‘Limerick City & County Council recently worked with Food Choice and in particular with Oliva Beck the Senior Operations Manager and Senior Registered Nutritionist with Food Choice to deliver their 6-week Food Choice Nutrition Programme  for staff. The programme offered employees a chance to take part in a consultation with Olivia. It was an excellent programme and Olivia was excellent in delivery. The advice offered was very practical and impartial with everyone given an opportunity to ask questions and Olivia was so generous with her time – often running over on the agreed timeframe for each session. It included easy recipes to follow with useful guides and tips. This company have been a pleasure to work with and the quality of this programme has been excellent. They were very flexible and accommodating with their information sessions which we ran online during lunch to accommodate as many staff as possible. We would have no reservation to recommend them to others in need of a similar programme.’

“The 6-week program has been a positive and insightful experience. I have gained a better understanding of the impact of my food choices on my overall well-being. This program has truly been valuable in that I have been able to rectify and acknowledge my dietary habits that have contributed towards shaping my approach to eating. The recipes are great in terms of letting me expand my food choices and meal ideas. I did notice a big difference when I eat my meals disconnected from all things digital: I eat slower and enjoy my meals better. The goals set during the program have allowed me to shape my dietary patterns and be more mindful of my hunger cues. I will commit to the habits implemented.”

From the beginning, Food Choice were easy to work with and took the time to understand the unique needs of our workforce. Olivia and Mary Jo designed a program that was tailored to the specific nutrition goals, dietary requirements and lifestyle factors of each individual they worked with. The feedback we received from our employees has been overwhelmingly positive. Many of them reported that the sessions helped them make significant progress in reaching their nutrition goals and making healthier choices in their daily lives.We believe that investing in the health and well-being of our employees is critical to our success as a company and we are grateful for Olivia and Mary Jo’s expertise and commitment to helping our employees achieve their nutrition goals. We highly recommend Food Choice to any company looking for a partner in improving the health and well-being of their employees.

“I signed up to the program with already a good foundation knowledge of nutrition, but Sorcha has definitely helped me fine tune my diet. We set my goals together which aligned with the fact I’m running a half marathon in May. The plan Sorcha set me on has so far worked a treat, I have felt an increase in energy (even though I’m running over 20km a week in practice!). I am definitely going to continue with my goals and fine-tuned diet moving forward. This program more than anything has kept me more accountable to my own diet, and I’ve become more mindful when it comes to food. Thanks again, Sorcha & food choice at work for running this program.”

“Really enjoyable programme, really helped me think about the food choices I make and gave really helpful advice surrounding how to stay healthy. Daniel gave me many good ideas in terms of recipes and snack options that I have implemented into my every day habits and helped me think deeper into the certain choices I make. My overall goal was just to have better habits in terms of diet and to keep them in place, which I think has been achieved. The program was really enjoyable.”

“Olivia was brilliant and gave me food for thought on choices of foods to replace other foods and still feel like I’m not missing out.”

“Good information, useful recipes, I’m happy that the sessions were not focused on weight loss or restriction, as requested. Good information on easy ways to add in more nutritious choices without cutting things out totally. The sessions made me more conscious about the choices I was making and to think more about what options where available to me. I want to continue making small and manageable improvements to my diet and to my eating habits. main goals are to increase vegetables, increase protein and reduce cholesterol levels in the long term. These are ongoing improvements.”

“The way the programme was delivered by Olivia was motivating. Keep doing what you all are doing – it’s definitely helping people like me that’s been struggling to lose weight and constantly feeling guilty about not being able to stick to diet programmes.”

“Very enjoyable and helpful to understand better my eating habits and how to improve them in order to become healthier, fitter and have more energy. The programme helped to understand the better choices to make for healthy eating habits. It has been a great reminder. This programme has been great and I hope to continue maintaining healthy habits and pay more attention to portion sizes and the ingredients used for the cooking. This is a very good programme to encourage healthy habits, get a better understanding of size portions, food types and the weekly follow up is great to keep on track and commit to the programme. Thanks Daniel for your help and encouragement on these past few weeks.”

The 6-week program was excellent, there was loads of learning and in my case unlearning’s about food. Being able to reintroduce previously perceived “bad foods” such as nuts & avocados. To not being afraid of certain food and to enjoy them in smaller doses! There were some really good tips and tricks around food, mindfulness and general wellbeing and great easy recipes to follow. Olga was such a pleasure to work with, very professional, knowledgeable and most of all realistic in her advice. I thoroughly enjoyed our weekly catch ups.

“Was a nice pace and good experience. Mary-Jo was lovely and provided loads of good tips on how to improve and adjust certain food habits. I have already had a mainly plant based diet and don´t eat too much meat. My main issue was with eating out often or being too tired to cook where Mary-Jo gave me amazing tips. This 6-weeks also helped greatly in figuring out, that when I eat proper breakfast and lunch and healthy snacks, I am not graving in the evenings to much and feel longer full and fit.”

I just wanted to say a massive thank you for delivering the 3-week NBI course. The feedback was exceptional, and we have decided to upload the programme to our learning academy so that more employees can benefit from it also. I look forward to working with you both again in the future.

“I really enjoyed the programme. It helped me to make better choices for eating healthy and provided me with some new recipes to incorporate into my weekly plans. It also helped me to start exercising more frequently. I stopped the mid-day snacking on the most part, and choosing healthier options. My nutrition goal was to make healthier snacking choices and go back to making healthier dinners. I have done this and plan to keep that up.”

