Alessandra is vegan and she is knowledgeable about diet, food and exercise. She had a serious knee injury which resulted in her not being able to walk for 8 weeks, and she still had mobility issues some 4 months later. She was seeing a physio who said there was no reason for her not to be back in the gym, however she felt the leg was weak, and there is a considerable difference in size between the injured and uninjured leg.
Alessandra would often skip meals rather than eat something that was not healthy, she can cook but as she lives on her own found it quite time consuming and often relied on protein shakes instead of a meal. Our first priority was getting her to eat enough calories in the day to enable her body to heal and give her the energy to get back in the gym.
We worked on increasing her calorie intake with three larger meals and some snacks. We got some good recipes together so that she could cook larger quantities and chill/freeze portions; then she had ready meals available for times when she didn’t want to cook. Ethically this sat well with Alessandra as we were ensuring we were more economical with heat by batch cooking, and less food waste by batch cooking. Alessandra struggled with eating the quantity needed over three meals, so we worked around four similar sized, nutrient balanced, meals of around 500 calories each, which worked much better for her.
As soon as we got her calories up her leg strength improved and she managed to get back into the gym and by the end of the program there was only a very negligible difference in size between her thighs. What was more important to me was that she was eating a much more varied diet, preparing and cooking more of her own food and relying much less on protein shakes.
Alessandra’s review
Working with Wendy was an absolute pleasure from start to finish. She really took the time to understand and discuss my current eating habits and concerns during our initial consultation session. Wendy gave me a custom-made program, which was really important for me as a vegan with some unusual dietary requirements.
I had recently suffered a knee injury and lost a significant amount of weight due to stress and muscle loss (particularly on my injured leg). I stopped working out and h had started to skip meals if I didn’t think they were healthy. I was unsure as to what would nourish my body best and fell out of love with food. Wendy helped me to increase my calorie intake in a way I was comfortable with and taught me to love food again.
She provided me with tailor-made recipes to suit my every need and showed me how much batch cooking could save my time. This allowed me to eat more meals as I had prepared them in advance and so I didn’t avoid meals anymore.
A couple of months on, now I am back in the gym and the fittest I’ve ever been, and I fuel my body properly so that I am happy and healthy. I have so much more energy throughout the day and eat a much more varied diet. Wendy really helped me through a difficult time where food became a stressful area for me, and my life has changed for the better.
