Louise Ryburn

As seen in the award winning Sunday Star Times Escape section.

2009 winner - Health Section Qantas Media Awards.

Louise Ryburn is the Managing Director of Speakers Bureau Celebrity Speakers New Zealand. Louise and her team of nine staff manage speaking engagements for hundreds of speakers including Sir Richard Hadlee, Michael Hill and Denise L’Estrange-Corbet.

6.30am: I have a coffee as I get dressed - I can’t face food at this time of the morning and I generally sleep in as late as possible, leaving no time for breakfast. As I get ready, I ponder whether today is the best day for this diary as we are celebrating the launch of our elite speaker programme and my normal healthy alcohol and nibble consumption will be quite out of kilter.

8am: I would usually bring a box of cereal to work but today I treat myself to a hot breakfast of porridge, with trim milk and honey, while I sit and check emails. I also gulp down heaps of water.

9.30am: Mid morning munchies call for a trim flat white - I’ve never been able to do full fat milk - and a banana. Gulp down more water. On the three or four days that I get to spin class or the gym, or take a walk with friends or family, I give myself more dietary freedom and I enjoy treats.

Noon: I’m sitting at my desk and feeling virtuous while enjoying a salad from home in a wholemeal bun filled with ham, a Granny Smith apple and a winter pear. There’s never really time to stop for lunch as work is always full on, but I do love it. I try often to eat a lunch this good and generally this is the type of lunch I have. I eat a lot of microwave lunches too - it’s all about convenience! This is when last night’s leftovers always come in handy. I’m famous for one dinner in particular, my pasta salad with secret ingredients.

When it comes to cooking, I prefer experimenting rather than sticking to one recipe. I’ve just returned from a belated honeymoon in the Mediterranean, and the Greeks and Italians have really inspired my cooking.

2pm: Here I am writing about food inspirations and I’m snacking on rice crackers, plain and boring.

5pm: Party time. We hosted our launch event for Celebrity Speakers’ Gold Elite programme. My dinner consisted of scrumptious canapes from the chefs at VGB - breads and dips and meatballs, and other guilty morsels with wine, around six glasses of white wine. This is not my usual consumption but we had lots to celebrate!

Jacquie says

Planning is the key to healthy eating at work. It’s good to see that although Louise is busy, she still takes time to prepare a healthy lunch and breakfast. I’m not surprised that Louise sleeps in as late as possible. She doesn’t stop all day, not even to eat!

Energy management isn’t just about going full speed all day, many studies prove that mini breaks actually increase productivity. Taking time out to eat a healthy lunch is an important part of stress management and is critical to maintaining energy levels. When we eat at a computer, we eat too fast and we miss out on the enjoyable aspects of eating.

Staying hydrated is important as well, but there’s no need to gulp down water in large amounts, the kidneys can only process 800-1000ml per hour. I know this day is an exception, but those six glasses of wine probably equate to more than a thousand calories.

Each week a nutritionist from Real Nutrition looks over a celebrity's diet. For award winning health articles and a really good read - check out the Sunday Star Times each Sunday.