Medical Breakthrough -- War on Your Waistline: 5 Diet Myths Debunked

Medical Breakthrough -- War on Your Waistline: 5 Diet Myths Debunked

Do you eat after eight p-m?

Do carbs make you fat?

Medical Breakthrough has some surprising advice from a leading obesity researcher.

War on Your Waistline: 5 Diet Myths Debunked

You've probably tried at least one.

"I once did the soup diet, and all you would eat is this cabbage soup three times a day."

"Not eat at all for a week, or I take fat-burning pills."

More than 70-million Americans are currently on a diet. But there's a lot of myths out there -- number one -- don't eat after eight p-m.

The truth -- according to Temple University Obesity Researcher Gary Foster, calories don't know time.

"There's nothing magical or mysterious about when calories go into the body, how they process them. It's really about how much energy goes in over 24 hours and how much energy is burned over 24 hours," he says.

Number two -- eat a big breakfast when you wake up to boost metabolism.

"It tends to be a very small increase and a very short-lived one."

But eat a small breakfast and often enough so you don't overindulge.

"Keep your tank between about a quarter full and three-quarters full," says Dr. Foster.

MYTH NUMBER THREE -- CARBS MAKE YOU FAT.

It's calories that make you fat, whether they are from carbs, fat or protein. You also don't get fiber from most processed carbs -- like white instead of whole grain pasta -- so you may not feel as full.

Number four -- ignore the scale. Research shows people who weigh themselves daily do better at keeping the pounds off.

And number five -- if you exercise, you can eat whatever you want. You actually need to burn 35-hundred calories to lose just one pound of fat.

"But it's important to note that exercise is the single best predictor of who keeps weight off and who doesn't," says Dr. Foster.

And by knowing the facts -- hopefully you'll be able to keep the weight off too.

If you cut 500 calories out a day you'll lose a pound a week.

To lose weight men typically need to eat between 16-hundred and 18-hundred calories a day.

Women need between 14- and 16-hundred.