Think of your metabolism like a fireplace that has been dormant throughout the night. Working out early in the morning and following that with a healthy breakfast is like throwing that first log of wood in your fireplace.

Another thing that will jump start metabolism early in the morning is to start off your day drinking a tall glass of cold water. You see, your body needs to warm up the water and will require energy to do so. This energy will help with increasing metabolism.

To keep your metabolism working you’ll need to eat about 6 small meals throughout the day. These meals should be in the category of foods that speed metabolism.

Food need energy to process it, and that energy will be supplied by the chemical processes in your metabolism.

Eating frequent, smaller meals (200 to 250 calories each) throughout the day about 3 hours apart will help keep your body energized. It’s important to keep feeding the fire that you started in the morning. If you want to lose weight, don’t let your metabolic fire die out. Use it to your advantage by feeding it regularly.

At the end of the day, make sure you get a full eight hours of sleep. This is when your metabolism will be at its slowest.

So you should think smart and utilize your early morning hours for the benefit of your body. If you want to know how to jump start your metabolism, remember what was mentioned earlier about the cold water, protein and frequent small meals. It’s a winning formula.

If you have a slow metabolism, eating foods rich in Omega-3 can help speed it up. Some foods that contain Omega-3 are flax seed oil, meat from grass-fed animals, salmon, tuna fish and walnuts.

Eating fiber is another way to increase metabolism. Since fiber releases slower than sugar does, it sustains energy over a longer period of time. Here are some foods that speed up your metabolism and are high in fiber:

• whole grain breads, buns, bagels, muffins
• whole-wheat pastas
• whole grains such as barley, popcorn, corn and brown rice
• bran cereals such as All-Bran, 100% Bran and Raisin Bran
• dried fruits such as figs, apricots, dates, prunes and raisins
• berries such as blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries
• cherries, bananas and carrots
• broccoli, spinach, swiss chard, green peas and other dark green leafy vegetables
• dried peas and beans such as kidney beans, lima beans, black-eyed beans, chick peas and lentils
• nuts and seeds such as almonds, whole flax seed and soy nuts

You should remember not to eat less than 1200 calories per day. If you do, your body will think it’s starving and it will slow down the metabolism as a survival tactic.

You must also remember to eat breakfast. While we sleep at night, our metabolism slows down since our bodies don’t require much energy. In order to boost it back up you need to eat something. Your metabolism will not increase until you eat that first meal of the day, so be sure to eat it early.

A good idea to keep your metabolism working throughout the day would be to eat six smaller meals instead of 3 big ones. You should concentrate on eating lean protein, fruits and vegetables. Your body works harder breaking down proteins than it does carbohydrates and fats, so eating nuts, yogurt, low-fat cheese and lean meats such as chicken and fish helps increase your metabolic rate.

Calcium can also speed up your metabolism, so don’t forget to add dairy products into your daily diet such as low-fat milk, cheese, and yogurt.

Foods rich in vitamin C also help in burning calories. Some of these foods are sweet potatoes, collard greens, kale, Brussels sprouts, red cabbage, broccoli and snow peas.

Food isn’t the only thing that can boost metabolism. Water and green tea can also do a good job at this.

Keeping your body well hydrated will help you function properly at an optimum energy level. When you lack proper hydration your body has to work harder, which will take up more energy, leaving less for metabolism. Be sure to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. If you work out, it is very important to drink water before, during and after your workout.

Drinking freshly brewed green tea that doesn’t contain caffeine is a good way to boost your metabolism. Green tea contains certain chemicals, which increase the rate at which the body burns calories.

You shouldn’t have any trouble increasing your metabolic rate eating the foods that speed metabolism provided for you here in this article. Losing excess weight and getting in shape will surely follow.

Everyone needs the energy that metabolism provides in order to live. Every living creature needs energy to survive. We get this energy from a chemical process during the digestion of food.

In simple terms, metabolism is the change that takes place in order for the body to use the food that we eat. It helps us maintain a healthy functioning body. It changes the food into particles that can be used by the body so it doesn’t waste what we eat.

When your body is healthy, metabolism changes food into useful resources that can heal an injury or help the body to rid itself of damaging toxins.

How Can You Achieve a Healthy Metabolism?

Every body needs nutrition, hydration and physical activity to maintain a healthy metabolism.

This means that we must follow a healthy, balanced diet. We must consume an adequate amount of water every day. And we need to incorporate physical fitness into our lives.

What it comes down to is that if we don’t get enough nutrition, hydration or physical activity, our metabolism will not be healthy and our bodies in turn will pay the price.

There are two forms of metabolism that our bodies use… anabolic and catabolic. Anabolic metabolism uses enzymes to structure larger molecules from smaller molecules. Catabolic metabolism breaks down chemicals and nutrients in the foods and drugs that we consume so that they are smaller particles that the body can then use.

Metabolism and weight loss have often been mentioned in the same sentence. This is because the ability to burn more calories than are consumed depends on the amount of food eaten and how active the metabolism is at breaking down and burning off those calories.

A healthy metabolism can burn off calories at a better rate when nutrition, hydration and physical activity are at their best levels.

By eating a good breakfast and then having 5 small healthy meals scheduled at regular intervals throughout the day, your metabolism will speed up multiple times each day to digest your food. Eating nutritious foods with balanced protein/fat/carbohydrate ratios will enhance the effect even more.

Drink 8 glasses of water a day and add some physical activity to the mix. This will speed your metabolism and burn calories in ways that will surely have your heart pumping and body dropping those unwanted pounds in no time!