Blog: Food Glorious Food

Did you know the 8th March was Registered Dietician Day? Ever wanted to speak with a dietician or nutritionist about your food requirements? Ever wanted to learn more or become a nutritionist?

Here at St Mary’s University we run qualifications in nutrition and sports nutrition, teaching the truth behind the ice-cream tub and the facts behind the food. Enabling our students to become qualified Nutritionists, our courses breakdown the composition of food, the health benefits of food nutrients and the meaning of diets. We caught up with ex-student Jack Foster to hear what he thought of the course, and what he’s doing with the qualification a year on.

“Last year I completed the ‘Level 4 Award in Nutrition’ short course at St Mary’s University. I was a fitness instructor at a small gym in Isleworth and I decided that the course would be a great opportunity to increase my knowledge, giving me a solid understanding of dietary needs and the skills to advise people on their dietary requirements. After doing the nutrition course, I continued on at St Mary’s to learn about nutrition in a sporting environment, completing the ‘Level 4 Award in Nutrition for Physical Activity and Sport’. At the same time, I also enrolled onto the Personal Training short course at St Mary’s, all of which I completed in 2016.

After a hard few months of work completing the courses, I am now fully qualified Personal Trainer and Nutritionist, allowing me to train clients and give them dietary advice, both sports related and not!

I am now a Personal Trainer at David Lloyd in Heston and also have my own personal training business, which you can find at www.jackfosterfitness.com. I have clients who I see both inside and out of the gym, and write personalised training and nutrition plans to guide them to where they want to be, alongside a public blog of advice and top tips, which you can find here: https://www.jackfosterfitness.com/blog! The course instructors game me advice on how to start my own business, and I now I offer several different personal training and nutritional packages, all of which are flexible around my client’s wants and needs. Now, I specialise in weight management, an area most of us struggle with, applying both nutritional and exercise-based programmes. I also have experience in strength training and cardiovascular fitness, training one client to secure a place in the GB dragon boat racing team, and another through a marathon.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the short courses provided at St Mary’s University- the courses enjoyable and focused, allowing you to get the most out of your session in a relaxed manor, whilst also giving you great contacts within the industries. I would definitely recommend the short course centre at St Mary’s!”

If you’d like to learn more about the nutrition courses we offer, you can read more information on our nutrition short course website http://www.stmarys.ac.uk/short-courses/nutrition-courses.htm, Email us, call us on 020 8240 4321.

We run a range of courses, from exercise and health based qualifications to language classes! Our courses run on average twice a year and you can find full details on what we offer on our website here: http://www.stmarys.ac.uk/short-courses/, where you can also find out more about the personal training course!