12 Laws of Fat-Burning part 4

7. Eat More Meals Per Day

Sure, calories and hormones can determine whether your body deposits food into muscle or as bodyfat, but meal frequency, or how many times you eat each day, affects your overall metabolism. Every time you eat, the body's calorie-burning engine, also known as metabolism, slightly increases. This is especially true for meals that contain protein. So if you eat six times a day, you'll experience six metabolic surges a day, rather than just four if you eat only four times a day. And, of course, eating seven or eight times per day would be even better than six. This is one way to lean out without having to drastically reduce calories. Frequent feedings tend to increase the chance that what you eat will make its way into muscle tissue rather than being packed away as bodyfat.

Do This: Eat 6-8 small meals per day, spaced 2-3 hours apart. Don't go longer than three hours without eating - your body will go into starvation mode, which can cause you to store bodyfat and makes it more likely that you'll overeat at your next meal. Speaking of overeating, just because you're consuming more meals doesn't mean you should be taking in more total calories. Determine your ideal daily caloric intake for fat-burning (see Rule I) and divide that more or less evenly between your 6-8 meals.
8. Prioritize the Post-Training Meal

After you train, it's difficult to gain bodyfat. Why? Depleted, broken-down muscles soak up both protein and carbohydrates for growth and recovery. If you eat too little at this time, you may actually set yourself back by impeding recovery; supporting recovery and growth actually increases metabolism while impeding it slows metabolism. In terms of spurring recovery and growth, just about the most counterproductive thing you can do after a hard workout is starve yourself.

Do This: Consume 30-40 grams of protein powder such as whey powder and casein along with 60-80 grams of fast-digesting carbs (a large baked potato, 4-5 slices of white bread or a large sports drink such as Gatorade) as soon as possible within an hour after training.