When people want to get rid of excessive body fat, the first thing they tend to think of is skipping at least one meal a day. Will that really help them to lose weight? Let us have a look at some of the most common weight loss myths many people believe in:

Myth 1: Food eaten in the evening contributes more to weight gain. Wrong: What counts is the amount of calories you add up during the day, but the time of the day you consume those calories is of minor significance. If you were on low calories during the day you can afford a dinner without worries.

Myth 2: To skip breakfast or lunch is good for staying slim or reducing weight. Wrong: This is a wrong assumption. Skipping breakfast will increase your cravings for food till lunch time and you will probably forget your goal for the day and eat a lot more than you should. The same applies to skipping lunch. If you still manage to stay away from all snacks and sweets during the afternoon but your hunger will be out of control latest at dinner time. Thus you will add more calories than you would with regular meals.

Myth 3: Five meals instead of three are a better way to lose weight. Wrong: It makes no difference how many times a day you eat. Important is that you limit the total amount of calories. Eating less but more often shortens the time between each meals and makes you feel less hungry. But on the other hand, if you are having a hard time to resist eating more food than you should, you might be better off with three meals only. It is giving you more control while providing less temptation.

Myth 4: The metabolism of people over 40 is slowing down, thus putting on weight is unavoidable. Wrong: True is that muscle mass gradually decreases with age if people do not exercise. As a result, increasing fat deposition develops a risk factor for your health. Regular exercise can help you to prevent that. Don't take your advanced age as an excuse for gaining weight. It only takes more effort to keep up your exercise routine and maintain a healthy level of fitness.

Myth 5: If sport activities and regular work out keeps you fit and slim, so you don't have to care about your choice of food. Wrong: The number of calories being burnt during workout is mostly overestimated. To burn 300 calories one has to swim for 40 minutes. Besides that, somebody wanting to loose weight has to burn the daily calories of the food eaten and additional calories from stored fat cells. That's a hell of a task. One kilo of fat is equal to 7000 calories. To burn such an amount one will have to work out on his home trainer for 12 hours. This means, losing weight merely through exercise is hardly achievable. But it is important to maintain a regular exercise routine. It helps you to build up muscle and increase metabolism, which in return burns more calories. Besides this you will also feel a lot better. But there is no way around limiting your calorie intake. A combination of both will bring you a step closer to your goal.

One last word: Most weight loss efforts collapse quite quickly because people set unrealistic goals. Go for small steps, easy to achieve and a glitch once in a while is nothing bad. Just get back on track and never give up!