From injury to a career in healthy lifestyle

Sawyer Cobb was part of a softball team back in her high school days. When she got into college, she got an injury and she thought that would be the end of it all. Thankfully, her healthy lifestyle and habit help her to recover and now, she will be graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in nutrition and dietetics from Abilene Christian University and will begin taking graduate courses in August at Texas State University.

Her higher education journey began at Midland College through dual enrollment courses. She didn’t come from a rich family, so she had no choice, but to work hard and finally her hard work helps her to make it through. She would be graduating as a Magna Cum Laude from her school.

Cobb said that her interest in nutrition stated when she was in high school. She was very active during her highs school years as she participated in softball and volleyball teams. She was very active that she fractured her back one day while playing softball. Her healthy eating habit helps her to recover. That was the time that she discovered the value of nutrition.

“When my back healed, I began to exercise again, and eventually my exercise routine became very vigorous. Then, when I was in college, I broke my sacrum from too much stress due to exercise.”

It was at this point in her life that Cobb learned the importance of a healthy, practical diet and exercise.

“With the help of a dietitian, I was able to finally break free of the food rules and restrictions I had set for myself, and now I truly believe that eating intuitively and enjoying all food is the way to go,” she said. “I refuse to miss out on all the sweet things that life has to offer because I am stuck behind a list of foods that I can and cannot eat. Life is about so much more than calories and nutrition facts.”

She also took up yoga as part of her rehabilitation.

“I love yoga, especially hot yoga,” Cobb said. “I’ve been doing hot yoga for about two years, and eventually I’d like to become a certified yoga instructor. I still do some limited running, but I also believe in taking long walks for cardiovascular fitness.”

At Texas State, she will be working toward a master’s degree in dietetics. After one year, she will apply to the internship portion of the program so she can begin dietetic internship rotations in the Austin/San Marcos area at food service arenas such as hospitals and schools.

In her quest to help others discover healthy lifestyles, Cobb maintains “The Wholesome Blog.” Its objective is to convey that health doesn’t mean eating only kale or running more than 20 miles a week.

In addition to writing in her blog, Cobb also enjoys cooking and baking. Many of her favorite recipes — such as kale, potato and turkey soup and triple chocolate banana muffins — can be found on the blog.

“It’s being able to eat the kale but also eat the pizza and being able to go on a walk with your friend even though you planned on running,” said Cobb. “I want to show people how to eat for nourishment and also for enjoyment and celebration.”