Here is a quick way to get your metabolism firing along better than it is at the moment…

Remember a stronger metabolism equals a leaner body and less belly & body fat.

Typically in the Western world we eat like this:

• Breakfast is the smallest meal of the day, if we eat it at all – far too many get by on Coffee on the go only…
• Mid-morning high carb, high sugar snack & coffee to pick up energy
• Lunch is a sandwich and soft drink, or takeaway with a juice – usually a moderate sized meal that is eaten quickly.
• Afternoon snack – usually high sugar to fight the afternoon energy drop..
• Dinner, the evening meal is the largest meal of the day, often eaten late at night.
• Late night snack in front of the TV as we relax – usually processed high GI carbs

There are several problems with this:

1)      Our metabolisms are highest in the morning – skipping breakfast after your body is coming off the equivalent of an 8 hour fast is a sure way to drive your metabolism down when it is at its highest and ablest to handle a hefty influx of calories.

2)      Typically we eat the largest meal at the wrong end of the metabolic spectrum – we eat most at the end of the day when our metabolisms are slowest. A large, carb heavy meal not only slows it further but it has more chance of being stored as fat.

3)      In eating this way there are only really 2 – 3 meals there with some high sugar ‘top ups’ to energy reserves. Eating this way causes a slowing of your metabolism and an increase in fat storage.

4)      Our body goes through its repair programs during sleep readying us for the next day. These repairs generally deplete our glycogen stores and this means that our bodies can handle carbs better in the morning as it strives to replace these stores. Because we don’t top them up with a big breakfast we get the sugar cravings and end up snacking at various times during the day.

5)      At the end of the day though your carb handling is at its lowest ebb – and this means more chance of fat storage if we are piling our plates with lots of carbs – especially the processed high GI kinds…

In other words the typical Westerner has meal timings and sizings that are backwards. Because our metabolism is lowest in the evening we should be eating less then and eating the most in the morning when our body is primed to receive a hefty influx of calories.

The way to increase our metabolism is to make use of this higher ‘calorie tolerance’ by having a large high carb, high calorie (with lean protein of course!!) meal in the morning for breakfast. This way we will be spurring our metabolism on, have more energy throughout the day (and less sugar ‘hit’ cravings) and will burn more calories over the course of the day.

This is how we should eat:

Breakfast – A large sized meal, with lean protein and a higher carb intake – your biggest meal of the day in terms of calorie load.

Lunch – A moderate sized meal with moderate carb intake (ditch the soda though!)

Dinner – The smallest sized meal, with a lower carb intake – and make sure that they are low GI carbs as much as possible.

If you follow these simple recommendations and flip your calorie intake from evening to morning, I guarantee you’ll have more energy, fewer cravings, improve your metabolic rate and lose belly & body fat faster.