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5 tricks for easy, healthy breakfasts

2014-08-18 16:29 China Daily Web Editor: Yao Lan
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5 tricks for easy, healthy breakfasts

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.

5个简单且健康的早餐窍门

最近的新闻一直在质疑早餐在减肥过程中的重要性,我不认同不吃早餐。

以我过去15多年在客户咨询处的经验来看,早餐对于体重控制是很重要的。一些研究也支持我的这个看法。在你最活跃的时候,早餐可以给你提供能量,并且因此很可能会完全消耗掉你早餐的能量。当你活动较少时,吃早餐也会防止你在夜晚暴饮暴食,这样就不容易有过剩的能量使体型变胖。

此外,不提减肥,“解除禁食”是懂行人的营养策略,因为吃早餐有机会吃到农产品,谷物类,有机会摄取健康的脂肪,优质的蛋白。不吃早餐,尤其是日复一日不吃早餐的话,会导致身体缺失健康所需的营养成分。

吃早餐,尤其是吃含有蛋白质的早餐,是保证身体新陈代谢,塑造肌肉的有效方法。《营养学期刊》最新的一些研究表明,有些人在早餐很少摄入蛋白质,午餐摄入一些,晚餐又摄入很多蛋白质,相比之下,那些在饮食上均衡地摄入蛋白质的人们,他们的肌肉建设要高出25%。

最后,美国心脏协会去年的一项研究发现,在16年间,经常不吃早餐的人患心脏病或致命性心脏疾病的概率比一般人要高出27%。

日常吃早餐最大的困难就是时间问题,这里有5个小窍门可以帮你既能吃到好早餐又不至于上班迟到。

冰镇燕麦粥

燕麦粥无需保温。冲开后,拿出一小部分装进小容器冷藏在冰箱里。这样你出门的时候,就可以拿出来,用一个小勺就可以食用了。

简单地把蛋白粉(比如豌豆、大麻或者有机乳浆)混进燕麦粥,加些热水搅拌,拌入新鲜的水果、肉桂、坚果,然后冷藏。或者不加蛋白粉,把燕麦粥,水果,肉桂,坚果混进脱脂有机希腊式酸奶,冷藏一下作出便携式果麦早餐。

煎蛋

我的很多客户都喜欢在周末吃煎蛋,但是在工作日,早餐做煎蛋挺耗时的。

不过这些可以预先做准备,在周末就可以为下周做准备,用沸腾的开水冲有机蛋,当你在做晚饭时,拿出几分钟为第二天的早餐做个简单的鸡蛋色拉。将碎鸡蛋和鳄梨色拉酱或者香蒜沙司,蔬菜片,外加一小勺煮熟已冷却的藜麦或糙米混合搅拌,带上一把叉子,早上出门的时候就可以吃了。

把早餐当正餐

如果早上8点在院里吃扁豆或三文鱼,还拌上色拉,这看起来会很奇怪。但是,谁说早餐就必须和午餐、晚餐不一样?

很多我的客户都在晚餐吃双份的量,隔天的早餐就简单吃两口。试一试吧,你会发现你每天的最爱就是快炒,全素意大利面,或者是新鲜的开胃菜色拉。

鲜果奶昔

鲜果奶昔食用方便,我知道当你上班快迟到时,你会把要吃东西都放进搅拌机,一按开关自行搅拌,这样你就可以有更多的时间。

如果真是这样,睡前混合一杯鲜果奶昔,用密封罐装起来,放进冰箱。第二天要出门时,就可以拿出来饮用,喝前摇一摇杯子即可。

休闲食品作早餐

从休闲食品中选出一些来做早餐也很OK,包括蔬菜拌鹰嘴豆泥、全麦饼干,或者是用坚果和籽混成的什锦杂果,脱糖不含防腐剂的干果,又或是触手可及的全谷物麦片。

 

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