you say you just started a few days ago. i go through the same thing when im detoxing from sugar! i feel like im climbing the walls and want to tear my hair out. i raid the fridge, dig through the cabinets, eat everything in sight but still am not satisfied. cant seem to scratch that itch. it does go away. in the first two weeks after starting paleo or doing a whole30, and in the first few days after a sugar binge, i let myself eat unlimited amounts of low carb paleo food, and forgive myself! you just need to get through that detox. after it evens out, then i start paying more attention to quantities and reign it all in. track and count calories if it makes you feel better, but for now i say just stay paleo and let everything else go! when you get on the other side of this, i promise you will feel better than you ever have!

Also coming from a binge eating background, I find it easier (though, not typical Paleo) to eat every 3 to 4 hours.

Why are you doing Paleo? If it is to lose weight, then you need to find some lower calorie options to keep you full when you want snacks. That would not be nuts and butter. ;) Zucchini and squash sliced and cooked in coconut oil can be very filling. Melon and berries are also good snacks if you aren't worried about fruit.

If you are doing Paleo for health reasons, then you are probably fine snacking the way you are.

You may want to start the morning with something very filling, containing protein and fat like eggs and bacon.

If you are up for logging your food, I do well with planning my day out ahead of time. Then I know when the next snack or meal is coming from and I know I can wait for it.

Sounds like you might be conditioned to eat for the sake of eating, which is probably pretty typical of anyone coming from SAD (speaking from experience). If so, it may take a little while to overcome that conditioning. Hang in there.

I felt the same way when switching to a strict paleo diet, after being pretty close to it for a long time (the "Weston A. Price" diet). I would eat breakfast of "allowed" foods but then still be hungry. Salted nuts were also my crutch food, and I probably ate too many of them.

The "itch" does go away after a week or so. Something that works for me is to go very low or no carb for a few days. It is a natural appetite suppressant. I think it is also ok to have a crutch food of some kind, but eat very little of it. Salty nuts are immediately satisfying and you can eat literally 3 or 4 nuts to stave off hunger for an hour or two. You can also drink a lot of water. This is a good idea when changing diets anyway, and it keeps you a little bit satisfied until your next meal.

After a week or so my body stopped craving things like fruit, yogurt, and nuts, and began to be satisfied with eggs, meat and crunchy vegetables. I also went cold turkey on sugar which I think made a huge difference. I also stopped eating anything sweet like diet sodas. My tastes really changed and I appreciate the paleo fooods a lot more.

The difficulties were totally worth it -- I feel fantastic, better than I have in 10 years. I have so much energy that I don't know what to do with myself, and I keep losing "circumference", I'm wearing clothes that I haven't worn in, well, 10 years. Stick to it!

Have you tried coconut? Like actual crack open a shell coconut?

I hits the sweet spot for me, but it takes a lot of effort to get at so I have to be motivated to go for it and it is full of fiber so I get that really full feeling afterwards.

If you stick it out, I think the feeling will go away. I transitioned into paleo kind of slowly, and eventually I found that my appetite started regulating itself, I had less cravings, and I just generally felt more satisfied. Keep looking for new recipes to keep things interesting; that made it a lot more fun for me! I myself have been slipping up too much recently- eating ice cream a couple times a week, eating little Reese's cups from the office candy jar; I'm finding myself getting re-addicted to sugar, so I'm really trying to hang tough and not have any of that stuff for awhile. Being super strict for a month or so may be a good way to get over the hump, I sometimes find it helpful to distract myself with some reading, walking the dog, stuff like that. Hang in there! :)

The itch goes away...but it takes time and can be hard. I was previously 100% paleo then went through some bad times, resumed my binges and went 100% NOT paleo. A year and a half later i'm getting back on the wagon. The first few weeks were the roughest for me I ended up eating extra fats every few days to try to push off the cravings. Didn't really work this time though, although it does for a lot of people and was what robb wolf recommendation at his nutrition cert a few years ago. So i've spent a month tracking everything, such a pain but no other way to see what works. extra avacado sometimes, just started using coconut oil verse olive oil, and i cut the fruit entirely for a bit except an occasional banana after a workout. really cut my cravings down in the past two weeks without it, and because nuts are the other thing i tend to over eat they aren't allowed in the house either except to make almond meal. Oh and i started adding fatty meats back in again, I was doing all fish, which keep me fuller longer so i really can't stand the thought of eating.

idk everyone is different! trial and error, but don't give in!! once you find what works and your body adjusts its worth it!!!

I'm glad to have come across this thread — I'm a newbie (day 4), and each afternoon so far I start feeling like I'm going to have to eat my officemate.

Thanks for the proxy-encouragement, everyone.