Do you have healthy habits?

Mary White: Yeah! I think my habits are very healthy. Every day I get up early and go to bed early. Every morning I eat breakfast and eat well. I eat fruit and vegetables every day. And every day I play soccer for two hours with my friends.

Alan Green: No, I don’t. I get up late so I have no time to eat breakfast. For lunch, I usually eat lots of hamburgers. I know they are not good for me but I like them. I never play sports. In the evening, after I finish my homework, I usually play computer games. I go to bed late, at about eleven o’clock.

Helen Hard: Yes. My habits are very good. I never eat unhealthy food. Ice-cream tastes good but I never eat it. It’s unhealthy. Every day I get up at six o’clock and go to bed at eight thirty. I play sports every day. I run with my father for half an hour in the morning. So I’m very healthy.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but many people don’t have it. Common reasons for not eating breakfast include not having enough time, not feeling hungry, 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 (能量). And in the morning your body needs energy for the day’s work ahead.

A good breakfast should give you 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 healthy 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 possible to make you feel hungry through 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 can make you overeat, because a fall in blood sugar often makes you feel hungry later. To make things worse, since your body is working slowly, 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.

Robert Smith is thirty years old. He has an interesting job at a TV station. His home is near the station, so he walks there every day. On weekdays (工作日), he usually gets up at six thirty. Then he takes a shower and has a good breakfast. After that, he goes to the TV station at seven. He must get there at seven fifteen. He works as a talk show host (主持人) for three years and he is never late for work.

Robert Smith likes his job very much. He thinks his job can make others happy. He likes doing sports, too. On weekdays, he often runs home after work. On weekends, he always plays soccer with his friends. It’s his favorite sport. Sometimes he swims in the swimming pool. For food, he eats healthily. He eats different kinds of fruit and vegetables every day. He also likes chicken because it tastes good. He doesn’t eat ice cream. He thinks it is bad for his teeth.

At ten thirty, he goes to bed. He really has a healthy life.