Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but many people don’t have it．Common reasons for not eating breakfast include shortage of time, not feeling hungry, traditional dislike for breakfast, and dieting(节食)．
Breakfast simply means “break the fast”．You eat nothing for at least 6 to 12 hours each night．Even though you have been sleeping, you have still been burning energy．And in the morning your body needs energy for the day’s work ahead．
A good breakfast should provide up to 1/3 of your total calories(卡路里)that your body needs for the day．Generally speaking, we eat 400 less calories for breakfast than for dinner．If breakfast doesn’t interest you in the morning, try eating a lighter dinner earlier in the evening or save half your dinner for breakfast in the morning．
If you still aren’t hungry in the morning, start with something small like juice or bread or have nutritious(有营养的)mid-morning snack later when you are hungry．
So, you say you’re on a diet．Some people are afraid that eating breakfast will make them hungrier during the day and they will eat more．It is true that eating breakfast is likely to make you feel hungry throughout the day．That’s because your body is working correctly．Although you may feel as if you are eating more all day long, in fact you’re probably not．
Not eating breakfast may cause you to overeat, because a fall in blood sugar often makes you feel hungry later．To make things worse, since your body is in a slowed state, it will not be able to burn those extra calories well．If you feed your body healthy snacks and meals throughout the day, you may not become hungry so easily and eat too much when you have meals．
Since breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day, your choice is important．The best breakfast foods are fruits, juice, lean meat, and grain products such as bread, rice, noodles and cereals．
(1)
The underlined word “fast” means “a period during which someone ________．”
