What dessert chef Adriano Zumbo puts on his plate each day

Chef Adriano Zumbo, 40, shares his day on a plate.

5.30am I begin the day with a glass of water then start production on all the sweet treats and pastries we’ll serve for the day in the Zumbo Test kitchens [his store in Noosaville].

9am I skip breakfast knowing I’ll be taste-testing every dish as we create it, getting my hit of sugar through the bake.

12.30pm By lunchtime I’m ready for a savoury balance and enjoy two teriyaki chicken bowls I make myself. As a creature of routine, I often have the same lunch. I’ll skip meetings and exercising in favour of enjoying lunch and getting back into the kitchen again.

7.30pm We whip up a dinner of pancetta pasta with plenty of ricotta and seasoning. It’s warm, hearty and nourishing after a big day.

Dr Joanna McMillan says:

Top marks for … The chicken teriyaki bowls, which I’ll assume come with salad or cooked vegies and rice. The chicken protein curbs appetite and may help prevent you over-tasting those sweet treats!

If you keep eating like this you’ll … Be deficient in key nutrients and antioxidants as you lack dietary diversity and fall short of the recommended intakes of plant foods, including vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

Why don’t you try … Choosing brown or black rice, plenty of greens and perhaps some edamame in your lunch bowl. Add a generous salad or spinach to your pasta dinner. Add berries, nuts and yoghurt as a snack or for a light breakfast.

Adriano Zumbo’s high tea is available on weekends at QT Sydney.

To read more from Sunday Life magazine, click here.

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.