A triathlete’s tips on how to fire up your metabolism

Australian nutritionist Steph Lowe has given some invaluable advice on how we can get our metabolism to start busting fat cells like there's no tomorrow.

Tip number one - exercise first thing in the morning before you get your hands on that muesli. Getting your body to work hard before starting the day's activities helps rev up metabolism and burns fat straight away. Needless to say, it makes us feel very, very good, as torturous as it may be. Her second tip is to take part in a 13 hour fast—while you sleep. Yes, fasting sounds ridiculous but if you refrain from having dinner late in the evenings this isn't all that impractical. She also maintains that there's no problem not eating breakfast if we aren't all that hungry either. According to the Daily Mail Lowe said:

"Breakfast just means 'breaking the fast' and doesn't have to be at a fixed time of the day. Time restricted eating has been shown to prevent and reverse obesity in mice and while further studies are required to learn more about the positive impacts of fasting in humans, the research is extremely positive."

Lowe is not advocating an imbalanced diet or suggesting we all cut back on our food, for this triathlete it's all about timing and it's ability to make our bodies work more efficiently starting as soon as you wake. Not only does this method help our bodies feel good from the word 'go' but enables us to keep burning fat throughout the day. We know that what we consume for breakfast has a huge impact also, but Lowe advises we eat... wait for it... vegetables for breakfast. We don't think she's lost the plot, she simply means we could include things like asparagus or add crushed flaxseed to your porridge making for a high protein, omega and vitamin option. Lowe also said that if we snack throughout the day on fruit, yogurt or cereal bars our body will burn sugar from these extra sources rather than burn fat—hense her recommendation we eat only every five hours to maintain that hastened metabolism. Hmm... we might just give it a go.