Whole grains

Your body burns twice as many calories breaking down whole foods (especially those rich in fiber such as oatmeal and brown rice) than processed foods.

Lean meats

Protein has a high thermogenic effect: You burn about 30% of the calories the food contains during digestion (so a 300-calorie chicken breast requires about 90 calories to break it down).

Low-fat dairy products

Rich in calcium and vitamin D, these help preserve and build muscle mass—essential for maintaining a robust metabolismGreen tea

Drinking four cups of green tea a day helped people shed more than six pounds in eight weeks, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports. Credit EGCG, a compound in the brew that temporarily speeds metabolism after sipping it. To up your intake, keep a jug of iced tea in the fridge

The 15 Best Fat-Burning Foods

These are foods that start winnowing your waistline the moment they leave your fork and enter your mouth. They build muscle, promote fat burning, or simply use energy (i.e., burn calories) just to digest them! Stock up today.

Almonds and other nuts (with skins intact)

Build muscle, reduce cravings

Dairy products (fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt, cheese)

Build strong bones, fire up weight loss

Eggs

Build muscle, burn fat

Turkey and other lean meats

Build muscle, strengthen immune system

Berries

Improve satiety, prevent cravings

Enova oil (soy and canola oil)

Promotes fullness, not easily stored as fat

Peanut butter

Boosts testosterone (a good thing even in women), builds muscle, burns fat

Fatty fish (such as salmon, tuna, mackerel)

Trigger fullness, fire up fat burning

Grapefruit

Lowers insulin, regulates blood sugar and metabolism; be sure to eat the fleshy white membranes

Green tea

Fires up fat burning

Lentils

One cup packs 35% of your daily iron needs—good news, since up to 20% of us are iron- deficient. When you lack a nutrient, your metab slows because the body’s not getting what it needs to work efficiently, says Tammy Lakatos Shames, RD, co-author of The Secret to Skinny.

Chili peppers Hot peppers

Capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their kick, heats up your body, which makes you melt additional calories. You can get it by eating raw, cooked, dried, or powdered peppers, says Lakatos Shames. “Add as much cayenne or hot sauce as possible to soups, eggs, and meats.”

Spikes metabolism

Spinach and green vegetables

Fight free radicals and improve recovery for better muscle building

Whole grains (quinoa, brown rice, whole grain cereal)

Small doses prevent body from storing fat

Beans and legumes

Build muscle, help burn fat, regulate digestion

Whey

Builds muscle, burns fat

Melt Flab Away: The Best Fat Burning Foods

Regular dieting is old school...and boring. Eat the stuff that puts your metabolism on high speed to burn mucho calories.

Cinnamon

Without going into the whole scientific explanation of why it works, adding 1/4 to 1 teaspoon of this spice to something you eat every day — hot cereal, marinades, yogurt — helps blood sugar get into cells to be used for energy, so less is stored as fat.

Green Tea

One ingredient, caffeine, is a stimulant that raises your heart rate and compels your system to burn calories faster. Plus, green tea has catechins, substances that some experts believe help burn belly fat. Aim for three 8-ounce cups a day.

Yogurt

Yeah, dairy has a bad rep for high calories, but yogurt, both the low-fat and regular kinds, contains probiotics: "friendly" bacteria that preliminary research suggests may actually help reduce the amount of fat your body absorbs.

Coffee

Again, the caffeine kicks your metabolism into high gear. Caffeine also jump-starts lipolysis, the breakdown of fat. One to two cups a day is ideal

Without going into the whole scientific explanation of why it works, adding 1/4 to 1 teaspoon of this spice to something you eat every day — hot cereal, marinades, yogurt — helps blood sugar get into cells to be used for energy, so less is stored as fat.

Green Tea

One ingredient, caffeine, is a stimulant that raises your heart rate and compels your system to burn calories faster. Plus, green tea has catechins, substances that some experts believe help burn belly fat. Aim for three 8-ounce cups a day.

Yogurt

Yeah, dairy has a bad rep for high calories, but yogurt, both the low-fat and regular kinds, contains probiotics: "friendly" bacteria that preliminary research suggests may actually help reduce the amount of fat your body absorbs.

Coffee

Again, the caffeine kicks your metabolism into high gear. Caffeine also jump-starts lipolysis, the breakdown of fat. One to two cups a day is ideal