A Portglenone businesswoman has been awarded a second Wellness award this year. Mighty Women NI awarded Sarah Lacey the accolade of Wellness Specialist 2024.

In September 2023 Sarah also received the High Commendation as Wellness Specialist at the Northern Ireland Health & Fitness Awards and indeed was awarded Nutritionist/Dietitian of the Year, at the Northern Ireland Health and Fitness Awards 2022.

Also in August 2023 against stiff UK based competition Sarah was voted Best Psychological & Nutrition Coach 2023 at the GHP awards.

Sarah Lacey, who runs Nourish and Nurture NI, was crowned the worthy winner at a recent Mighty Women NI Awards ceremony at the Titanic Hotel in Belfast, where hundreds of inspirational women and business owners across Northern Ireland were in attendance.

The judging panel consisted of a panel of ‘mighty women’ and deemed Sarah’s efforts in wellness in mental health, mindset, nutrition, and menopause transition the winning contender.

Sarah founded her business in 2020 just as the Covid-19 lockdowns commenced.

It proved to be an opportune moment for Sarah as the world turned to online platforms during a time when many companies were physically forced to close their doors.

Sarah has worked as a Cognitive Behaviour Therapist in the NHS for 20 years, over lockdown she progressed through her Nutritionist qualifications until she gained a Level 4 Nutrition qualification which perfectly complemented her clinical skills.

She identified a gap in the market where she could combine her specialist CBT role with her Nutrition coaching, thereby addressing both physical and psychological issues that affect weight loss, emotional eating, anxiety and low self-esteem.

Sarah believes there is a correlation between psychological health and nutritional health, which works on the premise that if you feel differently, you will eat differently, thus reducing instances of overeating and other forms of self-sabotage.

A busy mum of two, Sarah draws on her own weight loss and well-being journey in order to help and advise her clients. She has lost 55lbs post partum while battling chronic autoimmune disease. Through emotional regulation, stress management and optimising nutrition she successfully lost this weight and regained her confidence as a woman and as a mum.

She is also keen to dispel the misconception that women with thyroid issues, who are chronically stressed and sleep-deprived, are unable to lose weight.  She highlights that she is “living proof” that weight loss in this situation is achievable.

Based province-wide and online, Sarah is keen to provide her specialist input to businesses in order to support staff and managers in order to provide her Food & Mood Freedom Academy to both minimise incidences of sick absence and to help staff in their transition back to work after a period of sick absence. Sarah believes this is particularly important given the difficulties in accessing timely and appropriate specialist support that will improve wellbeing in a preventative manner as well as a rehabilitative measure.

Northern Ireland has the highest rate of mental health in the UK which costs our economy £3.4 billion each year and is the leading cause of employee absence, therefore prioritising employee wellbeing in timely and effective ways is essential for a successful organisation.

This is why Sarah is actively working with local businesses to improve company physical and mental health which will in turn enhance work performance, productivity, reduce instances or duration of sick absence and facilitate phased returns to work, thereby reducing business costs and fulfilling their duty of care to staff.

She specialises in women’s hormone health especially menopause transition, however, she works with men as well.

She said: “I am absolutely delighted to have received this award in recognition of the work I do and hope to be able to coach groups in order for the effects of my coaching to reach more people.

“I empower, educate and support stressed out individuals to become emotionally – as well physically – resilient, so that they can skyrocket their wellbeing both at work and at home and minimise the effects of stress, illness or injury using evidence-based strategies and paradigms.

“There is no Personal trainer or Nutrition coach in the area who is also an accredited therapist, nutritionist and menopause specialist – in one person.  To pay for these services separately would be much more expensive and I am providing my unique set of specialisms in one person.  This means that businesses can access specialist wellness support at a fraction of the cost.”

Sarah is keen to collaborate with Northern Ireland businesses to enhance their corporate wellness plans through her customised and coach-led programme and welcomes any enquiries in this regard.

You can contact Sarah through the following ways:
Telephone: 07796614738
Email: Sarah@nourishandnurtu.re

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