Brought to you by Academy One Nutrition It's easy to get bogged down in all the health and fitness information out there. There are so many bloggers and fitness gurus doing the rounds that our heads are spinning. Are carbs a good thing? What's fasted cardio? Sometimes you just want sound simple advice from people in the know. So we asked the good folks at Academy One Nutrition to bust some of the biggest health myths out there. We can't believe we thought some of these were actually true. Myth 1. Fad diets will help you lose weight and keep it off. Yea right! Fad diets are not the best option when it comes to losing ‘weight.'  Fad diets may result in weight loss but this is due to decreased food stores in the body and a decrease in the body water that accompanies it You may be lighter on the scales but the reduction of weight is not from fat loss. Once you return to normal eating habits your weight will increase back to starting figures, because your body fat percentage is the same as before. So you're really not doing yourself any favours. Myth 2. Eating regular meals will increase your metabolism. Eating regular meals by itself will not increase your metabolism. The speed of your metabolism depends on the following four things.

• Levels of physical activity
• Age
• The quality of foods being ingested
• Overall healthy dietary intake

Eating regular meals, if each meal is healthy and part of a balanced diet, will help contribute to an increase in metabolism  but only if other factors are met. via GIPHY Myth 3. “Low fat” or “fat-free” means no calories. Foods do not need to contain fat to contain calories.  Many processed low-fat or fat-free foods may contain just as many calories as the full-fat products, and sometimes even more. Woawzers! Fat-free or low-fat foods may also contain added sugars in order to improve the taste of the product. Too much sugar intake may result in fat retention or an increase in body fat. So basically doing the exact opposite of what you bought them for. Bummer! via GIPHY Myth 4. Decreasing calorie intake will result in fat loss. The old myth was that the less you ate the skinnier you were. What a load of BS! Decreased calorie intake may result in fat loss if your calorie intake was too high to begin with, however, if calorie intake is decreased by too much your calorie deficit may be too high. If you are placed in too much of a calorie deficit your body may retain body fat and your metabolism may decrease. Keep in mind how many calories are being burned through exercise when decreasing calorie intake from food.  Eat the appropriate amount of calories you need from good quality, health foods in the right amounts. Myth 5. Late night eating is bad for you. We can all relate to the late night munchies but the good news is you shouldn't feel guilty for doing it. Eating late at night may be bad for you if your daily requirements have already been met and you end up taking in too much energy every day.  However, if you have not met your daily calorie requirements, it is beneficial for you to eat no matter what time it is. Your body burns fuel 24/7 and it is important to give it the energy it needs from healthy food sources.  The myth of “you can’t eat after 6 pm because you will gain weight” couldn’t be further from the truth. Balance is key. via GIPHY This article is brought to you by Academy One Nutrition.