当你想减肥的时候，早餐比晚餐更好

当你想减肥的时候，早餐比晚餐更好

When I first studied nutritional science, all calories were considered "equal" when it came to weight loss. The time of day you ate didn't matter as long as you were eating the appropriate amount of calories for your goals.

当我第一次学习营养科学时，所有的卡路里都被认为是“相等的”。只要你摄入的卡路里达到了你的目标，一天中你吃的时间并不重要。

But as our understanding of nutrition has evolved, we've learned that eating earlier in the day can be more favorable for shedding pounds, while eating later can interfere with weight loss -- and for more than one reason.

但是随着我们对营养的理解的发展，我们已经知道，一天中吃得早可能更有利于减肥，而吃得晚可能会干扰减肥——原因不止一个。

For one, eating during the evening often goes hand in hand with mindless nibbling. Think of how many times you may have reached for a handful of pretzels, chips or M&Ms while watching TV or Netflix at night.

首先，晚上吃东西的时候，常常是无意识的。想想你晚上看电视或上网的时候吃了多少次椒盐卷饼、薯片或M&M豆。

Evenings can also be filled with unstructured time, which means eating may fill a "void"; if you're bored, it's easy to indulge in high-fat, sugary foods when you don't have to focus on work.

晚上可能是一些没有计划的时间，这意味着吃东西可以填补“空白”;如果你感到无聊，当你不需要工作时，很容易沉迷于高脂肪、含糖的食物。

To be clear, over-consuming calories at any time of day will result in weight gain. But many nutritionists, myself included, have noticed that clients fare better when they're consuming most of their calories earlier in the day.

需要明确的是，每天任何时候摄入过多的卡路里都会导致体重增加。但包括我在内的许多营养学家都注意到，当客户在一天的早些时候摄入大部分卡路里时，他们的情况会更好。

That way, by the time evening rolls around, they're more satiated and may be less likely to overindulge in a box of chips or cookies, a few too many spoons of ice cream or a few glasses of wine.

这样，到了晚上的时候，他们就会更有饱腹感，也不太可能会吃太多的薯片或饼干，吃太多的冰淇淋或几杯酒。

And then there's the fact that more research has shown how our bodies respond to front-loading calories during our waking hours.

还有一个事实是，更多的研究表明，我们的身体在清醒的时候是如何处理大量的卡路里的。

It has to do with the complex science of circadian rhythms -- physical, mental and behavioral changes in the body that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle. These rhythms are driven by a master biological clock in the brain that is primarily influenced by light and tells other clocks in the muscles and organs what time of day it is.

这与复杂的昼夜节律科学有关——人体的生理、心理和行为变化大致遵循一个24小时的周期。这些节律是由大脑中一个主要受光线影响的主生物钟驱动的，它告诉肌肉和器官中的其他时钟现在是什么时间。

The study involved 420 overweight and obese participants who were divided into two groups: early eaters and late eaters. The early eaters ate lunch before 3 p.m., and the late eaters consumed lunch after 3 p.m. The Because circadian rhythms affect how calories, carbohydrates and fats are metabolized over a 24-hour period, they can help explain why eating late at night decreases the rate at which we lose weight, as a 2013 study found.

这项研究涉及420名超重和肥胖的参与者，他们被分为两组:早食者和晚食者。早食者在下午3点前吃午饭。晚食者在下午3点后吃午饭。2013年的一项研究发现，昼夜节律会影响卡路里、碳水化合物和脂肪在24小时内的代谢，因此有助于解释为什么深夜进食会降低我们的减肥率。

The late lunch group also ate lower-calorie breakfasts, or skipped breakfast more often than early eaters.

晚食组也吃低卡路里的早餐，或者比早食组更经常不吃早餐。

At the end of the 20-week study period, the late eaters lost less weight compared with the earlier eaters (17 vs. 22 pounds on average, respectively) and lost their weight more slowly, despite the fact that both groups ate approximately 1,400 calories per day and consumed similar amounts of fat, protein and carbohydrates.

在为期20周的研究期结束时，晚食者比早食者体重减轻得更少(平均分别为17磅和22磅)，而且减肥速度更慢，尽管两组人每天都吃大约1400卡路里的热量，并且消耗了相似数量的脂肪、蛋白质和碳水化合物。

To put this into practice, especially if you are trying to lose weight, try to front-load your calories as much as possible. Don't skip breakfast, and consider having what you would typically eat for dinner during lunchtime. Think grilled fish or chicken with veggies and quinoa. Then, at dinner, eat half of what you would typically consume, or consider cutting carbs to help downsize your meal.

要把这付诸实践，尤其是如果你想减肥，试着提前摄入尽可能多的卡路里。不要不吃早餐，考虑在午餐时间吃你通常会在晚上吃的东西。可以考虑烤鱼或鸡肉配蔬菜和藜麦。然后，在晚餐时，吃一半你通常会吃的东西，或者考虑减少摄入碳水化合物，来减少你的饮食。