Hi Melinda,
When it comes to carbo cravings, I find that eating trail mix helps a lot. Choose carefully as many prepared trail mixes contain peanuts and cashews.  I found one that was sunflower seeds, almonds, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds and some other dried fruit.  Trail mixes with dried fruit are kind of high carb, but they will help break you of the craving for grains.  You can eat paleo BTW in a high carb way or a low carb way depending upon your needs.  I think eating enough fat also helps break the carb craving; your body switches over from burning carbs to burning fat for energy.  Paleo eating isn't really low fat; Actually, I think there are two schools of thought on this; Neanderthin stresses a moderate to high fat diet.  What matters more is the kind of fats; proper ratios of omega-3 to omega-6 and of monounsaturated/polyunsaturated/saturated fats.  When I was first breaking the evening cereal with milk habit, I bought a bunch of bags of mixed nuts in shell (on sale after the holidays);  I would sit and eat those in the evenings -- the work of shelling them kept my mind off the cereal.  You should certainly restrict salt, but remember cutting out processed foods is going to do a lot of that for you.  Shake a little salt on your steak if it tastes better that way!  A little sodium is necessary.
I find it's very expensive too, and on a student budget, and not the whole family eats that way, so I have to buy for everyone.  I stick to a meal plan (and NOT the meal plan in The Paleo Diet, with all the sea scallops and stuff!), so I know what my grocery bill is going to be like, and try not to deviate from it unless something is on sale.  The hunter/gatherer doesn't get to pick and choose from a varied diet; he eats whatever he is skillful enough or lucky enough to catch, or whatever plants are in season.  If there is only rabbit, he eats rabbit every day.  So when you are shopping, consider what is within your budget as the "catch of the day".  Whole chickens or turkey, lean ground beef, pollock fillets, and pork chops make up the bulk of my purchases.  I buy roast, salmon or other fish fillets, and sometimes round steak on sale only.  I can't afford grass fed uncured bacon, so I buy store brand "low salt, sugar free" bacon.  I can't afford to eat grass fed or organic at this point, but I do have a garden -- this summer I planning to put in a lot of salad greens since that is one of my more expensive veggie items.  And always herbs -- for the cost of one bunch of herbs at the supermarket you can buy potted ones at the plant nursery and use them year round.  They are so easy to grow and they do well in pots.  I buy a lot of whatever is in season or on special; if cauliflower is $1 a head, I buy four.  I also always check the discounted produce cart. Basically I just do the best I can with what I have.  Also, there are a few things I am willing to spring for -- I don't ever buy iceberg lettuce, because it has nearly no nutritional value; I buy decent olive oil (but definitely not top of the line), uncured all natural hot dogs once a week to treat myself and the kids, sea salt, herbal teas, and almond butter.
I find that once you learn to cook all over again (I was a semi vegetarian and none of my old recipes worked!) paleo cooking is easier and less messy.  (There is nothing more time consuming than cleaning up a kitchen where two tots have just eaten rice or oatmeal!) The meal plan also helps a lot with this.  Here's what I do: pick one breakfast (I eat bacon and eggs), then pick seven easy to prepare suppers and make extra meat when you cook them. (If I'm baking or roasting I might make squash; if broiling I'll use the steamer for greens, carrots, or broccoli.  Or I'll slice some raw veggies.) I generally just do one veggie to go with the meat entree and just eat a lot of the one thing, or have some salad.  For the week, make a big bowl of green salad and a batch of paleo salad dressing (or just use lemon juice and oil if you like).  For lunches you eat leftover meat and salad.  Keep prepared fruit and veggies, boiled eggs, trail mix, and paleo tuna salad around for snacks.  Make a big pitcher of your favorite herbal tea and keep it iced in the fridge.  There are a lot of complicated recipes out there that do take hours; I have two preschoolers and a LIFE and just don't have time for that.  I slap some pork chops on to broil, steam some greens in a vegetable steamer, and warm up leftover potatoes for the non-paleo eaters in the family.  (That was tonights dinner BTW.)  That tooks all of 20 minutes to prepare and only 5 of actual preparation.  I think broiling is the fastest and best way to cook most meat.  I cook bacon in the microwave, on a micro bacon tray with a paper towel on top.  It takes 8 minutes and doesn't leave the stove a mess.  If you have a crock pot, you can put in greens, carrots, or squash chunks instead of potatoes with your roast or chicken.  I use the heck out of my vegetable steamer; I use it every day, in fact, because it's so easy to use and easy to clean.
If you have had an eating disorder, and you have struggled with using food as comfort, you're still going to have to deal with that.  Your diet change just brings it to light.  Finding something to do that involves your hands helps, and finding new sources of comfort also helps.
Good luck!




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