Sarah Eglin (DipCNM, mBANT, BEng, ACA)

Hello, I’m Sarah, founder of Healthy, Happy and Strong, and Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (mBANT), cancer nutritionist, and 8-year breast cancer thriver. Prior to retraining in the area of nutrition I was an Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) for 20 years and hold a Bachelor of Engineering Degree (BEng) in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Manchester. I am also a KRI Kundalini Yoga teacher, a practice which I took up shortly after my breast cancer diagnosis and considers to be an important part of my own recovery journey. It brought me a lot of peace at a very difficult time.

In my spare time, I am also a keen triathlete, competing in the world Ironman Championships in 2014 (as an age-grouper) and has also competed as part of the GB age-group team for the triathlon sprint distance (2012). I am currently working towards a qualifying time for London Marathon - I need a sub 3 hours 50 minute marathon time, and in 2025 I hope to complete my first post recovery long distance triathlon, consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile cycle followed by a 26.2 mile run / marathon. I’ve not entered one yet… but that’s my big goal for next year.

Sarah Eglin, Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, qualified cancer nutritionist UK, and eight-year breast cancer thriver is passionate about helping others to similarly regain their health and wellbeing following a cancer diagnosis. UK.

Sarah Eglin: Registered Nutritional Therapy Practioner; Cancer Nutritionist; Breast Cancer Thriver; Kundalini Yoga Teacher.

Healthy, Happy and Strong.

I founded Healthy, Happy and Strong following my own recovery from chronic illness. This started with the onset of chronic fatigue syndrome in 2014, followed by a breast cancer diagnosis 2 years later in September 2016. I found the answers from the medical profession regarding the potential causes of ill-health, and what I myself could actively do to improve my recovery and also reduce the risk of any recurrence to be significantly lacking. They had little to no answers for me, in fact the specialist were quite uninterested in talking about this. As a consequence I have dedicated the last 10 years of my life to working on rebuilding her own health, researching the potential causes of chronic fatigue and cancer, together with increasing her understanding and knowledge regarding the various envirionment and lifestyle factors, together with any other tools and treatments that will support the rebuilding and maintenance of a healthy body and mind.

I have since retrained as a Registered Nutritional Therapy Practioner, but also understand that to regain ones health, nutrition is simply one part of the puzzle. I used a multitude of modalities for my own recovery and I am is truly passionate about helping others to similarly improve and regain their health using a multi-faceted approach.

It has been a long journey for me, one which took more time than I would have hoped for, but healing from chronic disease does not happen overnight, it does take time, it also takes commitment and a strong desire to be well again.

You are the architect of your own health. Let us support you on your journey.

Where it all began

In December 2014 my life changed irrevocably when I was struck down with a virus, my ‘sleeping virus’ as I initially referred to it, from which it took me some 6 to 7 years to fully recover. It seemed to happen overnight, although I suspect that I had ignored/been oblivious to many of the warning signs. My health continued to decline with the virus (later determined to be Epstein-Barr Virus), leading to ongoing and debilitating chronic fatigue. Then, less than 2 years later, in September 2016, whilst 41 weeks pregnant, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. A nightmare diagnosis at anytime but particularly harrowing at a time that was supposed to be so joyful. I intially started down the conventional path, having a mastectomy at 4 week post partum shortly followed by 4 of the 6 prescribed rounds of chemotherapy. The chemotherapy caused a multitude of side effects (i.e. fatigue (I was back there again), prolonged immune dysfunction, bladder issues, nerve damage, and later down the line contributed to a sacral stress fracture). After careful consideration I decided that the conventional approach of poisoning, and burning the cancer away was not for me and I pulled out of the offered treatment and in all honesty have never looked back.

Without doubt it was a very challenging time for me. My life hit new lows as my mental health suffered along with my physical health. Yet through this journey, I grew and transformed in a way that I doubt ever would have happened had I continued along my old trajectory.

Illness can be a huge opportunity for growth and learning. Look to seize and embrace it.

Surviving cancer is often talked about, but simply surviving sounded a poor outcome to me. This was never my goal. I planned and expected to fully regain health (ever the optimist in my potential), and probably most importantly I was prepared and determined to do whatever it took. I’ve always been one of life’s doers and whilst this potentially contributed to my downfall, I knew that I wanted to be able to ‘do’ again. I wanted a life filled with energy, vitality and optimism. I wanted to live without anxiety and fear of relapses or recurrence, and I wanted to be truly thriving long after this set back in my life.

“We fall, we break, we fail... But then we rise, we heal, we overcome.”

Life before..

For 20 years I worked as a Chartered Accountant, latterly managing a busy Finance department within a demanding corporate environment. Outside of work, I exercised hard, training for and competing in various endurance events, such as marathons, ultra-marathons, and long distance triathlons. My emotional life was pretty stressful too, as I bounced from one unhealthy relationship to another, also keeping buried deep with the emotional baggage of a lifetime.

