Although your body’s ability to remain stable despite the constant changes around you is normally a good thing (such as keeping your blood pressure and blood sugar steady), it can actually work against you when your goal is to try to lose weight. Your metabolism automatically reduces in an attempt to keep you right where you are.

This means that sometimes you need to find a way to turn up your internal calorie burning furnace on your own. So, here are five quick and easy ways to do just that:

#1 – Drink More Water

Your body requires water the same way that an automobile requires gasoline. When you are dehydrated, your body is going to slow down if not stall completely. However, you can keep your engine burning hot by fueling yourself with water throughout the day. Always have a bottle by your side and you’ll naturally drink more, and burn more fat.

#2 – Eat Natural Foods

Processed foods slow your body down in two ways. First, your body has a hard time processing them because they aren’t in their original form. Second, they are generally devoid of nutrients and are more easily stored as fat than used as energy. Stick with foods that are in their natural form (like lean proteins, fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates like whole wheat and oats) and your body will be able to use your food to push your metabolism into overdrive.

#3 – Increase Your Daily Activity Levels

If you aren’t keen on following a full blown exercise plan, then this tip is for you. You can easily speed your metabolism up simply by increasing your regular, daily activity. For instance, when you are unloading your groceries from the car, take one bag per trip to the house to get more steps in. Or, if possible, ride your bicycle to work one or two days a week. It may not seem like much when you are doing it, but a few extra calories burned here and there definitely add up over time.

#4 – Build Muscle

You don’t have to be a body builder to enjoy the positive effects of muscle, but if you are willing to lift a few weights weekly, it is like turning your metabolism burning furnace on high and leaving it like that. Your body uses more calories to maintain muscle than it does fat, so the more muscle you have, the more you burn even when you’re sitting and watching television or sleeping. Set aside time 2-4 days a week to work your upper and lower body to boost your metabolism and give you a fit and trim physique in the process.

#5 – Take Supplements

Although some people are weary of taking any sort of supplement to assist with weight loss thanks to past harmful ingredients like ephedrine, there is some benefit to taking all natural supplements. Some options to consider are green coffee bean, raspberry ketone, and chromium. You can buy them individually or choose a product that contains them all.

These five metabolism boosting strategies will move your internal fat burner from low to high, and your scale from high to low. How is that for a trade off?