We know that the key to permanent and effective weight loss is to speed up our body's metabolism. Metabolism simply means the speed in which our body utilizes and burns through food.

A fast metabolism means that your body processes and utilizes the nutrients which it needs and then eliminates those it doesn't.

There are primarily two ways to naturally speed up your body's metabolism.

The first is through resistance training, lifting weights. Lean muscle tissue is a very metabolically active tissue, it requires a lot of energy to maintain. The body gets this energy from burning calories. So the more lean muscle you have, the faster your metabolism becomes and the more calories that you will burn at rest.

The second way to effectively speed up your body's metabolism is by eating small, well-balanced, nutritious meals or snacks every three to four hours. This alone can drastically improve the efficiency of your body's metabolism.

Now, for those of us with busy, often hectic lives, eating every three to four hours can be challenging, if not impossible.

What are the chances of eating something healthy and nutritious every two to three hours? Unless you have a lot of time to prepare and package meals or hire yor own personal chef to cook for you, this can be a daunting task.

Well, now there is a solution: Meal replacements.

Meal replacements are probably the most valuable and underrated supplement on the market. People are always looking for the magic solution to weight-loss by buying some drink or pill that promises miraculous results.

We gain weight and body fat by having poor eating habits, so the only way to undo the damage is to reverse the cycle by developing good eating habits. Meal replacements make this possible.

Meal replacements are pre-packaged powdered drink mixes that you mix with water, milk, or juice and then drink in the place of a meal. They are convenient, inexpensive, and most taste pretty good.

For optimum fat-burning and muscle-building results, we need to consume a high-protein, moderate-carb, low-fat meal about every three to four hours. This is approximately five to six meals per day.

So, replace two or three of your whole food meals with meal replacements and you will drastically start cutting out unneeded calories, calories that can add up and, if not burned off, be stored as body fat.

Meal replacements provide a perfect, compact meal in a packet that is high in protein, low in fat (some have no fat) are low in carbohydrates, and contain a wide array of vitamins and minerals. They are low in sugar and cholesterol. They are very nutrient dense and can be mixed easily and conveniently.

In order to get the same benefits from whole food as some of the high quality meal replacements, you would have to put together a large meal like a chicken breast (protein) a potato for some carbs, and a salad for the vitamins.

You would have to intricately construct the unique amino acids profile for a huge variety of intact foods and you would have to combine enough different nutrient dense foods to yield a complete 100% recommended daily allowance of all vitamins or minerals and antioxidants.

At the same time doing this while keeping unwanted fat and sugars to a bare minimum. Now imagine doing this five to six times a day.

Why bother when you can just rip open a meal replacement packet and toss it into a cup with some water or skim milk. Presto! Instant nutrition.

One of the meal replacements I have tried and really liked is Natures Best Perfect Rx. This shake comes in chocolate and vanilla and mixes up smooth and rich. It costs only about $2.00 a shake. Its hard to find something that nutritious and low in calories for fewer than 2 bucks.

I also like AST Sports Science Ny-Tro Pro-40, which is delicious in the Strawberry flavor. Met-Rx is the granddaddy of all meal replacements. Its been around for 10 years.

If something did not have any value to a consumer, it would not be around for 10 year. Met-Rx and AST Ny-Tro Pro-40 are a bit more expensive than Natures Best Perfect Rx. They are about $3.00 per packet.

Choose a meal replacement that is high in protein, with about 30-40 grams. Carb sources should be from maltodextrin, a corn derivative that provides a slow energy release.

Carbs should be around 20-22 grams, but no more than 3 grams of those from sugar. Fat should be no more than 3-4 grams. Pick one that mixes up rather thick. The "mouth feel" helps with the satiety feeling. If you are left full by these meal replacements, you will not have the urge to eat again for at least 3 hours.

Check the ingredients. Stick with meals replacements that use a combination of whey, milk, and egg proteins as the first ingredient. Most meal replacements, if taken with water, offer at least 40 grams of protein with minimal fat. Most are under 300 calories, chock full of vitamins and minerals, and taste rather pleasant.

Many people I have spoken to over the years attribute meal replacements being on of the biggest reasons why they we able to lose weight. They are able to get vitamin-rich, high-protein, moderate carb meal for less than 300 calories.

All of this for about 2 dollars. You cannot even buy a Happy Meal for fewer than 2.00 dollars and Happy Meals are loaded with fat!