Looking back, I understand how this was clearly a recipe for disaster, but at the time I was completely blind to how my behaviours and habits could effect my physical health. So in 2014, as the various stresses in my life mounted, and without adequate coping strategies, I quite literally ran (cycled & swam) myself into the ground.

What have I learnt?

Being ill for so long allowed me to reflect on my life to that point, and critically assess it and understand how my assortment of unhelpful and unhealthy behaviours could have contributed to my ill health. Above all, I learnt just how important it is to nourish the body and mind with:

Appropriate and sufficient nutrient dense foods.
Appropriate levels of exercise.
Plentiful and restful sleep, and
Healthful, positive relationships.

Whilst also:

Prioritising rest and recovery,
Processing and letting go of repressed emotions, and
Developing strong reasons for living.

All of which feed in to Healthy, Happy and Strong’s 5 pillars for great health - core areas of life essential to maintaining health, and also for enabling the body to shift from a diseased state back to one of great health.

Diet, Exercise, Sleep, Stress Management, & Community

Practical actions/improvements

Given the extent and rapidity of my decline (chronic fatigue set in almost overnight), I had much work to do, and many changes to make to my life and behaviours in order to regain my health. I worked on each and every part, nourishing my mind and body with organic, highly nutritious plant foods, releasing unwanted toxins and emotions from my body through detoxification, psychotherapy, kundalini yoga and exercise. To regain one’s health from such a place of illness, there is much to do, however, it is also important not to do too much at once, as this itself can create additional stress which is not helpful to the process. It is imperative that a balance is found.

Nutrition

Plant based wholefood diet: In early 2015 at the peak of my initial fatigue period I started to think about my diet more carefully and to make changes. I decided to switch to a whole food plant based diet thereby providing my body with highly nutrient dense foods to help nourish and repair both my mind and body. I started to think about and research what supplements and herbs could assist me in regaining my health and the therapeutic doses that would be necessary. I also considered the type of supplements on offer and ensured that I avoided those that contained fillers, additives and such like. In the main, I prefer to gain nutrients through a clean, organic wholefood plant centric diet and support this with organic herbs and medicinal mushrooms as required. However, in times of crisis additional nutritional supplementation can also be beneficial.
Calorie intake: Illness and recovery from traumatic events such as chemotherapy and surgery increases a persons basal metabolic rate and hence energy intake requirements significantly. To recover fully from such events it is vital that calorie intake is sufficient and those calories are packed full of life and health providing nutrients.

Detoxification

In the world that we live in, chemicals are almost impossible to avoid however you can make better choices to reduce the burden that is placed upon your body. I started to buy only organic fruit and vegetables and swapped household chemicals and cosmetics for safer, natural options. I took regular infra-red saunas to help purge my body of the chemotherapy and other toxins that my body had stored away over the years. I also juiced regularly, intermittently fasted and perhaps the most simplest detoxification strategy of all, I switched to carbon-filtered water. I also avoided alcohol, a socially acceptable toxin which seriously undermines the body’s capacity to recover from both illness and exercise.

Psychotherapy

I also worked with a therapist for around 2 years who helped me untangle the emotional mess that I was in. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I had a lifetime of chronically repressed emotions to process and let go of. With the help of my therapist (and saviour!), Diane, I started to open up and shed the shackles of my past and core beliefs that were not serving me. I also needed to equip myself with the tools needed to manage any future emotional turmoil in a more healthful manner, as clearly my previous ways were not working for me. Therapy was most definitely a key component in physical and emotional recovery, and was essential for my personal growth. Without it, I’m really not sure where I would be now.

Meditation

In early 2014 when my stress levels were at their highest I started to meditate. Mindfulness meditation was becoming more mainstream in the West due in part to the work of Professor Mark Williams (Oxford), John Teasdale (Cambridge) and Zindel Segal (Toronto) who co-developed Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Previously, I doubt that I had ever sat still for long with my own thoughts, and I soon realised how peaceful it was to take time to just sit there and follow both my thoughts and my breath. To simply sit quietly and focus on my breathing even if it was for only a few minutes helped calm me greatly in times of need and I soon became rather evangelical about the benefits.

Relationships

Over recent years, I have nurtured more healthful, positive relationships but conversely, I also had to distance myself from those relationships that caused me unnecessary stress. Such decisions are not always easy especially where it concerns family (as unfortunately it often does), but harmful and stress inducing relationships can prevent healing and to give oneself the best chance of recovery, distance, be that temporary or more permanent, may be the only option that one has.

Other therapeutics

Other therapeutics that I trialled throughout my journey with varying degrees of success and with varying degrees of evidence to support their efficacy were, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), high dose vitamin C injections, high dose vitamin B12 injections and coffee enemas amongst other modalities.