5個簡單且健康的早餐竅門大綱

You may have seen reports in the news lately questioning the benefits of breakfast for weight loss, but I’m not ready to sanction skipping.

In my experience, eating breakfast strongly supports weight control, and several studies back what I’ve seen in my 15+ years of counseling clients – breakfast fuels your body when you’re most active, and therefore most likely to burn off what you’ve eaten. It also tends to prevent late night overeating, when you’re less active, and more prone to racking up a fuel surplus that feeds fat cells.

Also, weight loss aside, “breaking the fast” is a savvy nutrition strategy, because it’s a chance to fit in servings of produce, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins. Missing that opportunity, particularly day after day, can lead to shortfalls that deprive your body of important health protective nutrients.

Eating breakfast, especially one with protein, is also a smart way to build and maintain metabolism-boosting muscle. One recent study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, found that muscle building was 25 percent greater among people who ate a diet with an evenly distributed protein intake, compared to those who consumed less protein at breakfast, slightly more at lunch, and the majority of their protein at dinner.

Finally, a study published last year from the American Heart Association found that over a 16 year period, regular breakfast skippers had a 27 percent higher risk of a heart attack or fatal heart disease.

If you’re on board for a daily breakfast, but your biggest barrier is time, here are five tips and tricks to help you create shortcuts, so you can reap the benefits without running late.

Chill your oatmeal

Oatmeal doesn’t have to be served warm. Cook, then chill individual portions, and stash them in the fridge in small containers you can grab, along with a spoon, on your way out the door.

Just mix a protein powder (like pea, hemp, or organic whey) into rolled oats, add hot water, stir, fold in fresh fruit, cinnamon, and nuts, and chill. Or skip the protein powder, and mix the oats, fruit, cinnamon, and nuts into nonfat organic Greek yogurt, and chill to make a grab-n-go mueslix.

Hard boil it

Many of my clients enjoy omelets on the weekends, but feel like an egg-based breakfast takes too much time during the week.

For a make-ahead option, prep hard boiled organic eggs on a Sunday for the upcoming week. While you’re making dinner, take a few extra minutes to whip up a simple egg salad for breakfast the next morning. Mix chopped egg with either guacamole or pesto, diced or shredded veggies, and a small scoop of cooked, chilled quinoa or brown rice. Grab a portion with a fork in the a.m., and you’re good to go.

Have dinner for breakfast

It may seem odd to chow down on a garden salad topped with lentils or salmon at 8 am, but who says breakfast meals have to look different than lunch or dinner?

Many of my clients make double portions in the evening, and eat seconds for breakfast the next day. Give it a try – you may just find that warmed up stir fry, veggie “pasta,” or a crisp entrée salad is your new favorite way to start the day.

Pre-whip your smoothie

Smoothies are pretty fast, but I know that when you’re running late, just tossing ingredients into a blender and pressing a button can require more time than you can spare.

If that tends to be the case, blend up a smoothie just before bed, stash it in a sealed to-go jug in the fridge, grab it on your way out the door, and shake it up before sipping.

Make a meal out of snack foods

It’s perfectly OK to cobble together a breakfast from an assortment of snack foods, including veggies with hummus and whole grain crackers, or trail mix made from nuts or seeds, unsweetened preservative-free dried fruit, and a whole grain cereal you can eat with your hands.

Bon (breakfast) appetit!最近的新聞一直在質疑早餐在減肥過程中的重要性，我不認同不吃早餐。

以我過去15多年在客戶諮詢處的經驗來看，早餐對於體重控制是很重要的。一些研究也支持我的這個看法。在你最活躍的時候，早餐可以給你提供能量，並且因此很可能會完全消耗掉你早餐的能量。當你活動較少時，吃早餐也會防止你在夜晚暴飲暴食，這樣就不容易有過剩的能量使體型變胖。

此外，不提減肥，“解除禁食”是懂行人的營養策略，因爲吃早餐有機會吃到農產品，穀物類，有機會攝取健康的脂肪，優質的蛋白。不吃早餐，尤其是日復一日不吃早餐的話，會導致身體缺失健康所需的營養成分。

吃早餐，尤其是吃含有蛋白質的早餐，是保證身體新陳代謝，塑造肌肉的有效方法。《營養學期刊》最新的一些研究表明，有些人在早餐很少攝入蛋白質，午餐攝入一些，晚餐又攝入很多蛋白質，相比之下，那些在飲食上均衡地攝入蛋白質的人們，他們的肌肉建設要高出25%。

最後，美國心臟協會去年的一項研究發現，在16年間，經常不吃早餐的人患心臟病或致命性心臟疾病的概率比一般人要高出27%。

日常吃早餐最大的困難就是時間問題，這裏有5個小竅門可以幫你既能吃到好早餐又不至於上班遲到。

冰鎮燕麥粥

燕麥粥無需保溫。衝開後，拿出一小部分裝進小容器冷藏在冰箱裏。這樣你出門的時候，就可以拿出來，用一個小勺就可以食用了。

簡單地把蛋白粉（比如豌豆、大麻或者有機乳漿）混進燕麥粥，加些熱水攪拌，拌入新鮮的水果、肉桂、堅果，然後冷藏。或者不加蛋白粉，把燕麥粥，水果，肉桂，堅果混進脫脂有機希臘式酸奶，冷藏一下作出便攜式果麥早餐。

煎蛋

我的很多客戶都喜歡在週末吃煎蛋，但是在工作日，早餐做煎蛋挺耗時的。

不過這些可以預先做準備，在週末就可以爲下週做準備，用沸騰的開水衝有機蛋，當你在做晚飯時，拿出幾分鐘爲第二天的早餐做個簡單的雞蛋色拉。將碎雞蛋和鱷梨色拉醬或者香蒜沙司，蔬菜片，外加一小勺煮熟已冷卻的藜麥或糙米混合攪拌，帶上一把叉子，早上出門的時候就可以吃了。

把早餐當正餐

如果早上8點在院裏吃扁豆或三文魚，還拌上色拉，這看起來會很奇怪。但是，誰說早餐就必須和午餐、晚餐不一樣？

很多我的客戶都在晚餐吃雙份的量，隔天的早餐就簡單吃兩口。試一試吧，你會發現你每天的最愛就是快炒，全素意大利麪，或者是新鮮的開胃菜色拉。

鮮果奶昔

鮮果奶昔食用方便，我知道當你上班快遲到時，你會把要吃東西都放進攪拌機，一按開關自行攪拌，這樣你就可以有更多的時間。

如果真是這樣，睡前混合一杯鮮果奶昔，用密封罐裝起來，放進冰箱。第二天要出門時，就可以拿出來飲用，喝前搖一搖杯子即可。

休閒食品作早餐

從休閒食品中選出一些來做早餐也很OK，包括蔬菜拌鷹嘴豆泥、全麥餅乾，或者是用堅果和籽混成的什錦雜果，脫糖不含防腐劑的乾果，又或是觸手可及的全穀物麥片。

祝你有個好胃口！