Personal trainer Eva Meyer loves her food and she wants you to love it too.
As a qualified nutritionist and self-confessed foodie, she can plan a balanced, delicious and realistic menu to help you:
- Feel more energetic and well in yourself
- Improve your performance in training
- Support your body’s recovery from stress, illness or injury
- Lose weight in a natural and realistic way
- Enjoy clearer skin and a healthy glow
Your meal plan can also be designed to compliment a personal training programme.
What happens in a nutrition consultation?
You can book a time to meet Eva in person or chat on the phone. During the first consultation of 30-45 minutes, she’ll ask you detailed but judgement-free questions about your goals, and:
- work and family life
- what you like to eat and cook
- foods you dislike
- eating out
- dietary requirements eg vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan
- food allergies and intolerances
- medical history – illness or injury
- current exercise program
- any religious or cultural requirements
Eva will then write a 7-day personalised meal plan with recipes. It may take a further 2 consultations (or a few emails back and forth) to tweak and finalise the plan.
Eva answers your questions about nutrition
Why should I worry about nutrition if I’m already working out?
Your mind and body will always benefit from having a healthier diet. If you put better fuel in, you’ll get better results – it’s really as simple as that.
Even if we already eat pretty healthily, we can always do a little bit better, so I help my clients make small changes that help them achieve incremental improvements to their performance.
Don’t worry, I won’t tell you to give up lunch at the canteen, pizza on Friday or your favourite takeaway. It’s all about finding a balance that helps you to achieve your goals.
Isn’t nutritious food all salads and boring stuff?
I love to make fresh food that smells and tastes amazing. And it really improves my mood to eat a meal that looks great on the table.
Salads definitely have their place, but I like to cook from cuisines all over the world and no flavours or ingredients are off limits.
When I design meal plans for my clients, I always take into account their favourite ingredients and leave out things they know they won’t eat. Why would I force you to eat kale if that doesn’t suit your palate? Let’s make our food inspiring and keep it realistic.
Will I have to start calorie counting?
Changing long standing habits around food can be challenging. I’ll work with you to create a healthy new routine around food that you can live with.
I promise you won’t have to count calories, avoid entire food groups or give up all your favourite treats. I’ll make sure each recipe has the right balance of protein, fibre and all the other important stuff, so you don’t have to do any in-depth research or nutritional mathematics, or skip dessert!
To be clear – I’m not into keto, Atkins or any of the other popular but severely restrictive diets. I don’t believe those diets are realistic or healthy in the long term and I won’t be offering you versions of those!
Is cooking healthy a bit fussy and time intensive?
Time is precious and none of us have enough of it. Some of us love investing time cooking elaborate meals with loads of ingredients from scratch. Others prefer to keep it quick and simple so they can get on with the rest of their lives.
I’ll recommend recipes that are achievable within your budget and schedule. Sometimes all it takes is a few tweaks to a favourite recipe to make it more balanced – so that’s why we’ll look at meals you already like to cook. I can also offer you some new and interesting ideas to help you expand your repertoire.
With kids, there are additional challenges since they’re often pretty fussy with vegetables, spices and need less sugar and salt than adults. I’ll make sure your meals are practical for the whole family or can be easily adapted to suit a variety of tastes.
Eva’s favourite pudding recipes
Just to give you a flavour of my style, here are some quick and easy desserts to try. Enjoy!
Super easy chia pudding
5 mins to prep, 2 hours to set
This is one of the all-time easiest desserts to make. It’s super family-friendly and can be so easily adapted to any taste. It makes a great breakfast/brunch item too. Look for chia in the supermarket near other seeds, grains and pulses.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds per portion/bowl (use 4 tablespoons chia for a thicker pudding)
- 1 cup of liquid – coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk or water
- a handful of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or chopped mango to top
- a drizzle of honey, a dusting of cocoa, a sprinkle of flaked toasted almonds or a dollop of nut butter can be nice to change it up
Equipment
- mixing bowl and spoon
- measuring spoons
- serving bowl/jar
How to cook chia pudding
- Stir chia seeds and milk of your choice in a bowl
- Once the chia pudding mixture is well combined, let it set for 5 min
- Give it another stir/shake to break up any clumps of chia seeds
- Cover and put the mixture in the fridge to set for 1-2 hours or overnight
- Spoon into serving bowls/jars and top with your choice of fruit and nuts
The chia pudding should be nice and thick, not liquidy. If it’s not thick enough, just add more chia seeds (1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon at a time). Then stir and refrigerate the pudding for another 30 min or so.
Raw key lime mousse
10 mins to prep, 2 hours to set
This dairy-free dessert is a healthy and surprisingly creamy treat for up to 4 people (or 2 greedy ones).
Ingredients
- 2 ripe avocados
- 6 soft dates without stones
- 1 pomegranate, seeds scooped out and separated
- finely grated zest and juice of 2 limes
- handful of mint leaves
Equipment
- spoon, knife and bowl
- hand blender/food processor
How to cook raw key lime mousse
- Cut the avocados in half. Remove the stone and scoop out the avocado flesh into a bowl
- Add the lime zest and juice and the dates
- Use a hand blender to pulse until completely smooth or blend all ingredients in a food processor
- Taste and add more lime or dates if you like
- Spoon the mixture into 4 small glasses and chill for 2 hours to firm slightly
- Serve with a generous amount of pomegranate seeds piled on top
The mixture can be stored for a couple of days in the fridge in an airtight container.
Easy Peasy Apple Kompot
10 mins to prep, 10 mins to cook
I am German, and we love to have apple puree (also known as apple sauce or compote) all year round. It’s so versatile – serve it for breakfast on hot porridge or cold with yoghurt and muesli. You can also use it as a sauce for pork-based dishes and it’s sweet enough as a dessert with a little cream. If for some strange reason you have leftovers, it keeps well in the freezer.
Ingredients
- 10-12 apples in the variety of your choice, peeled and cut in chunks
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 cup water
- handful of edible flowers (optional)
Equipment
- cooking pot
- vegetable peeler
- knife
- serving bowl
- hand blender or food processor
How to cook apple compote
- Bring water to the boil in a pot on the stovetop
- Add apples and cinnamon and bring back to a slow simmer
- Cook for 5-10 minutes until apples are soft
- Serve the apple a bit chunky or blend to smooth puree if preferred