You’ve probably heard plenty of weight loss tips over the years. Maybe someone told you to drink grapefruit juice before every meal to stimulate your metabolism or to load up on the black beans because the fiber will stop you from eating too much. Unfortunately, many of the weight loss tips we do know are really only myths.

Stay Away from Carbohydrates

This is one of the most common weight loss tips today thanks, in part, to the low-carb diet craze. Instead of dropping the bun from your hamburger, however, you should be finding more ways to balance your diet. To be healthy and to lose weight safely, you should be ensuring that your body gets all of the nutrients it needs and that include carbohydrates. Of course, you don’t want to overindulge in them either, especially if your diabetic. Eat carbs in moderation.

Use Artificial Sweeteners

One of the best things that happened to the diet industry was the invention of artificial sweeteners a few decades ago. The good news about the sweeteners is that they do result in lower calorie numbers for many of the foods we eat. However, what most people don’t realize is that these sweeteners can actually cause our bodies to desire more sweetness which can lead to us indulging in non-artificial sweets. The best bet is to avoid artificial sweeteners. If you do need to add a touch of sweetness to your coffee, tea, or cereal, use a small amount of real sugar instead.

Eat Fat-Free Foods

Another one of the weight loss tips people swallowed was the idea that by switching to fat-free foods they could eat almost anything they wanted while also being healthy. The idea was that it was the fat that was bad for us – nothing else. Doing some simple label reading and comparing could show you immediately why this is a myth. Many fat-free or reduced-fat foods replace the missing taste from the fat with other products that tend to increase the amount of carbohydrates and/or calories. Plus, you do need some fat in your diet. Eliminating it completely won’t do your body any good in the long run.

Increase Your Metabolism

Today, one of the biggest and most profitable weight loss tips is to boost your metabolism. While it is true that a faster metabolism is going to burn calories faster which can speed up weight loss a little, you can’t do much to affect metabolism rates in a positive way. Suddenly not eating can drastically slow your metabolism. None of the supplements or pills on the market today have been proven effective at raising metabolism levels. If you are trying to speed it up, the best way is through exercise. You’ll have to burn more calories faster to give your body the extra energy it needs while you’re being active.

Eat Nothing

Starvation diets have long been one of those weight loss tips offered to people who want to drop pounds quickly. Unfortunately, it’s not healthy and will only cause your metabolism to slow to the point where you won’t be able to lose weight at all. Plus, you’ll be harming your overall health.