Peter Mochrie

Each week a celebrity tells us what they're putting in their mouth - and our nutritionist gives them a report card in the award winning Sunday Star Times Escape section. 2009 winner - Health Section Qantas Media Awards

Surfing may look easy but you need a strong upper body, good cardiovascular fitness and good balance

Peter Mochrie is an Australian actor who moved to New Zealand in 2006 to take up the role of Dr Callum McKay on Shortland Street. He now calls Piha on Auckland’s West Coast home and surfs regularly in his spare time.

8am: Breakfast is a blended smoothie of two bananas, a cup of blueberries, a tablespoon of flaxseed oil and a teaspoon of manuka honey.

10.30am: Throughout the day I like to snack on handfuls of pumpkin seeds. My diet is predominantly based around bananas, blueberries, salmon, almonds, yoghurt and fresh water. As I run and surf a lot I have a lot of bananas and manuka honey just for that quick energy rush. I tend to stay away from coffee and sugar which I think is the white death.

Noon: Lunch is usually a salad or meat and three veg plus one litre of water. I try to keep my body well hydrated with lots of water - especially working indoors under lights and air conditioning, the water really makes a difference to my well being.

2.30pm: As another snack I also like to eat dried peaches and apricots. My Mum fed them to me as a child and I am addicted to the purest form, i.e. without sulphur dioxide.

7pm: For dinner I always have a salad - usually Caesar (no croutons or anchovies), or a homemade mix with pear and sweet chilli dressing. I also drink another litre of water and the same smoothie from breakfast to finish.

Jacquie says

Peter gets an A. This is what I call clean eating. He’s obviously aware that a healthy diet equates to fantastic energy levels and other health benefits. You can see that his diet is based around whole foods, fruit, vegetables, yoghurt, seeds, meat and fish (not a pizza in sight). We all need fat in our diets, however some fats are harmful. I recommend that like Peter, we replace saturated or processed fats in our diet with healthy fats such as flaxseed oil, nuts, seeds and oily fish like salmon.

Peter’s love of surfing keeps him in shape as well. Surfing may look easy, but to surf you need a strong upper body, good cardiovascular fitness and good balance. The comment Peter made about needing a quick energy boost may mean that he isn’t eating enough complex or starchy carbohydrate over the day. It is also unclear if he is getting enough protein to keep his muscles intact.

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.