Services

SPECIALITIES:
Wendy evaluates and treats patients with eating disorders and disordered eating including: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, female and male competitive athletes, picky eaters, failure to thrive, menstrual irregularities, PCOS, and children/teens with anxiety, depression, OCD. As a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics who works with high performance athletes, Wendy specializes in the treatment of eating disorders in athletes.  She is able to help athletes improve their nutrition to maximize performance including improving endurance, energy, recovery, and strength plus working to prevent injury.  She is well versed in Family Based Treatment (FBT), and works together with your treatment team to help in the recovery process.   She works with children, adolescents and adults, individually or as a family.  Eating disorders are complex and require the help from not only a nutritionist, but also a therapist and physician as well.

Making changes can be overwhelming. My aim would be to start slowly, one step at a time, in a way that would feel comfortable and safe for you. A focus is spent rebuilding one’s relationship with food, with the hope of helping to achieve “food freedom” and lasting, sustainable recovery. Wendy works specifically on helping to alleviate “orthorexic” eating (obsession with eating “clean” or “healthy”) which can become physically and psychologically debilitating.  For more about orthorexia, please visit this blog post, “Moving Beyond Brown Rice.”

Wendy is a co-author of “How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder:  A Simple, Plate-by-Plate Approach to Reestablishing a Healthy Relationship with Food,” and “How to Nourish Yourself Through an Eating Disorder: Recovery for Adults.”  Both books describe the use of the Plate-by-Plate Approach® which is an easy-to-implement visual approach that demonstrates balanced meals —designed to set kids, teens, or adults on a path toward permanent recovery.  

Wendy is also the co-author of “Raising Body Positive Teens” for parents and “No Weigh! A Teen’s Guide to Body Image, Food, and Emotional Wisdom   for teens, by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. “No Weigh” is an easy-to-read guide written for teens by an Adolescent Medicine doctor, therapist, and Wendy as the dietitian. This book helps kids navigate the challenges of adolescence such as stress, changing bodies, sleep, body image, dispelling dieting myths, developing healthy exercise habits, and learning when to “eat to your appetite” and when to stop at “just enough” using your own hunger meter.  “Raising Body Positive Teens” shares many of the same concepts, but for parents including how to navigate meal prep, diet-free parenting, and social media.  

EXPERIENCE:
Wendy is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian and Approved Supervisor through the International Eating Association of Eating Disorder Professionals. Wendy was the Head Adolescent Eating Disorder Dietitian for NS-LIJ’s Cohen’s Children’s Hospital of New York from 2001-2011. Wendy administered and analyzed over 1000 indirect calorimetry studies to determine adolescents’ metabolic needs. She has published research in the areas of metabolism, osteoporosis, and menstruation in adolescents. Wendy worked at the Healthy Teen Project from 2014-2016, where she worked as part of multi-disciplinary team to provide treatment for teenagers struggling with eating disorders.

DURING A SESSION:
During a session, we will discuss your symptoms, current concerns, and goals. I will review your medical and weight history (including growth curve is a child/adolescent), exercise routine, medications and supplements, and of course will review your overall nutritional foundation. We will explore whether your energy consumption matches your energy expenditure, whether your diet is balanced, how frequently you are eating throughout the day, your dietary quality as well as your consistency. We will also explore other concerns that may come up, such as whether there are “good” foods and “bad” foods, rituals around eating, and/or the avoidance of certain food groups. Using a collaborative approach, we will then come up with a game plan. This may include nutritional guidelines, recommendations, and/or a detailed meal plan.

I also like connecting with clients on the app Recovery Record for those who are up for it! This app allows you take a photo of your food or just log what you are eating, and allows me to provide out of session nutrition counseling in-between sessions.

Extra Support:
To support treatment, Wendy also offers:

• Meal outings
• In-office Meal Exposures
• Grocery tours
• Family based treatment

One question: Are you looking to get better?
Specifically, are you looking to be faster, more explosive, and to have more stamina? If so, a comprehensive nutrition sports consultation is essential for reaching that “next level.” Wendy Sterling, MS, RD, CSSD, is a Registered Dietitian and Board Certified Specialist in Sports Nutrition. She works closely with athletes and teams across the country in order to enhance sports performance and gain a competitive edge.Wendy has consulted for the Oakland Athletics, Golden State Warriors and was the Team Nutritionist for the NY Jets from 2006-2013, where she worked closely with the NFL players to improve endurance, speed, and explosiveness.  Wendy has also consulted for the Menlo School, in Menlo Park, California where she has developed an interactive sports nutrition curriculum for their athletes.  She works with several independent schools in the area. She has consulted for the Santa Clara Aquamaids, NY Islanders, Hofstra University Athletics, and was the Sports Nutritionist for Pro Hoops where she worked with basketball players looking to enter the NBA draft. She works closely with Sports Agencies from all over the country to help prepare players for the Combine/Draft.

