabetes) but I just didn’t know where to start. A friend dragged me to the local gym and signed me up for a free trial and a group fitness class the same day. I tried it and absolutely fell in love with it! The adrenaline and the release of ‘happy’ hormones were so addictive, I signed up for a yearly membership ^^
It was through going to the gym regularly that I realised how much of an impact your diet could make, so I guess my career aspiration came from exercise

Why USyd?

There are three universities that offer accredited dietitian programs in NSW: University of Sydney, University of Newcastle, and University of Wollongong. This was a pretty straightforward decision to make, as location was a major factor

This is what my timetable looks like for Sem 1:

Spoiler

I will *hopefully* update this more frequently than my HSC journal! My aim is to use this to hold me accountable by updating posting what I’ve achieved in terms of studying that particular week

[Joseph41]

Nice! I considered becoming a dietitian for a time, and have great interest in it. I even joined the dietetics club at uni haha. For that reason, I'm looking forward to reading about what I missed out on.

Timetable looks pretty hectic - how do you feel about the whole five days per week thing?

[Sine]

your timetable is so stacked  + everyday starting at 8-9am

does contact hours get better for semester 2?

[Natasha.97]

Nice! I considered becoming a dietitian for a time, and have great interest in it. I even joined the dietetics club at uni haha. For that reason, I'm looking forward to reading about what I missed out on.

Timetable looks pretty hectic - how do you feel about the whole five days per week thing?

That's awesome! I don't think there's a dietetics club at USyd

It'd just be like school again! Bit disappointed that I don't have a day off, but there's always the weekend 

your timetable is so stacked  + everyday starting at 8-9am

does contact hours get better for semester 2?

Yeah, this semester is just...  I was expecting it though, choosing all 3 sciences
Sem 2 seems pretty good! 21 hours, and if I get the perfect timetable, Wednesday should be my day off

[RuiAce]

This is what my timetable looks like for Sem 1:

Spoiler

Thursdays will be dreadful

Hi Jess, I didn't know you (secretly) did engineering

[The Special One]

I've definitely gotten very unfit recently hahaha at school I could play football at lunchtime but not anymore.

My diet hasn't changed but if you're not that active you won't be at peak physical condition for long

[blasonduo]

I'm berry excited for this journal! Glad to see you're following your passion

Almost have double the hours at uni than I do, I hope you are prepeared, but I bet you'll have a grape time. I'm so sorry

Seriously though, hope you'll have a blast! Can't wait to see this journal grow.

[kauac]

Yay! I am so keen for some more updates from you Jess! Interested to hear how you find each of the subjects, and it might even give me an idea about what I'm in for next year (hopefully). 

I even joined the dietetics club at uni haha.

Oooooh. I hope there will be a dietetics club at the uni I am (hopefully) going to!

[fantasticbeasts3]

yay!!! so excited to read your journal! :-) best of luck for this year (and those 8am starts... oh dear)

[beatroot]

Been waiting for you to start a uni journey journal hehe can't wait to read your future updates !!!!

[brenden]

This is great. K8 will be a physio, you'll be a dietician... I'm set for life.

[dancing phalanges]

Can 100% relate to this - I'm a massive health freak with what I eat to the extent that it is now an expectation that I bring bird seeds to anything I go to with my mates (they're not actually bird seeds pretty much just a combo of nuts and seeds but they don't get that ahah) keen to read your updates!

[Natasha.97]

I'm berry excited for this journal! Glad to see you're following your passion

Almost have double the hours at uni than I do, I hope you are prepeared, but I bet you'll have a grape time. I'm so sorry

Seriously though, hope you'll have a blast! Can't wait to see this journal grow.

This was... incredible. :3

Yay! I am so keen for some more updates from you Jess! Interested to hear how you find each of the subjects, and it might even give me an idea about what I'm in for next year (hopefully). 

Oooooh. I hope there will be a dietetics club at the uni I am (hopefully) going to!

