All in a day's work: Isaac the production manager

Isaac is 24 years old. His work week involves meeting clients, visiting work sites, factory management and design and programming. He describes his start to the day as “rolling out of bed with the intention to eat something, but I end up leaving the house on an empty stomach”.

He gets to work and his first stop is the coffee machine. After reading emails he is starving and he grabs a pie. Lunch follows with something from the takeaway store.

In the afternoons, client visits often end up at a bar for a glass of wine. Then he heads home for dinner around 7.30pm. “ wish I could say my significant other cooks for me, but no, she’s still getting to grips with being domesticated so it’s either Thai takeaways or Burger Fuel”.

8.30am

Double shot coffee with 2 tsp Milo and 2 sugars.

10.30am

Large steak and cheese pie and a bottle of water. My colleague and I were both craving pies.

1.30pm

Bottle of V and a tom yum chicken stir-fry with rice. Starving and craving sugar.

2.30pm

Three glasses of wine at a client meeting.

7pm

Roast pork with apple sauce and roast veges.

8.30pm

Large 1L punnet of chocolate ice cream. Craving another sugar hit.

Nadia Lim’s nutrition quick fix

There’s a cycle going on here, whereby you are depriving your body of sustained energy, only to feel starved and lethargic, resulting in seeking instant gratification to fill you up quickly or a caffeinated sugar rush, as fast as you can.

Unfortunately, we both know that what follows, as your body tries to cope with the sudden injection of fat and sugar, is feeling low and sluggish. And so the cycle continues.

Break this cycle, step by step, starting with the morning. Have a fruit and vegetable juice before you head out the door (this will at least give you some nutrients you’ve been missing out on), then I suggest you keep a stash of oats or high-fibre breakfast cereal in your desk drawer so there’s no excuse have a pie for breakfast. Starting with a good meal early on in the day will have a flow-on effect to the rest of the day.