“A very positive experience where I got advice from Daniel on food swaps. I learnt about alternatives and to add more fish in my diet, as well as taking a Vitamin D supplement during winter months. I joined the programme to improve eating habits to prepare for the menopause, we had a webinar during the course that I attended which was very informative, and I aim to maintain the tips and habits I have introduced during those 6 weeks.”

“A really rewarding experience that was tailored to my needs. Daniel was knowledgeable and able to offer advice in areas that I would like to improve regarding my eating habits. I felt listened to, and appreciated the advice that was given to me. I had started to make some changes to eating habits before this programme, but was struggling with feeling ‘full’ after lunch. Daniel suggested adding a protein element to my lunch and this has massively helped. The other positive change has been with switching from crisps to unsalted nuts when a snack was needed mid-morning. I have also realised that my portion sizes for pasta were way too big! The biggest challenge has been to increase fish into my diet, as when cooking for a whole family (that say they don’t like fish!) is tough, plus the cost of fresh fish needs to be considered. Daniel has helped by suggesting to buy frozen fish fillets, which we have now adopted. I had a target to reach 85kg, but a few weekends away with work meant that my eating patterns were altered. I am motivated to reach this body weight before mid-June as we’re going away and I’d like to feel more confident on the beach! A fantastic programme which has put me in a good place with eating habits and patterns, and I will continue to adapt these for the better. Thank you!”

“The 6-week program was excellent, there was loads of learning and in my case unlearning’s about food. Being able to reintroduce previously perceived “bad foods” such as nuts & avocados. To not being afraid of certain food and to enjoy them in smaller doses! There were some really good tips and tricks around food, mindfulness and general wellbeing and great easy recipes to follow. Olga was such a pleasure to work with, very professional, knowledgeable and most of all realistic in her advice. I thoroughly enjoyed our weekly catch ups.”

“The programme has been interesting, educational and a lot of fun!  I started to prioritise the timing of macronutrients in with my exercise regime allowing me to progress my strength and workouts immensely as opposed to worrying most about the calorie density of food and then preventing myself from fuelling up correctly. I found my performance was increased as my satiety was achieved through the types of foods I was being recommended. The support and motivation that I have been given from my consultant Lujain has been wonderful. Thank you for supporting me on my journey and being there for me!”

“It was a great learning experience and a definite eye-opener to nutrition. It allowed me to be aware of my diet and keep an eye on my daily intakes. As far as my daily nutrition goes, the feedback from this program has shown me the correct way to approach my diet and so I plan to maintain this as I want to see improvements, not just in my daily life, but also for gym performance.”

“I found the programme very informative.  Olivia was very good and encouraging throughout the 6 weeks. Information was excellent from the programme, very easy to follow, and Olivia answered all questions and was always very encouraging. Thank you.”

“It was really useful to chat with a professional to remind me of food choices and the support in understanding what my intake of protein and carbs should be like. By gaining awareness of the contents of certain foods, I started making more conscious decisions about what I eat. It was good to dedicate the time to learn this.”

At Irish Life Wellbeing we look for the best in class partners to support our tailored client programmes. Our partnership with Food choice has enabled us to build credible nutrition programmes supporting the diverse needs of our clients and these programmes have grown from strength to strength.

“It has been a great experience, I’ve learned a lot from it and any questions I had were answered. Also, the weekly check ins were very helpful to stay focused on making changes. I have made a number of changes over the past few weeks including the following: Started taking a Vitamin D supplement, started measuring carbohydrate intake particularly at dinner, potatoes, pasta etc, increased fish intake, now having at least one portion for dinner each week, aiming to get two where possible as recommended. Focused more on increasing carbohydrates when coming up to a race to improve performance. Increased fruit and veg intake particularly at lunch time or adding as a snack. I plan to maintain the changes I’ve made the last few weeks as they were introduced one at a time it was much easier to manage and I feel now I can sustain these. Yes, I feel I have made a lot of positive changes as a result of this experience that I plan to maintain. Excellent programme I would highly recommend to anyone, thanks Daniel for all the great advice.”

“Eye opening and informative!  Very positive rather than a finger-pointing exercise.  Far more do-able in terms of small changes rather than an overhaul of everything at once. Realised that weight loss is not an overnight event – it is a process and I feel empowered to do this going forward.”

“It’s been useful to take an in depth look at my nutrition patterns and intake and to modify my nutrition and eating behaviours accordingly. The programme has provided me with great health benefits like better digestion, more energy, better mood and has supported me to lose some weight. It was useful to talk through what could be achieved without radically changing my habits. The programme has kick started a momentum of healthy eating and positive behaviours for me.”

“It was a great learning experience and a definite eye-opener to nutrition. It allowed me to be aware of my diet and keep an eye on my daily intakes. As far as my daily nutrition goes, the feedback from this program has shown me the correct way to approach my diet and so I plan to maintain this as I want to see improvements, not just in my daily life, but also for gym performance.”

“It was really useful to chat with a professional to remind me of food choices and the support in understanding what my intake of protein and carbs should be like. By gaining awareness of the contents of certain foods, I started making more conscious decisions about what I eat. It was good to dedicate the time to learn this.”

“Mary-jo was amazing. She’s an empathic listener and gave me great ideas how to change my diet. She addressed my needs and gave me easy and quick options for my breakfast. She encouraged me when I had a stressful week and feel back into old habits. I got back on track quickly after that session. The consultation was great. We addressed health issues and I finally felt like I was being taken seriously. Thank you Mary-jo! Really appreciate it.”