I don’t start nutrition-specific subjects until the third year :/ I’ll be doing food science units in Year 2 though remember to make a uni journal next year

yay!!! so excited to read your journal! :-) best of luck for this year (and those 8am starts... oh dear)

I spent so long trying to get rid of those, but this was the only possible schedule I could have without a clash   thanks! Can’t wait to read yours as well

Been waiting for you to start a uni journey journal hehe can't wait to read your future updates !!!!

I purposely pushed it back as our timetables are released pretty late compared to other universities (just released yesterday!) look forward to reading yours as well

This is great. K8 will be a physio, you'll be a dietician... I'm set for life.

Indeed.
My brother is also studying to become a physiotherapist as well! My parents always talk about the possibility of opening two clinics right next to each other

Can 100% relate to this - I'm a massive health freak with what I eat to the extent that it is now an expectation that I bring bird seeds to anything I go to with my mates (they're not actually bird seeds pretty much just a combo of nuts and seeds but they don't get that ahah) keen to read your updates!

That’s hilarious! Can’t wait to read yours as well

[owidjaja]

Oooh hello future dietitian! I just saw your timetable and then I thought about the students who take all three sciences- your timetable looks intense! Good luck for this year!

I'm berry excited for this journal! Glad to see you're following your passion

Almost have double the hours at uni than I do, I hope you are prepeared, but I bet you'll have a grape time. I'm so sorry

Seriously though, hope you'll have a blast! Can't wait to see this journal grow.

Ahahahha omg this is puntastic! I love cheesy puns but no one seems to appreciate them- I guess they're laugh-tose intolerant!

[Natasha.97]

Entry 1: March 3rd, 2018

Quite a few things have happened since my first entry :B Firstly, there was the AN meetup at UNSW (I'm probably the last person to post about it!) It was so great seeing y'all again I love how the majority of us weren't even going to study there Day after that were the international night markets, where I yet again ran into a few of you

The week after that (Feb 26th-March 2nd) was USyd's O-week, where I ran into @PotatoHaterTaylor () quite a few times! We grabbed free kebabs together (I mean, who turns down free food?!) I didn't actively look for freebies during this o-week though :/ Following the advice that our mentors gave us (there was a transition workshop), I only signed up for two societies: SciSoc and Quidditch!!! This would be my first "full-contact" sport and I'm really excited to try it out!

Those who have me on Snap would also know that I've had a pretty wild week Parties on both Tuesday and Wednesday, a cruise on Thursday, and the Fall Out Boy concert on Friday. The concert was hands down the best I have experienced (ignore the fact I was in seats for my first concert). This was the first time in the mosh pit, and although I was pushed back and forth quite a bit (especially by 6 people who just had to get in front of our group for some reason), I had a really great time! I previewed the set-list the day before, and I was devo that they weren't playing my favourite song from their new album (Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea - I know, weird name ). A few songs into the tracklist, Pete started on a story but I couldn't quite hear as the crowd was very loud. The last part of the sentence was something like: No matter what you do, stay royal. At that moment, I was wishing that they would play it and they did! It was their live debut of this song, which was incredible to experience, especially as it was unexpected

So uni starts on Monday! I'm excited to see a few new friends that I've made the past week

:o :o :o

I'm in a group chat which consists of roughly 300 people. Out of 300, only 20 replly. I bumped into one of them on the cruise, chatted for a bit and found out that they were going to the concert as well!

Day of the concert: Bumped into them in the mosh pit, then parted ways towards the friends we came with. At the end of the concert, we ran into each other again, talked about how we were heading back home and realised that we lived one street away from each other! They also share quite a few of the same classes with me, including 8am lectures

tldr: Met a bus buddy through an FB group chat

So excited for my first day! Honestly so excited for uni (this may not last as long as I hope!)

I'm just gonna pretend that this is an entry for a generic journal instead of a uni journal