Athletes and Eating Disorders 

There is a higher incidence of eating disorders present among athletes vs. non athletes. Physical activity helps to improve mood, reduce stress and anxiety, increase energy, longevity, and can help improve body image. However, in the context of an eating disorder, the benefits of exercise can backfire, intensifying one’s preoccupation with food, weight, and shape, while increasing obsessiveness and compulsiveness around the need to exercise. Frequent physical activity, paired with a limited or restricted diet, can greatly impair performance, increase risk for injury, or worse, lead to serious medical consequences. Wendy can help athletes maximize performance and gain an advantage by boosting endurance, energy, and recovery.  Wendy has worked in the eating disorder field for close to 20 years, and can help address dietary issues as they relate to sports performance.

A comprehensive sports consultation will:

• Enhance performance
• Give you an “edge” that separates you from your competitors
• Add strength through added lean muscle mass
• Reduce body fat and increase explosiveness
• Improve energy, reduce fatigue
• Speed recovery and healing time, reduce soreness
• Prevent injury
• Prevent cramps
• Improve your diet!

DURING A SESSION
Wendy teaches athletes how to use diet to get faster, more explosive, and to improve stamina. Whether you are looking to shave body fat, add good quality lean muscle mass, or to improve energy, Wendy will work one on one with you to create a customized meal plan necessary for achieving performance goals. Wendy will provide a comprehensive analysis of each player’s diet. During a one on one session, Wendy will evaluate: meal timing, quality/type of fueling before, during and after a workout, recovery nutrition protocol, hydration/cramping, supplement use, sleep, overall diet quality, and balance/ratio of nutrients to support training. A diet that is insufficient in any of these areas will result in poor performance, fatigue, and failure to meet your goals. Wendy uses cutting edge nutrition practices to create a winning nutrition game plan.

SPORTS PERFORMANCE SERVICES:

1. Individual Counseling for Athletes
2. Sports Team Dietitian
   • Services include:
     • Individual counseling to athletes
     • Team lectures and seminars on areas such as:
     • Strategies for achieving ideal body composition
     • Nutrient timing, including fueling before, during and after exercise
     • Weight management
     • Hydration
     • Recovery
     • How to prevent cramping
     • Food Myths
     • Evaluation of training table and team sports nutrition practices
     • Writing menus for training facility, hotels, planes, long trips
     • Nutrition strategies for improving team nutrition during practice and on game day
3. Combine and Special Event Preparation:
   Wendy helps athletes as they prepare for the combine, draft, and other competitive events. During a nutrition session, we will look at your diet and customize a nutrition program that complements your training schedule. Wendy will work with you during the preparation phase to ensure you reach your weight and body composition goals, while simultaneously focusing on enhancing performance.

Do you wish you had more energy? Do you find that you are stuck in the same daily patterns? Nutrition can effect your mood, energy level, cognitive function, and concentration. During a session, I will conduct a thorough nutrition assessment and we will work together to customize a realistic nutrition program that works for your lifestyle. Additional areas of specialty include: Celiac Disease, GI Disorders, Allergies, Heart Disease, Hypertension, Diabetes, ADHD, Anxiety, Depression)

Wendy can provide nutritional expertise for corporations or pharmaceutical companies looking to provide their consumers with nutrition education. Wendy has previously worked with AstraZeneca to deliver healthful nutritional strategies to their consumers.

• In Home Consultations
• Grocery Shopping Tours
• Customized Menu Plans
• Healthy Cooking Demonstrations
• Family-based Nutrition Programs

Wendy Sterling is an Approved Supervisor CEDS-S through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedpTM) and is available for consultation.  

As a co-founder of the Plate-by-Plate Approach®, Wendy offers supervision on how to use this approach with clients, how to get started with this approach, and troubleshooting for dietitians, clinicians, and eating disorder centers.  

Email if interested in scheduling consultation services: wendymsrd@yahoo.com. 

Wendy is a well-respected speaker and lecturer who has spoken nationally and internally on sports nutrition, eating disorders, and adolescent nutrition. She has spoken to the NY Jets, NY Islanders, Hofstra University Women’s Lacrosse and Volleyball teams, International Academy for Eating Disorders, International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, American Camp Association, Greater New York Dietetic Association, as well as local schools and teams.

As a co-founder of the Plate-by-Plate Approach®, Wendy frequently lectures on how to use this approach to treat eating disorders and help clients to restore their relationship with food.  An interactive and engaging lecture might include steps on why someone might choose this approach over others, how to implement this approach, plus visual photos of what meals might look. Wendy has worked with facilities and institutions nationally and internationally. 

Submit an inquiry to find out more! 

Topics:

• The Plate by Plate Approach®
• RED-S: Relative Deficiency in Sports
• Raising Body Positive Teens
• Adolescent Nutrition: What You Need to Know
• Fueling for Academic and Athletic Success
• The Female Athlete: Multidisciplinary Management
• Eating Disorder Prevention
• Eating Disorders and Nutritional Rehabilitation
• Coping with a Picky Eater: Tools and Tricks for Increasing Variety
• Nutrition for Peak Performance
• Eating on the Go: Nutrition Strategies for the Busy Professional
• Decoding the Supermarket and Shopping for Success
• Feeding Your Family – Kid-Friendly, Nutritionally Sound, and Parent Approved Meal and Snack Ideas