One banana, a date, and nuts: How a dietitian would improve this post-run breakfast

Karima Hazim is a cook and author. The 37-year-old shares her day on a plate.

6.30am Double-shot coffee with milk, followed by a large glass of water.

9.30am After school drop-off and a seven-kilometre jog I have a banana, one medjool date and a few walnuts. I don’t usually have breakfast on days I’m in the kitchen testing recipes, like today, because I’ll be eating all day.

11.30am Three fried sardines with lettuce, pickles, chilli and spicy taratour [garlic sauce] in a Lebanese bread wrap.

1pm Cauliflower roasted with some cannellini beans, extra virgin olive oil, stock and spices. I finish the litre of sparkling water I started in the morning.

3pm A piece of halawet el jibn, a sweet Lebanese cheese dessert, with a drizzle of orange blossom sugar syrup and crushed pistachios.

5.30pm A piece of dried mango dipped in dark chocolate. Half a carrot.

7.30pm Chicken with cauliflower, beans and chopped salad (tomato, cucumber, mint, onion, radish) and two glasses of sparkling water. Jasmine tea and two mini chocolates.

Dr Joanna McMillan says

Top marks for… A glorious Mediterranean-style day – sardines, beans, walnuts, extra virgin olive oil, herbs and chopped salad all bring fibre, healthy fats and biophenols. The sardines are a standout for long-chain omega-3s, vitamin D and calcium if you eat the bones.

If you keep eating like this you’ll... Support your heart, brain and gut health, with enough variety to keep your microbiome happy. But recipe-testing days can make meals a bit ad hoc, so protein and vegetable consumption could fluctuate.

Why don’t you try... Turning the post-run banana into a more complete breakfast to help you stick to small tastes of recipes by whipping it up into a protein- and fibre-rich smoothie with Greek yoghurt, oats, berries and nuts. Go easy on the sparkling water if you’re constantly sipping – it is more tooth-friendly to enjoy it with meals and stick to plain water in between.

Karima Hazim, aka Sunday Kitchen Recipes, will be presenting on the Food for Thought stage at Vivid Fire Kitchen on May 24. Vivid Sydney runs from May 22-June 13.

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