If you’re trying to lose weight, one question that might be on your mind is how to jump start your metabolism. A quick metabolism can mean the difference between struggling to lose that last ten pounds, and losing it without a second thought… but how do you kick your metabolism up a notch? How do you separate the legitimate ways to jump start your metabolism with the bad advice that’s out there? I can help. Here are 8 tried-and-true ways to jump start your metabolism…

1. Eat smaller meals, more often

If you eat three large meals a day, then you’ve actually trained your body’s metabolism to slow down. That’s not what we want! To help jump start our metabolism, eat four of five smaller meals a day — a light breakfast, healthful mid-morning snack, simple lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and a light dinner with a little lean protein. These smaller, more frequent meals will keep your metabolism running in high gear all day… yay!