‘Cheese, chocolate and other sweet treats’: A chef’s diet rated by a dietitian

Anna Polyviou is a pastry chef. The 45-year-old shares her day on a plate.

Credit: Art by Eliza Iredale

7am After an hour’s walk around the park, I swing by my local fishmonger to pick up fresh seafood for dinner and grab a piccolo coffee along the way.

8am Breakfast at a cafe is simple yet satisfying: a piccolo coffee, a slice of sourdough toast, two poached eggs and a side of chili jam.

10am From now until 5pm I’m in the kitchen, developing recipes and creating content. At lunch I have a quick bite of salmon sushi and miso soup. There is plenty of taste-testing throughout – from cheese to chocolate and other sweet treats – plus loads of water.

5.30pm I hit the beach and take my dog, Anca, for some playtime, chasing balls and enjoying a frosty fruit icy pole. Then it’s barbecue time! I fire up the grill to enjoy a seafood feast dinner featuring a whole snapper with lemongrass, ginger and chili, garlic king prawns, scallops with lime and coriander, charred octopus, and charred green vegies with haloumi and honey vinaigrette, all served with rocket and paired with a Negroni.

10pm A cup of tea with honey and a dash of milk.

Dr Joanna McMillan says

Top marks for … All that seafood! While oily fish often gets the nutrition spotlight for the content of omega-3s, your other choices are fabulous for protein and often-lacking minerals, such as selenium, iodine, magnesium, zinc and iron.

If you keep eating like this you’ll … Run low on antioxidants and other beneficial bioactives that we get from plants, especially fruit and veg. Adding greens to your barbecue was terrific, but you need more in your day, while fruit provides unique bioactives and fibres (the icy pole doesn’t count!). Watch that the sweet treat tasting doesn’t lead to overeating and replacement of more nutritious foods.

Why don’t you try … Adding mushrooms, asparagus and/or spinach to your breakfast, and a seaweed salad to lunch. Make homemade icy poles using blended whole fruits or snack on a bowl of berries with a few nuts.

Anna Polyviou is an ambassador for BarbeCURE, helping Cure Cancer Australia fund new cutting-edge research.

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