5 Diet Myths That Pack on Pounds Don't Let Rumors Thwart Your Weight Loss Efforts Jan. 29, 2013 - Sorry, Journey, but it's finally time to stop believingâin weight loss myths at least. Believing popular misconceptions can keep you from taking the right course of action to reach your goals, says Julia Valentour, MS, program coordinator and media spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise. Blaming a plateau (or a gain) on any of these half-truths will keep you stuck in your rut and derail your motivation. 10 Second Weight Loss Tips Here, 5 of the most pervasive diet-related rumors and the real scoop on how to hit your goal weight for good. Diet Myths That Pack on Pounds Strength training will bulk me up First, let's tackle the myth that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat. A pound is a pound is a poundâwhether it's made up of muscle or fat. That said, muscle is denser than fat and takes up less room, so two women who weigh the same can look much different if one has a higher ratio of lean muscle mass to fat, says Valentour. Muscle weight is a good weight because you look firmer, smaller, and more fit. It's also more metabolically active, so just having more muscle will boost metabolism throughout the day to help keep you leaner. It's important to incorporate strength training into your routine so you burn calories at an optimal rate all day longâand using heavier weights could help maximize your efforts. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that working out with heavy weights even for as few as 3 to 6 repetitions increased exercisers' sleeping metabolic rateâthe number of calories burned overnightâby nearly 8%. That's enough to lose about 5 pounds in a year, even if you did nothing else! Rev Your Fat Burn With This Downloadable (Free!) Workout I exercise every day, so I can eat whatever I want Would be nice, right? But that's not how it works if you're trying to lose weight, unfortunately. "You can outeat your workout," says Valentour. Even though you burn calories and fat when you exercise, it's often not as much as you thinkâor what the readout on the treadmill tells you. Valentour recommends eating 250 fewer calories per day and aiming to burn an extra 250 calories a day; that creates enough of a calorie deficit to achieve an average weight loss of a pound a week. 10 Slim-Down Strategies You Can Count On It's harder for women to lose weight than for men Okay, this one has some basis. Biologically, men are built with more lean muscle mass (the compact, tight muscles that keep metabolism humming) than women areâmeaning his metabolism is working at a 5 to 10% higher rate (even if he's the same height and weight as you) when you're lying on the couch together. Annoying, isn't it? Another biological challenge women face is that we generally have more body fat than men do, and our bodies are more inclined to store it. On top of that, women lose about 1/2 pound of calorie-burning muscle mass a year during perimenopause and sometimes a pound a year during menopause. With the deck stacked against you, why bother trying to fit back in your skinny jeans? You can do something about these problems, but it's going to take some workâand sweat. Add strength training to your fitness routine at least twice a week to shed fat and build lean muscle mass that will fire up your resting metabolism. Diet Mistakes That Slow Metabolism All calories are equal, so it doesn't matter what I eat Ever since you learned what a calorie is, you've been told that they're all alike: Whether you eat 500 calories' worth of celery stalks or cake, your body will burn or store them equally, right? Wrong. New science shows that when it comes to weight loss, calories are nowhere near alike. Some foods take more work to eatâand therefore burn more calories while you're digesting them. Just the act of chewing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean cuts of meat can increase your calorie burn by up to 30%! And then your stomach and intestines do their jobs. In a Japanese study, researchers found that women who ate the foods that required the most work had significantly slimmer waistlines than those who ate the softest, easiest-to-eat foods. The fiber and protein in such foods take so much effort to digest that your body doesn't absorb some of their calories. The Active Calorie Diet is a smart new plan from Prevention magazine that takes advantage of all the new knowledge about calories. By choosing more Active Calories and fewer processed foods, you'll set your fat-burning engines on high all day long so you'll lose more weightâwithout feeling hungry. 6 Ways To Stop Overeating Eating fat will make me fat Fat-free products are so-o-o over. There's nothing special about fat that packs on pounds: Getting enough fat in your dietâthe Institute of Medicine recommends that it make up 20 to 35% of caloriesâis essential for good health, but the type of fat matters. Monounsaturated fatsâMUFAs (pronounced MOO-fahs), for shortâcome from the healthy oils found in plant foods such as olives, nuts, and avocados. A report published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that a MUFA-rich diet helped people lose small amounts of weight and body fat without changing their calorie intakes. Another report found that a breakfast high in MUFAs could boost calorie burn for 5 hours after the meal, particularly in people with higher amounts of belly fat. Pair these delicious healthy fats with a reduced-calorie eating plan and you'll lose weight and reduce belly fat. Limit saturated fats and avoid trans fats in your diet. Both kinds can cause health problems. Check Out 5 More Diet and Fitness Rumors That Slow Weight Loss More from Prevention: 10 Fitness Myths That Are Holding You Back 20 Biggest Health Excuse Roadblocks/a> 50 Ways To Lose 10 Pounds What Do Doctors Really Eat?