Six chocolate biscuits: How a dietitian would supercharge a new mum’s ‘joyful snack’

Alexandra Flood is an opera singer. The 36-year-old shares her day on a plate.

8.02am Before my baby arrived, my husband and I made a large batch of breakfast burritos – eggs, sausage, peppers – and froze them. They have been a lifesaver.

10.15am I’m burning through calories while breastfeeding, so I indulge in a protein shake of banana, apple, peanut butter, dates, milk, protein powder and collagen.

1.42pm A brief trip to the cafe across the road provides a welcome chance to breathe some fresh air and meet caffeine and sugar urges in the form of a flat white and raisin scroll.

4.20pm Two Tim Tams don’t quite hit the spot and are promptly followed by two Petit Écoliare biscuits and two chocolate-coated organic oat cookies.

5.54pm Apéro hour in my house is always accompanied by a generous bowl of salted potato chips. Herbal tea for me, though.

7.33pm My mum makes a mean chicken curry, served on rice with all the trimmings.

Dr Joanna McMillan says:

Top marks for ... Stocking the freezer, a brilliant new-parent move. And for packing protein, fruit and dairy into your shake, as breastfeeding uses more energy than any stage of pregnancy. The curry represents a proper meal in a day otherwise hijacked by baby and biscuits.

If you keep eating like this you’ll ... Meet your calorie needs, but the snack spiral could crowd out fibre, calcium, iodine, iron and long-chain omega-3s, all of which are important for your baby’s brain development. It may also leave you riding a blood-sugar roller coaster worsened by sleep deprivation.

Why don’t you try ... Keeping the joyful 4pm snack but making it more sustaining. Try Greek yoghurt with berries, nuts and a drizzle of honey, or wholegrain toast with peanut butter and banana, or cheese and avocado on seeded crackers. Swap the lunchtime pastry for a wholemeal sandwich or a wrap with salmon or tuna, salad and avocado or hummus. Be sure to keep fluids close by as breastfeeding plus singing is a double act for dehydration.

Alexandra Flood is in Opera Australia’s The Merry Widow in Sydney, July 8 to August 18.

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