College of Naturopathic Medicine nutritional therapy graduate Carli Foster explains how her studies gave her the sense of purpose she needed.
Life is too short to feel stressed and miserable. It’s important to take action and do something about it before it’s too late, especially if it’s impacting your health. That’s what I did.
After a Master’s Degree in Reproductive and Sexual Health Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, I worked in a series of demanding, intense roles in the financial sector.
But my career brought 10 years of chronic stress and long hours with no work-life balance. I was at breaking point, running on adrenaline, not eating properly and experiencing chest pains. The turning point came when someone asked me what I wanted my legacy to be. It was a wake-up call.
Putting things right
Using exercise to help me cope with the stress, I went to an event about nutrition organised by my trainer Keris Marsden, a CNM graduate, and Matt Whitmore of Fitter Food. I was hooked. I’ve always been interested in health but at that point I was exhausted, stressed, my hair was thinning and I was still struggling with acne and a hormone imbalance.
Working with Keris and Matt transformed my health and my perspective on life. I realised the damage I was doing and that I needed to fix it. I also realised I had a huge desire to help other people but the voluntary work I had done over the years wasn’t enough. There was no fulfilment or meaning to my life.
Fascinating, intense and fulfilling
So I decided to study with CNM. The clinical experience, observing and working with clients was fascinating, emotionally intense and fulfilling. It challenged me, pushed me outside my comfort zone and gave me an incredible sense of meaning and purpose.
I feel so happy that I’m now on a path where I’m excited to get up in the morning because I can make a difference to someone’s health and wellbeing. I no longer feel stressed and miserable, I feel like a new person.
I’ve been able use my knowledge from the course to build a really good healthy foundation for myself. I now have a beautiful, healthy baby girl at the end of a great pregnancy. I’m planning to specialise in female health and fertility doing what I love, which is making a positive difference in people’s lives.
