If your nutrition and weight-loss education comes mostly by way of fad diet books and magazine articles, you will believe 10 myths and to lose weight you need to get them out of your head.

Fad diets dont work period - So if you believe any of the following you need to change your view to lose weight.

1. Skipping meals helps you lose weight.

No it does not! it makes you hungrier as it creates huger cravings and actually causes you to over eat. You need to eat 5 meals a day.

2. Your metabolism is slower at night.

Your metabolism doesn't slow down at night.

This fad diet myth comes from the fact that most people eat a larger proportion of calories in the evening and if your metabolism slows down then when you sleep these calories will turn to fat!

As your metabolism is not slower at night, it makes no difference when you eat - its the overall calories consumed that cause the damage not the time of day their eaten that matters.

3. Carbohydrates cause weight gain.

This is perhaps the most common fad diet myth. This myth has been promoted by high-protein fad diets on the market.

Carbohydrates are your body's premier source of fuel. The thing to keep in mind with cards is good and bad ones and eat the good ones is the

Replace carbs with high sugar content (simple carbs) i.e biscuits and sweets with complex carbs: Fruit, vegetables whole-grain brown rice and cereal.

Not eating carbs will make you sluggish and irritable.

4. Lose weight is hard and a chore.

Well many fad diets are! As they deprive you of foods you love, their therefore hard to stick with.

Fact is we were never designed to be on fad diets. Dieting is all about balance and you can include any foods you love, but if there sugary or fat foods then you just need to eat them in moderation.

5. Fat free foods that are calorie free.

That low-fat label is by no means a license to over indulge Many low-fat products are loaded with sugar to as a substitute for the missing fat, which means they are just as high in calories as the sugar is simply turned into fat!

6. No Snacks

If you have time to eat 5 meals a day you wont probably want to snack, if its three times a day a quick snack is a good idea. At the end of the day, its total calories consumed in a day that counts not how you eat them.

A quick snack can help you stop overeating and keep your energy levels high.

7. Fat is bad for you

Fats are part of the natural food chain of humans and we all need a certain amount of fat to healthy, but we need good ones.

Bad fats increase the risk for certain diseases and good fats lower the risk. The key is to make sure your eating the right fats.

Fats that are actually healthy are referred to as "essential fatty acids." These fats are required for overall health and lower risk of heart disease.

The reason oily fish is so good is that the essential fatty acids contained actually help your body burn fat more efficiently and protect against disease. 8. Cholesterol is bad for you

Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is made by the liver, we all need some blood cholesterol as it's used to build cells and form hormones.

There is good and bad cholesterol.

Saturated fats in foods such as meat, cheese, cream, butter help raise LDL (low density lipoprotein) bad cholesterol.

This then delivers cholesterol to the arteries. HDL (high density lipoprotein) - or 'good' cholesterol - transports cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver. Simply avoid this group or eat in moderation

9. Dairy products make you fat.

Combined with calorie control, a dairy-rich diet can nearly double body-fat reduction and help you lose weight longer term

The reason is they contain the hormone calcitriol, which helps conserve calcium for stronger bones while sending a message to fat cells to convert less sugar to fat and burn more body fat.

10. There is a short cut way to lose weight

This is the myth promoted by all fad diets you can lose weight quickly and be healthy No you cant. Our bodies are not designed to crash diet and fad diets sound easy but people end up being disappointed.

The only way to lose weight is to do it slowly, with a balanced diet.

Forget fad diets and lose weight the right way.