又中又英｜The most important meal of the day

Some health experts believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This belief gained popularity in the 1960s when American nutritionist Adelle Davis claimed that to keep fit and avoid becoming overweight, people should “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper”. A pauper is a very poor person. What Davis meant was people should have a very big breakfast, a moderate lunch, and a very small dinner. Scientific studies over the years have cast doubt on this logic. To cast doubt on something means to make people question or lose confidence in something.
I have never given credence to the belief that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. To give credence to something means to accept it or believe it is true. I only eat a few pieces of fruit and a very small bowl of cereal or oatmeal for breakfast. I treat myself to a Hong Kong-style pineapple bun on weekends. It is a pauper’s breakfast. For lunch I have a small salad and tuna fish or scrambled egg sandwich. I eat a bigger dinner with wine or whiskey but make sure I eat early to avoid going to bed too soon after eating.
I believe it’s more important to have healthy and small meals than to have a big breakfast and feel hungry after dinner. There are, of course, times I go overboard during dinner when I go to restaurants with friends. To go overboard used this way means to do too much of something, such as eating too much.

一些健康专家相信，早餐是一天中最重要的一餐。阿黛尔‧戴维斯于一九六零年代宣称，要保持身材及避免过重，人们应该「早上吃得像国王，午餐像王子，晚餐像乞丐（pauper）」，令这个信念在当时很受欢迎。A pauper就是穷人、贫民。戴维斯的意思是，人们应该有一个非常丰盛的早餐、中等分量的午餐，以及分量非常小的晚餐。多年来却有科学研究对此逻辑有所质疑（cast doubt on）。To cast doubt on something意即令人对某事物产生怀疑或失去信心。
我从未相信（given credence）早餐是一天中最重要一餐这个信念。To give credence to something是指去接受或相信某事物为真。我早餐只吃几片水果，以及一碗很小的榖物或燕麦片。在周末，我会奖励自己吃个港式菠萝包。这是个乞丐的（pauper’s）早餐。午餐我会吃一小碗沙律，以及吞拿鱼或炒蛋三文治。晚餐我会吃得较多，配以葡萄酒或威士忌，但也确保自己早点吃，免得用膳不久便上床睡觉。
我相信更重要的是吃健康而分量小的餐，多于吃个丰盛的早餐而在晚餐后感到饥饿。当然，有些时候我跟朋友上餐馆吃晚餐时会go overboard——to go overboard在这里是指某事情做得过了头、过分热衷，例如说吃太多了。

mickchug@gmail.com
Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