There are lots of dieting tips out there for anyone who wants them. Your friends will even offer a great deal of well meaning advice. But there are certain tips that you need to ignore, for a variety of reasons. Let's take a look at the three most common tips that you should ignore.

1. You can eat as much of this type of food, if it is the only food you eat. This is absolutely false. All food, with the exception of water, contains fat, calories, or carbohydrates. Over consumption of any of those things will not help you to lose weight. Take all things in moderation - even the things that are supposed to be good for you. If you don't have a varied diet, you won't stick to it, and you will be missing out on needed vitamins and minerals in the process.

2. Eat three square meals a day. Actually, you need to eat six meals a day, but they need to be smaller meals. Diets typically fail because we are hungry, and we were not designed mentally to not eat when we experience hunger and food is available. Determine the appropriate amount of food that you need for the day, based on the number of calories, and divide it into six portions. Eat every two hours while you are awake.

3. All fruits and vegetables are good for you when you are trying to lose weight. This isn't true even if you aren't trying to lose weight. Canned or dried fruits and vegetables are often processed. Fresh is best, and frozen is your second choice. Fruit in the form of juices is also processed, with sugar often added. Remember to stick to fresh or frozen, and skip the 'juices.' Also, when vegetables are cooked, they can become detrimental to your diet depending on how they are cooked.

Dieting tips are helpful, but only if they are good tips. Use common sense when dieting, and avoid buying into any myths that commonly get thrown around. It pays to educate yourself concerning nutrition if you want to lose weight and keep it off for good.