Skipping meals may seem like an obvious way to reduce calorie intake and lose weight – but it’s counter-productive.

Unless you’re riding for four or five hours a day, your metabolism is accountable for using most of your calorie intake, and the good news is that we can lift our resting metabolic rate by eating regularly throughout the day, by having three well balanced meals and a couple of healthy snacks in between.

You might have noticed that you feel warm (is that the meat sweats? – ed.) after eating a large meal, which is caused by the thermic effect of feeding. Even eating small meals creates this effect, and is a release of energy in itself. Skipping meals means that you miss out on this beneficial effect, and your body will slow down your metabolic rate to try to preserve your energy stores. As a result, you will actually start to burn less calories at rest, and will find exercise much tougher than if you are fuelled correctly.