In my opinion, counting calories is silly when you eat right. Hunger 
seems to become naturally regulated. I've tried mostly just animal 
foods the last couple of weeks to see if I'll lose a bit more fat. If 
I have two Alaskan salmon burgers for breakfast and some olive oil 
mayo, or one salmon burger and two eggs and mayo, I find I'm not a bit 
hungry again for about five hours. Then I'll have steak or a burger, 
and be good for another five hours. What I'm trying to do now is not 
eat anything after six or seven at night. That way, you don't have any 
elevation of insulin while you're sleeping, which is a time (all night 
long) when fatty acids are free to flow and be burned. Without 
elevated insulin, your resting metabolic rate should be higher (even 
during sleep), as far as I understand it. Protein seems, in my recent 
experience and according to some of the paleo experts, to have a 
higher satiety value than fat, even. Not sure if that's true. But when 
I was eating more cheese and nuts I seemed to get hungrier sooner.

You mentioned body clean-out. I generally regard talk of de-tox and 
clean-out as misguided pseudo-science blather, but here is a link to 
an interesting post on that topic from Michael Eades's excellent blog:
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/ketones-and-ketosis/ketosis-cleans-our-cells/

For many people it seems to take a few days to a week or even more to 
adjust to ketosis. Our metabolisms are all a bit different, within 
limits. An overweight woman I know recently seemed to take three 
weeks, at least, to start feeling good, and to start getting some 
darker color on the ketostix, and to start actually losing weight. Had 
some pretty bad insomnia, too. Fortunately, she had read Atkins and 
Taubes, and has seen my success over the years, so she stuck with it. 
She's a doctor, too, and will be able to use her personal experience 
to help inspire patients.

Hilary


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie Feickert" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 12:51 PM
Subject: Counting Calories?


> Hi everyone,
>
>
>
> I'm new to this list but have been enjoying the insights everyone 
> has!  I've
> been eating Paleo for about a month now.  I came to this WOE due to
> breastfeeding a newborn with food sensitivities (dairy, gluten, 
> sugar) and a
> need to address candida issues I've had for 10 years.  My previous 
> diet was
> mainly based on Weston Price (although I was far from perfect) and 
> included
> grass fed meats, raw milk, pastured eggs, organic produce, etc.  I 
> can't
> believe how much better I feel eating Paleo!  I thought a 
> traditional foods
> diet was helpful but cutting out grain has been an incredible boost 
> to my
> system.
>
>
>
> Up until 3 days ago I would guess my diet consisted of about 50% fat 
> and
> probably 25% protein and 25% carbs (my naturopath is very pro-Paleo 
> and
> encourages high fat intake).  I've been reading the book Primal 
> Body, Primal
> Mind and have been encouraged to try to increase my fat intake which 
> over
> the last three days has been 74-80% with 10-15% each for protein and 
> carbs.
> I am watching my carbs carefully and staying under 100 grams a day. 
> But I
> have a couple of questions:
>
>
>
> --Do I need to worry about calorie intake or will that naturally 
> regulate?
> I tried to watch my calories for the first two days (ate about 2,000
> calories each day) but I was really hungry by day three so yesterday 
> it was
> about 2500 calories (still under 100 grams of carbs coming from nuts 
> and
> vegetables).  I'm worried about being hungry and restricting 
> calories
> because I don't want to be miserable and I need to maintain a 
> healthy
> breastmilk supply.  But I also would like to lose some weight.  It 
> doesn't
> have to come off really fast (I know better) but eventually would be 
> nice!
> (For what it's worth, I'm 5'9" and 174 lbs.-I'd like to get back to 
> around
> 150 lbs.)  So far my breast milk supply is good and my baby is doing 
> well
> (has gained over 3 lbs. in 7 weeks).  I don't formally exercise 
> (just
> chasing a very active toddler) but I'm going to start (only for 
> purposes of
> being in better shape-not as a weight loss tool).
>
>
>
> --How long does it take for a body to switch over to being happy 
> with a high
> fat diet (using ketones for fuel, etc.)?  Is it the same day you 
> start
> eating a high fat diet or does it take awhile?  I've been feeling a 
> little
> yucky since switching to 70-80% fat and my body seems to be cleaning 
> itself
> out (sorry TMI).  I feel like I'm giving my body only really good 
> food
> (pastured meats, eggs and animal fats; coconut oil; nuts and nut 
> butters
> mainly that have been soaked and dried; organic produce; a little 
> bit of raw
> honey, etc.).
>
>
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
>
>
>
> Julie
>
>