> I'm wondering if any couples out there notice differences in weight
gain between men and women once they get on the paleo diet. I
consistently lose weight and am perhaps a bit under my ideal weight.
My wife, on the other hand, seems to be consistently gaining and
beginning to look distinctly Rubenesque in her portrait. She's gained
perhaps 10 lbs, and I've lost 5-8 pounds.

Same pattern with my boyfriend and me.  He's lost, I've gained.  I read in
one of PaleoDiet posts that woman on a paleo diet tend to eat more
"gathering" type foods (especially fruits and nuts) and gain weight, while
men will eat more hunter type food (meat) and lose weight.  Of course, my
boyfriend eats lots of fruit and nuts, too.  He just has a hugely fast
metabolism in the first place.

> I've been reading the thread about rice with interest. I'm thinking
if this continues we're going to have to do some modification away
from being so strict and maybe try adding some rice.

Rice is about as un-paleo as you can get.  I read that the Asian reputation
for low incidence of heart disease is totally wrong. They have an extremely
high incidence of STROKE.

In my opinion, if one is going to cheat on a paleo diet, the absolute worst
cheat food is any type of grain.  Second worst is any type of milk product
except for yogurt.  I'm not saying one should never cheat, but don't kid
yourself about whether it's cheating.

As for obesity... Much overweight (especially in women because of the
pressures of Western culture) is caused by compulsive eating, which is
defined as eating when one is not hungry.  If you are full and continue to
eat because the food tastes good, you are eating compulsively.  If you are
nervous and eat to calm down, or lonely and eat to feel better, or happy and
eat to celebrate BUT YOU ARE NOT HUNGRY, then you are eating compulsively.
If people eat when they are hungry and stop when they are no longer hungry,
they will maintain their normal weight NO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE EATING.  The
body's feedback mechanism is virtually flawless.  Also, if you eat what your
BODY has a taste for, your nutrition will be perfect, too.  They have done
studies with infants and very young children that show they will nourish
themselves perfectly when allowed to choose all their own foods.

Eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're not is somewhat harder to
do when eating carbohydrates because of how the body's satiation signals
work.  Your body tells you immediately if it's had enough protein or fat, but
there is a 20 minute delay in the feedback mechanism for carbohydrates.  That
why people binge on sugar rather than protein, and why people can find "room"
for dessert when they have no desire for more meat or vegetables.  A more
detailed explanation can be found in "The Schwarzbein Principle".

     - Sheryl