10 Diet and Exercise Myths That Won't Go Away

Have you tried dieting and exercising with very little to show for your efforts? You may be doing it all wrong, says Joseph Mercola.

Popular misconceptions can damage your fitness plans. Yahoo Shine and CNN have collected some of the most pervasive and damaging fitness-related rumors. Here are some of them:

Myth – Strength training will bulk you up

In fact, researchers have found that working out with heavy weights increased exercisers' sleeping metabolic rate (the number of calories burned overnight) by nearly 8 percent. That's enough to lose about 5 pounds in a year right there.

Myth – All calories are equal, so it doesn't matter what you eat

Some foods take more work to eat, and therefore burn more calories while you're digesting them. Eating vegetables and lean cuts of meat can increase your calorie burn by up to 30 percent.

Myth – Eating fat will make you fat

Getting enough of the right kinds of fat in your diet is actually essential for good health. Read more