If you do one thing today to improve your health and longevity, cut sugars and starches from your morning meal and get on my breakfast revolution band wagon.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In fact, every meal is important, but breakfast has the power to set you up for an absolute corker or a hellish drag. The right breakfast can be the difference between a day of unstoppable energy and mental focus or the constant distraction of hunger pangs and tiredness from dawn ’til dusk.

When I write a nutrition plan I think about what each meal will do for your body but also what it is going to do to your body in the hours that follow. This is the foundation of my nutrition philosophy. I call it Functional Nutrition. You do not simply fill your face to fill your stomach with any old rubbish. Nourish your body with the right stuff at the right time to support your health and fitness goals. To fuel, replenish and to maintain the healthy function of your brain, your hormones and every bodily system.

It can be difficult to know what is healthy and what is not and then there’s is the vast grey area in between. A striking example is the now popular Bircher Muesli pictured below. It looks like a big bowl of healthy ingredients, low in fat, high in antioxidants, with slow release low GI goodness, but it is actually the opposite of a fat burning breakfast. Here is why.

What you eat determines what you burn. The problem with muesli and toast, fruit and sugary cereal is that they are packed with sugar and starch. When you eat starch and sugar your body releases insulin to control your blood sugar level. The problem with insulin is that it turns off your fat burn. So, eat fat to burn fat.

When you go to bed at night, you fall asleep and your body slows right down and you go into a fat burning state. The majority of the energy you use is now coming from stored fat which is ideal. You stay like this for anything from six to nine hours (if you are getting closer to six hours’ sleep you must read this) and you wake in a fat burning state. Now, if you are interested in burning fat, you want to keep this fat burn going. This is where breakfast comes in.

It is all about communicating with your body. When you eat a fat based breakfast you get a slight increase in blood lipids (fats). This sends a clear signal to your metabolism that you want to burn fat for fuel. After a low carb, high fat breakfast you will be firmly in a fat burning state, using stored fat to go about your day or to fuel your aerobic workouts. This is how to maximise your fat burning potential.

So, now is the time to start eating a breakfast that supports your fat burn. Make your food work with you and not against you. Three of my favourites are pictured below and they all take less than ten minutes to prepare.

Bacon Avocado Brekkie
Streaky bacon served on peppery leaves, avocado and baby courgette. Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil and a little cloudy cider vinegar. Here I have topped up my good fats with some soft goats cheese.

Vegetable Breakfast Omelette
Deliciously quick; fry some diced veggies like courgettes and peppers, fry them for a minute before throwing in your whisked eggs. I like two free range organic eggs. Once flipped, drop on some of that goat’s cheese, some fresh herb leaves, sorrel in this case, some olives and fire it up with your favourite healthy chilli sauce.

Coconut Triple-Nut Yogurt
I just love Greek yogurt with coconut chips, almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts. For the muesli munchers out there it is a great way to make a proper fat burning breakfast that still gives you that cereal bowl experience.

Watch my bonus video recipe

So, get up and start concocting your own fat fuelled power breakfasts. Be sure to post the pics to your social media using the hashtag #breakfastrevolution and tag @elevatesport (instagram) or @elevatesportuk (Twitter). You can also post your pics straight to the Elevate Bootcamp Facebook page.

Happy eating fat burners!