Eat more, lose more!

Filling up on real foods, not made-to-crave chemicals, helped Terri Paige, a mother of 8, ditch 10 lbs in one month!

- LISA MAXBAUER

With nutrition, like fashion, the classics always come back. So while creators of fad diets claim their plan is the next great fat fix, there's something to be said for humans' original way of eating: the paleo diet. It's all-natural, unprocessed and ultra-satisfying. Even when people try to overeat on this plan, they still lose weight. “The right diet can help us feel as healthy as nature intended,” says Mark J. Smith, Ph.D., coauthor of Paleo for Life. Keep reading for the simple secrets to slimming with zero hunger.

Named after the historic Paleolithic period, paleo eating is sometimes called the caveman diet, since it focuses on foods our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate: meat, eggs, fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. The plan avoids processed, modern ingredients like grains (gluten), dairy and sugar that can inflame the gut.

“For most of humanity’s time on this earth, this is how we ate. It shaped our genetics,” explains Smith, a physiologist and chief science officer at The Paleo Diet. In fact, up to 70% of all grocery-store items are unfamiliar to our bodies since they didn’t even exist a few generations ago.

Why paleo works: “Most weight-gain issues are related to eating a high glycemic (sugary-carb) diet that leads to increased blood sugar and insulin levels,” says Smith. “The paleo diet is a low glycemic diet and is also very nutrient-dense, allowing people to obtain the needed nutrients without consuming unnecessary calories.”