Mark Richardson

As seen in the award winning Sunday Star Times Escape section. 2009 winner - Health Section Qantas Media Awards

Eating in the afternoon kills the boredom. It’s either eat or talk with my work colleagues.

Mark played 15 years of first class cricket and five years of test cricket, including 38 test matches for the Black Caps until 2004. He is a Skysport cricket commentator, a Radio Sport host and is co-presenter on The Crowd Goes Wild.

7am: Four pieces of wholemeal toast with peanut butter. A cup of instant coffee. I know I should have fruit and cereal but I just don’t feel like eating much in the morning.

8.30am: Latte with full fat milk. I know full fat is not the healthiest choice but that chick’s trim stuff just does not taste like proper milk and I like a creamy latte.

11am: A 40g cereal fruit bar. Then I go for a run for one to two hours, followed by one litre of Balance recovery drink.

1pm: Burger and wedges. It’s Friday and Friday is fish and chips or burger and chips day in the staff canteen - I’m not missing that opportunity! It is one day of the week when there isn’t stir fry on offer, so don’t judge me.

3pm: Ten raw almonds and an apple. Surely this makes up for my somewhat unhealthy lunch.

4.45pm: A banana. Eating in the afternoon kills the boredom. It’s either eat or talk with my work colleagues. Yes, I know eating as a form of comfort or emotional benefit is wrong but for goodness sake, it was just a banana. I’d quite easily munch on a bag of chips or lollies (and sometimes I do) but I am on my best behaviour for this exercise.

5.30pm: Half a tin of baked beans on wholemeal toast. I hang out for this feed. It’s like ‘prep time’s over, so time for a feed and watch Prime News”. Eric Young is a news rating icon and you can learn a lot from him. The Crowd Goes Wild rehearsals start at 6.30pm and then go live at 7pm and I can’t take on Andrew Mulligan with an empty stomach. Sometimes this meal is two wholemeal tuna sandwiches. Both options are socially irresponsible. It’s either a smelly office or smelly studio a little later on.

8pm: Homemade spaghetti bolognaise. I’d like to say that I then go home to enjoy a nice family dinner, but by this time the kids are in bed and my wife has already eaten. Family meals are important and one day I’ll have time for them.

Jacquie says:

How many meals should we eat in a day, three meals or six? The answer depends on several factors. If you want to lose weight and have issues with overeating, then three meals a day will help you deal with emotional triggers and establish a routine. Athletes need more calories so it’s sensible to distribute the food over five to six meals, taking into account training frequency and meal timing for energy. Mark’s exercise goes a long way to keeping him healthy, but I’m not entirely convinced he needs to eat nine times a day. A recent study revealed that 33% of workers eat out of boredom and 57% of workers take lunch earlier if their co-workers do.

No need to mention the burger and wedges, at least Mark chooses healthy options to snack on in the afternoon and he uses a good recovery drink after his run. I’d like to see him eat more vegetables, but I always say that and now I’m beginning to sound like a recording.

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.