"I have slow metabolism." This is a convenient excuse to give when friends comment on how horizontally-challenged we have become. That your metabolism is slow makes it evil -- the villain behind that lumpy bulge you take pains to hide with girdles and breath-holding...

Fact is, your metabolism is not the bad thing it has been made to be. While gender, heredity and any pre-existing medical conditions play a role in how fast it goes, having slow metabolism (usually equated with weight gain and inability to lose weight) is largely due to your poor eating and lifestyle habits. What you eat, drink, how much sleep you get each night, how you manage your stress -- these are conscious choices that directly impact your body's metabolism and largely determine whether you'll boost it up and burn fat or slow it down and carry your excess baggage with you.

If you want to burn fat naturally, you've got to take advantage of your body's inherent ability to increase your metabolism. These all hinge on proper diet, exercise and an overall healthy lifestyle. You can even burn fat while you sleep! Here are a few tips to boost your metabolism and burn fat naturally:

1. Exercise. You'd naturally expect this to be first on the list. But here are two killer tips that rev up your metabolism even more so you zap those bulges away.

First off, do your cardio exercises (like jogging or brisk morning walking) before you've had breakfast. Because your body has been fasting the night before, exercising on an empty stomach utilizes your body's fat reserves, making fat burning faster and more efficient. 20 to 30 minutes of cardio exercises like hiking and swimming three times a week can do wonders for your figure.

The second thing you ought to know is that sprinting, crunches and other bodyweight routines increase your metabolism. These are anaerobic exercises that you can do for longer periods of time. By using up your carbohydrate stores, these types of exercises burn body fat even after you've finished your work out.

2. Skip the midnight snacks. This is the secret to burning fat while you sleep. A few hours from the time you've had your evening meal, your body has already used up all the calories from the food you've consumed. By about nine hours after, glycogen stored in your muscles and liver as well as the fats circulating in your blood have also been used up. At this point, your body will begin to use up the fat stored in your body. This is the optimum time for your body to burn fat. Thus, if you want to lose the pounds while you sleep, you must not interrupt this normal pattern. Eating midnight snacks is a surefire way of increasing your calorie stores and not allowing the body to use up your stored fat for two to three hours each night. End result? You won't be able to burn fat naturally while you sleep.

3. Drink water. If you're dehydrated, your metabolism slows down. Make sure that you drink 8-12 glasses of water a day to keep your metabolism running. If you want an added boost, drink cold water since the body will have to burn more calories to "normalize" its temperature.

By following these tips, you won't have to blame your metabolism again for being such a slowpoke. Apply these suggestions and see what kind of results they bring!