In July of 2016, I got redundancy from a software job I was working at the time. This was the first time, in my 17 years working that I have actually been made redundant from a job. I have been in plenty of companies where they had rounds upon rounds of redundancies but it just never involved me. So anyway, it was my turn so off I went with a miserable severance and a big smile on my face. I actually liked the job so it was a pity but it was due to circumstances beyond my control and the redundancies were wide and deep. So in the end, I decided I would deliberately take 4 months off. The job market was and still is good here in Dublin so I wasn’t worried about picking up another job but I was worried about finding a good job.

Anyway, long story short, this was when I decided to run my first marathon and when I started into a Diploma in Health and Nutrition Coaching from IIN.

My interest in food, health, nutrition and its relationship to disease was sparked long before this but this was my first time actually studying the area. I loved it. I didn’t know where it was going to go and the idea of Health Coaching intrigued me.

As part of studying this area, I discovered another college right here, based in Bray that was offering similar courses. The Irish Institute of Nutrition and Health (IINH) also had a 1-year Health and Nutrition coaching course and it was followed by a 2.5-year Nutritional Therapy (NT) course. NT goes far deeper into Digestion, Biochemistry, Immune, Liver, Cardiovascular and Functional Medicine, and it was in person. The online courses are good but there is no substitute for face to face contact and lectures.

So here I am, having started down the path of NT for the next 2.5 years. The weekend just gone was the start of the Biochemistry series of lectures and they were fascinating.  I just completed the exams for the first module today, which was Digestion and they went really well I think. It feels amazing to be back studying something so interesting. I don’t know where this qualification may lead to but for the moment, it feels good to be back in college, even if it is only on a part-time basis.

Yours in health and happiness,

JP