The answer to the question of which is healthier, a salad and soup or just soup, is soup. Plain soup may not be the most nutritious, but in terms of calories and fat, it's healthier to choose the option with less food. In our minds, we have lots of preconceived notions about food. Here are the top 3 notions that are hurting your diet efforts.

1. Clear your plate! Lots of us remember growing up and hearing our parents say, "You cannot get up from the table without cleaning your plate." While they might have thought they were instilling good values of not wasting and tolerance of different foods, they actually gave us bad psychology. If you took too much food onto your plate, you should not stuff it down. Lots of times, it's better to eat less if you're not hungry! Don't feel pressure to finish all the food allotted to you, even if there's social pressure to finish. Put your own health first.

2. Salads are healthy! In lots of cases, salads are healthy alternatives to burgers and other greasy, fattening food. However, the American version of the salad with just as many calories and fats is taking over at an alarming rate! Adding a salad to your meal or making it your main dish isn't helpful if you load it with fattening cheese, crutons, dressings, sauces, and meats. If you make a salad, commit to a low-fat dressing such as poppyseed, grilled chicken as opposed to a fried or breaded meat, and part-skim mozzarella cheese.

3. Just don't eat! Not eating slows down your metabolism and doesn't help you lose weight. If you don't feed your body, functions such as burning fat and calories will shut down, and you'll be worse off. Instead, eat moderately-sized healthy meals as your weight-loss strategy.