These myths have been around for as long as I can remember and some of them you may of heard of already. I am here to expose them and to give you the best advice to counter punch the myth square in the face! 

1.Shut down after 8pm to prevent weight gain- I try not to laugh when I hear this one, but the common tale that is told is that you burn up food you eat earlier in the day, while late calories sit in your system and turn into fat.

The reality- Your body digests and uses calories the same way throughout the day, morning, noon and night. After all calories can’t tell time! The whole no food right before bed rule was meant for the nightmare eater who without thought gets his or her way through e.g packet of potato chips whilst watching late night TV. If you get home long after dark, a late dinner is perfectly fine. No matter what time of day it is a calorie is a calorie, no matter what time you eat it at.

Best thing to do- What I would suggest though is to keep your evening meal light. As too much chow will keep you up at night to break down all the food, your gut has to churn like a cerement truck.

2. Coffee can help you lose weight- The theory is caffeine in coffee acts an appetite suppressant and a metabolism booster.

The reality- Not a fan of coffee at all but I do know that it can temporarily squelch your appetite. Drinking a couple of cups a day will not have enough effect to help you lose weight. Pouring too much coffee into your system (drinking, say, four to seven cups a day) may lead to sleeplessness, anxiety, increase in heart rate and blood pressure and not to mention that awful taste in your mouth how do you do it coffee drinkers yuk.

Best thing to do– Enjoy a cup or two of coffee (or tea) everyday if you like. Just be careful in what you add to your hot drink such as cream or sugar which is no good for your mission in weight loss.

3.      Radiation from microwaves creates dangerous compounds in your food- in this theory they even talk about instant death. NOT TRUE! 

The reality- When the word radiation is mentioned, images of nuclear plants may spring to mind, but it simply refers to energy that travels in waves and spreads out as it goes. Microwaves, radio waves and the energy waves that we perceive as visible light are all forms of radiation. So too are X- rays and gamma rays which do pose health concerns. But the microwaves used to cook foods are much weaker than X-rays and gamma rays.

Best thing to do- Microwave cooking is really no different to any other form of cooking method that applies heat to food, that being said, micro waving in some plastics may leach compounds into your food, so take care to use only microwave- safe containers.

4.Milk can help you lose weight- They say that calcium helps the body to break down fat more efficiently, stimulating weight loss.

The reality- Dairy does not have any magically properties to its name when it comes to weight loss. And I would say that adding any more extra dairy in the hope to lose weight is a big mistake.

Best thing to do- Keep on drinking milk. But when you do buy it from the shop look at the label you will find that whole milk is more fattening (which is better for gaining weight), so if you were looking to lose weight you would be better off with semi skimmed milk instead.

5.Fat free food is calorie free- This is a very common myth and a big fat LIE! 

The reality- Manufacturers market it this way, as the misconception that fat free is better so they label it “fat free” or “ low in fat” etc. So people are innocently eating  “low fat” foods thinking they are going to lose weight- even worse, they often tend to eat more of the low fat food than they would have if it were full fat. Which I personally believe is immoral but all the manufacturers care about is taking your money! 

Best thing to do- Remember this, eat fewer calories than your burn and you will lose weight! When fat is removed from food in these products the flavour is removed as well, but what they do is put a lot more sugar and chemicals to try and give back the flavour or you would all hate it. Fat free food therefore on the whole, is far worse and fattening for you than regular full fat food. So my message to you on this is that if you ever see any “labels with low in calories again” PUT IT DOWN as you know now it’s very high in sugar. I would even say to read the labels and it may shock you even more to realise the con they are playing on the public.