• by The chicks at TotalBeauty.com, on Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:46am PDT

Let's face it: Losing weight is trendy. Not like, "you're thinner and that's more fashionable" trendy (er, "Vogue" might disagree with that statement), but deciding how to shed big pounds if you are overweight is often based on which fad diet or super celebrity hyped exercise plan is currently on a best-seller list.

So you find yourself channeling a caveman and only eating raw food. Or you eat nothing but fruit and one baked potato a night for three days to cleanse your way skinny like I tried. Or you drop a day's pay on a bag of magic berries found in Zimbabwe.

Yeah … and we all know how that goes.

With all the diet trends coming at us from all angles, how are we "big boned" gals of the world supposed to know what works and what doesn't -- what diet trends are fact or fiction?

To find out, I asked fitness and lifestyle consultant Ashley Borden and celebrity nutritionist Paula Simpson to give it to me straight. Turns out some of the supposed "tried and true" diet tips we torture ourselves with are totally bogus and a complete waste of time. Here are seven of the 10 weight loss tactics you shouldn't listen to -- and why they're a bunch of bs.

Eating after 8 p.m. is a diet don't.

FALSE!

It's not when you eat, it's what (and how much) you eat. The reason some diets suggest you close the kitchen after enjoying the early-bird special is that people have a tendency to overeat at night, especially if they have skipped a meal during the day. "If you are finding yourself bingeing at night, chances are you are not eating anywhere near enough good calories during the day," says Borden.

Capitalize on the truth: You can eat at night, just watch what's on the menu. Borden recommends a light meal or a protein shake with water, berries and some fat: "I love UDO's OIL 3, 6, 9 blend. It's a mix of wonderful omega and nut oils that will help satiate your hunger. Not to mention help your skin, lean muscle tissue and digestion." Can't live in a world where nighttime doesn't include a bowl of something sweet or a bag of salty snacks? Try substituting fat-free yogurt or whole grain cereals with skim milk for the ice cream, and baked chips and salsa or one of those 100-calorie snack packs of crackers for the cheese doodles. Just don't over-indulge.