Need to up your burn?

Try these five tricks to rev up your body’s metabolism…

1. Count more sheep

Not had a good night’s kip? After four sleepless nights, your body’s ability to respond to insulin drops by almost a third. Not catching enough zzz’s? Your daytime activities could actually be sabotaging your shut-eye.

2. Chow down on this

Did you know that 30g of protein helps build and maintain kilojoule-burning muscle mass – even while you’re sitting down. So what makes up 30g of protein? That would be 100 grams of chicken breast, 112 grams of tuna, 70 grams Parmesan or 100 grams of lean beef.

3. Get active

Do 30 seconds of intense exercise per day to speed up your metabolism in just two weeks, according to Scottish research. And yes – sprinting for the bus counts.

4. Find your routine

Going below 5000kJ a day will seriously freak out your system. Add some structure to your eating: 1800kJ breakfast • 1 800kJ lunch • 1800kJ dinner • 2 x 200kJ snack.

5. Keep it cool

Turning down the aircon by five to 10 degrees increases your body’s production of brown fat, the metabolically active kind that burns kilojoules to produce heat.

Looking for more info on your metabolism? Here are four things you should avoid if you want to keep your metabolism turbocharged. Want to kickstart your own weight-loss journey for summer and beyond? Get our Lean Body Blitz 12-week meal and fitness plan to turbo-charge your slim-down.