It almost goes without saying that the best way to burn off fat is to expend more calories than you consume. That’s simply how human biology works. The most basic and fundamental steps to any programme of weight loss or any attempt to turn fat into muscle is to exercise (raise your calorie expenditure) and eat well (lower your calorie intake).

Still there are ways you can make this process faster, ways you can burn off fat quicker – just by changing your nutritional intake. These simple steps will boost your metabolism and increase how efficient your body is at burning calories when at rest or when exercising:

Pump up your protein intake

In his book Ultrametabolism, Dr Mark Hyman says “protein burns hotter than other food sources.” What does this mean? Basically, the calories that you ingest from protein are used twice as fast as other types of nutritional energy. A happy benefit is that if you’re working out frequently and intensively, the protein will help keep you active and keep your muscle tissue healthy and healed after each work out. Easy ways to boost your protein consumption include changing your diet – eating eggs for breakfast for example – or using protein supplements to satisfy the hunger built up after a good work out.

Take your vitamins (C)

Vitamin C rich foods can help boost your metabolism even when you’re at rest. Whilst a glass of orange juice may be the first thing that comes to mind – and it is very good for you – if you drink too much of it then the sugar intake may be more than a little counter productive. Instead, try eating more green peppers, tomatoes, avocados, carrots or other substances high in vitamin C. If you’re not fond of the taste of these fruits and vegetables, try vitamin supplements. A study from the University of Colorado found that increasing the intake of vitamin C could boost resting metabolism by almost 100 calories a day.

Spice up your metabolism

One of the rare instances where biology follows your intuition is in spicy foods. Known amongst dietitians as ‘thermogenic’ foods, spicy foods don’t just burn your mouth – they also burn more calories. Spicy snacks and meals containing fiery substances like chillis or peppers can boost your metabolism if you can stand the heat, or for a milder experience you can also get thermogenicchilli’s food supplements from most sports health retailers. Participants of one study at Quebec’s Université Laval who ate spicy snacks burned nearly 1000 more calories than the control group.