5 to 6 small meals a day can boost metabolism.

Sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? But eating less actually puts the body in starvation mode, burning calories more slowly and making you feel hungry—thanks to our “thrifty metabolism.”

Instead, studies show that eating small, nutritionally balanced, high-fiber (low-glycemic) meals throughout the day can trick the metabolism, balance blood sugar levels, and prevent cravings.

Research at the Cleveland Clinic finds that combining low-glycemic foods with exercise increased insulin sensitivity and lowered weight among obese adults. And Italian scientists report that a low-glycemic diet alone lowers cholesterol and trigylceride levels, as well as insulin resistance in obese children—helping to prevent their risk for heart disease.

Dr. Ann Louise’s Take:

Fat Flush offers 5 or 6 mini-meals a day—so it’s no wonder that the millions of people who follow this protocol have successfully lost weight and balanced their blood sugar.

With warmer spring weather, you’ll also want to head outdoors to walk, jog, play tennis or volleyball. Just remember to warm up first and cool down with stretching at the end of your workout to lessen soreness and increase flexibility. Fat Flush for Life combines Yoga-Quickies and Rebounding with outdoor aerobics to jumpstart metabolism.

Another weight loss secret is eating good fats. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that individuals who consumed fish oil (an omega-3 fat) and exercised (walking 45 minutes, 3 times a week) lost up to 5 pounds more than the control group.

In addition, the anti-inflammatory omega-6 fat, gamma linolenic acid (GLA) can stimulate metabolically active brown fat. Containing black currant seed oil, GLA-90 helps your body burn unwanted fat, balance blood sugar, and stimulates the production of leptin, an appetite-regulating hormone in fat cells.

You also need to stay hydrated. The signature Fat Flush cran-water beverage is 100% unsweetened cranberry juice diluted with water for drinking throughout the day and adding to low-glycemic smoothies. An anti-inflammatory antioxidant, cranberry also helps flush fat from the body.

For an Added Boost

Everyone hits a weight loss plateau at one point or another. If you’re on vacation countdown and want to look great in those new shorts or swimsuit, try the 5-Day Hot Metabolism Booster in Fat Flush for Life.

Central to turbo-charging your metabolism is drinking a soup-like cocktail 3 times a day. Research at Penn State shows that people who consumed soup during the day lost twice as much weight as study participants who ate foods with equivalent calories.

Start each day with the Hot Metabolism Booster Cocktail and have a mid-morning snack (like 2 hard-boiled eggs, seasoned with a pinch of dry mustard). Eat a healthy salad or wrap for lunch, stave off the munchies with another cocktail mid-afternoon. Enjoy a nice dinner—grilled scallops with garlickly zucchini or a turkey burger with steamed spring greens—and top this off with your last cocktail before bedtime.

Thanks to this cocktail’s high fluid content, you’ll feel full longer. For variety, you may want to substitute a fruit-based smoothie from the Smoothie Shakedown for a morning snack.

If you do feel hungry, just add an extra ounce or so of lean protein (eggs, free-range poultry, seafood, whey), which can boost your metabolism as much as 25%. When the body is low in protein, fluid leaks into the spaces between cells and gets trapped there. This leads to bloating, cellulite (that dimply fat), and water weight gain that nobody wants!

Weigh yourself on the morning of day 1 and get ready to be pleasantly surprised on the morning of day 6. Remember, inches count too, because they mean lost fat, so get out your tape measure for those important “before” and “after” measurements. The best reward of all will be fitting into your favorite “skinny” jeans or new bikini!

Sources:
Fat Flush for Life
The Fat Flush Plan
Smoothie Shakedown
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20108073
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19577624
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19844089
www.buzzle.com/articles/eat-6-meals-daymaximum-weight-loss.html