Let's talk diet myths versus facts, some common diet strategies truly do help you lose weight while others only offer false hope. We are going to debunk some of these food myths so you can know what really works and what doesn't.

1) Eating spicy foods helps you with faster weight loss.
Myth - Many of us would like to think this is true but it is a myth, eating spicy foods does not help you lose weight faster. You think maybe I'm sweating or your hearts pounding, it seems like it should be burning calories but in laboratory studies it's just a drop of metabolic pop and doesn't make a dent in weight loss. The idea that you can put some hot sauce on your food and it's going to burn off some calories.

2) Eating dairy foods can promote weight loss.
Fact - This is actually a fact but there is a big "if", the if is you have to be in a calorie controlled diet to begin with, you have to trim your calories so it's not magically adding dairy to what you already eat and adding calories. It's replacing some of the calories you eat with dairy foods, low and non-fat.

3) All exercise keeps your metabolism boosted for a few hours.
Myth - Many people think this is a fact but it's actually a myth, only if you're an extreme exerciser. For most of us who are power walk or run a mile or two you think I'm burning calories and it will continue to do so after my exercise so I just eat as much as I want after. But this is not the case.

4) Using smaller sized plates promotes weight loss.
Fact - This is true and it's a fact because many studies have shown that if food is in front of you're likely to eat all of it. So if you have a smaller portion by having a smaller plate you will end up eating less. American dinner plates are very big, our salad plates are the size of dinner plates in Europe. So start with smaller plates to help reduce your meal portions.

5) Don't eat after 7pm for better weight loss.
Myth - This is one of the biggest myths around because you can't eat by the clock. This doesn't mean that you're gonna eat a steak before you go to bed. But if you go to bed at 12 or 1 and you eat dinner at 6 you're biologically going to be hungry later in the evening. So you can eat a smaller dinner and then a light snack later in the evening.