How HelloFresh Will Help Me Recover from My Achilles Injury

What happened to new year, new me? Well, 2023 started off with a bang—I weight-lifted three times a week, became obsessed with the rowing machine, and ran about 3 miles in sprint intervals every other day. My hip pain was lessening, my endurance was increasing, and I felt great... until my body gave up on me again. As I was upping the speed on the treadmill for my final 400m dash, I felt a sudden, sharp pain above my left heel, stiffness in my calf, and a click and twist of the ankle. I quickly pulled myself off the treadmill belt and onto the side so I could stop the movement and that's when I realized I injured my Achilles tendon. I carefully stepped off the treadmill and hobbled towards the elevator, while I tried in vain to act as if all was well because I didn't want to alert anyone. As soon as I got home, I took Advil, iced my tendon and began massaging it as I tried to decide whether I should go see someone or tap into my former athletic trainer skills to rehab on my own.

If you're an aging former athlete who's constantly suffering through multiple injuries as a result of trying to relive your glory days, you'll understand my pain. The older I get, the more prone I am to injuries, and the less likely they are to fully heal. It's incredibly frustrating because running is the way I unwind and relieve stress, but these days it's causing me more stress and pain than offering any gains.

So, I've been sidelined yet again, and since I've had difficulties walking, I've upped my weekly HelloFresh meal shipments to save me the trip to the store where I run the risk of injuring myself even more.

About HelloFresh

So, what's HelloFresh?  It's one of the most popular meal kit delivery services and subscriptions that helps you save time and money! Not sure what to cook during the winter and don't feel like venturing out into the cold? They've got you covered! Whether you're feeding a family of 2 or 6, you'll get high-quality, pre-portioned and fresh ingredients, along with easy-to-follow recipes that you can choose week by week. It’s no wonder HelloFresh is consistently one of our readers’ favorite meal kits, coming it at #1 on our annual list of Best Meal Kit Delivery Subscriptions.

HelloFresh sources high-quality and totally fresh ingredients like produce (fruits & veggies), organic items, and meat, seafood and poultry from sustainable suppliers and delivers them right to your door. They offer vegetarian, pescatarian, and reduced-calorie menu plans, and you can customize your order, so if you're oddly picky like me (I don't eat pork, beef or fish) simply use the HelloCustom option to swap out sides or proteins.

When you sign up, choose your plan preference—Meats & Veggies, Veggies, Family Friendly, Fit & Wholesome (around 700 calories per serving), Quick & Easy, and Pescatarian—the number of people you'll be serving (2-4), and the number of recipes you'd like to receive per week. Then, confirm your plan and scroll through the meal choices—each week you'll get to choose from over 30 different recipes.

Another Injury Throwing Me Off Course

I know eating healthy makes all the difference, but I've spent the past 20 years of my life eating whatever I want, and then exercising until I felt like I burned off all the calories. Does that sound bad? Yes, I guess it does. As I've said in the past, I have high blood pressure and my family has other genetic health issues that are directly related to what you eat, and while I'm very aware of the impact a healthy diet has on the body, I'm still stubborn and like to live by my own rules.

Since I'll be sidelined for at least two weeks while my Achilles heals, I'm going to stay off my feet as much as possible and rely more heavily on HelloFresh... they just make it so easy! All I have to do is submit my order, wait, hobble downstairs to get my box, unpack it, separate by meals, and cook the food!

I'm not going to risk slipping on ice, whacking my foot (or hitting my Achilles) with the grocery cart, tripping up a curb or step, or doing anything else that may extend the length of time I'm injured, or cause me more pain. And once I'm healed, I'll cut back on my orders again—I tend to go from 2 meals per week to 4 meals per week pretty regularly, depending on my plans and schedule.

The Meals

Well, since I'm back to being healthy, let's take a look at what I ordered for the upcoming week.

I feel like we're in the middle of cauliflower overload and sometimes it's done right, and others it's just a soggy mess. Well, since I love cauliflower and buffalo wings (but not spending $18 for 6 wings), I decided to give this dish a try. This delish dish features cauliflower florets tossed in a spicy tempura batter and paired with tangy, sweet slaw, scallion greens, and hot sauce.

Next, I went the low-carb route and ordered the Creamy Chicken Caesar Lettuce Wraps which come with pre-cooked chicken strips, crispy croutons, parmesan cheese, chopped lettuce and Caesar dressing. They're only 12 grams of carbs and 460 calories per serving

And finally, since I love my Asian food, I ordered the coconut curry chicken. This hearty dish features chicken breasts, bell peppers, cauliflower rice, and a spicy coconut curry sauce. It's a lower-carb, low-cal dish that's only 640 calories per serving.

Remember, if you follow strict diets like Paleo or Keto, you're vegan, gluten-free or allergen-free, HelloFresh does offer some options, but if you're all or nothing with these diets, you may have better luck with a meal delivery service that caters to these dietary needs.

Verdict

In addition to my injury, the weather is still quite dreadful, so I guess any excuse to stay indoors is good enough for me these days. I'd rather have this injury in the dead of winter rather than mid-summer. Once I'm fully healed, I'll slowly start running again and cut back on my HelloFresh deliveries... until I injure myself again, which is a guarantee!