All in a day's work: Alex the part-time actor

All meals at 35-year-old Alex Ellis’ home are vegetarian and made from scratch. Her significant other is a morning person so he is generally in charge of morning food and she takes charge of the evening meal. Lunch is usually dinner leftovers but says she’s not the best at judging portion sizes so probably eats more than she should.

7.30ish

Black coffee and spirulina made from pineapple juice, a banana, frozen berries and spirulina powder to wash down my daily vitamins (evening primrose oil, B vitamins and flaxseed oil). Served to me in bed by significant other. Lucky, lucky me. 1 piece of Vogel’s toast with a poached egg.

11am

An apple and a cup of green tea.

1.30pm

Last night’s spaghetti with tomato sauce.

3.30pm

Cup of tea and a biscuit.

7pm

Homemade paneer curry and naan bread. 1 beer. I’m usually hungry at this point so it’s likely I’ll eat too much too quickly. I’m trying to break the habit by promising myself a sweet treat later.

8pm

Red wine and a few (?) chunks of chocolate

10pm

Camomile tea

Nadia Lim’s nutrition quick fix

Overall you have a well-balanced diet, so even though you are vegetarian I think you will be getting enough iron and vitamin B12 (nutrients that are often lower in a vegetarian diet). Your morning smoothie sounds delicious and nutritious. Eggs are a very nutritious food, containing iron and B12, so it’s not a bad idea to have one a day, especially since there is very little saturated fat in your diet because you don’t eat meat. Try to avoid too much tea and coffee near meal times as it can inhibit iron absorption, whereas vitamin C-rich foods (fruit and vegetables) do the opposite, they increase iron absorption.