This answer somewhat inconveniently addresses both of your recent inconvenient questions:

I've been following following the recent debate as well, and can't help but think that its looking more and more like cyclical diets/eating habits will be touted as being most beneficial (from the perspective of an already somewhat lean paleo individual).

That is, you cycle carbs/fat based on what you've done that day.

Heavy lift day or CF-metcon? Eat high carbs and protein. You've taxed your muscles and glycogen stores, then replete them.

What? A rest day you say? Well, relax and have a fat steak (literally). Keep the carbs low(er), because you're resting and not really doing much to tax your body.

And this basically follows a simple premise, you are eating to best re-fuel your body for the activity you've done.

Quazi related side note: I view things like IF, meal timing/frequency, maybe even post workout nutrition, more along the lines of flexibility. My body won't waste away if I don't eat 4.1456 minutes directly following a workout, nor will i disappear if I haven't eaten for 24 hours. Things like IF are definitely beneficial in the effects on my body, but more importantly they give me the freedom to make a wider array of choices.

"The Taubes" covered this subject (the efficacy of low-calorie/low-fat diets for weight loss) in exhaustive detail and my personal experience backs up his conclusions.

Low calorie low-fat diets work, temporarily. They decrease all tissue types (lean and adipose) and ultimately fail because of the persistent hunger and metabolic backlash experienced while on such regiments .

Sure, calories count, but some count more than others, and the same calories count more in some people than in other people! It's all very dependent on the individual.

Does the person really need to lose weight? Is their metabolism too far gone? What is their genetic predisposition? What is a "healthy weight"?

I eat a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet a la Rosedale. It works so well for me that I am hardly ever hungry. I have no cravings. The only time I feel weird eating this way is if I overdo the intense exercise, which ain't really optimal for longevity (overdoing it I mean).

I suspect my lack of apetite has to do with leptin because that's the whole premise of the Rosedale diet - increasing leptin sensitivity. Whether it does that or not I don't know for sure since I've never been able to convince my Dr. to test for that. BUT what I can say is that when I have tracked my calories for the heck of it while eating this way, they have come in embarrassingly low. BUT I think they are low only because, for me, the combo of high fat and low carb make me not want to eat so much. Even Robb Wolf this week mentioned that he has never really seen people gain weight on high fat low carb ketogenic diet. In fact, in people who eat high fat low carb, (I am paraphrasing Robb) he has a hard time keeping weight on them.

My macro breakdown is prolly 60% fat, 25% protein and about 15% carbs BTW.

I should also say that I don't eat a ton of saturated animal fats (even though I do eat a lot of animals). Saturated fats do tend to put weight on me and make me feel bloated. So mine come from coconut oil and nuts mostly (I know all about o6 people - leave me alone on this).

The tragic truth is that some "paleo" foods are "superstimuli" too, particularly now that some talented bakers have gone paleo. I don't think things like chocolate, sweet potatoes fried in lard, or "luscious" lemon squares are bad and I do eat them now that I'm thin, but if I had had access to them when I was overweight, it's likely I would still be overweight. In retrospect I was saved by living in graduate student housing. I only had access to a steamer, water boiler, and a microwave. I ate very plain unappetizing foods.

kamal, have you gone ornish!?!!?!? gtfoh :-)

I've done the whole low calorie thing in the past. Sure it worked... or did it? I was down to 147 lbs (6 foot male). I was losing way toooo much muscle. My body was starting to eat itself. Not to mention my body was screaming at me demanding it I feed it. I was craving sugar, irritable, depressed, had low libido, super low energy, on and on. Not good. The weird thing too was that I still had some flab in my abs. My body just kept taking from muscle and fat from other parts (like my face).

Low calorie does not work, because in the end you can't trick your body. At the end of the day, your body needs energy to survive. If you do not supply it with enough, the body will find a way to regulate, otherwise, well... you die of starvation.

This is why I am very interesting in hearing more from Stephan Guyenet and the concept of food reward.

If you have a few pounds to lose, then sure, it might be a good idea to start tracking your food intake and seeing where you really stand calorie wise. But it might not even be your diet... it might be stress, lack of sleep etc. Context is key here.

One thought of caution: you may need to ask yourself, do I really need to lose weight? I see plenty of people unhappy with their weight, when they are at a perfectly healthy lean weight. A lot of us have a case of body dysmorphia.

I feel backwards from so many Paleos, but keeping my fat lower has worked better for me. It allows me to eat more chewable food for my fairly low calorie limits. It also seems like I have more issues with overeating when I am eating more fat. I cannot keep Kerrygold on the counter without nibbling at it over and over while cooking and eating. The heavy cream goes down too easy. I am comfortable at 50% fat and sometimes lower.

I have to admit. I initially lost 40 pounds doing the low carb fat fest and have been sitting on the remaining 50 pounds for about a month now and even gained 6 pounds. I just joined Weight watchers 3 days ago but am continuing to eat real food/ no grains and I've lost 2 pounds in just 3 days. Obviously that is partly water, but after a 4 week plateau I'm sold. I'll probably add the fat back when I'm ready to begin maintaining but for now I need to count calories, eat more salad, and cut back on the butter. I'm keeping it paleo but I need to count something and Weight watchers, for now at least, is giving me the structure I need to stay on track. It has worked well for me back when I ate SAD, but the problem was I just ate processed low fat crap so when I went back to no longer dieting I gained it all back. I'm fairly confident that my commitment to clean eating will prevent that from happening this time around.

How timely, I have decided to go on a lower fat route after having a frustrating time with bodyfat levels over the last couple of years. Went Paleo in Feb 2010 - high fat, lowcarb. I ate a lot of lamb and used butter/cream liberally. The weight certainly didn't melt off, rather it was an extremely slow thaw. Even trying 1000 ~ 1200 cal a day with high fat foods did not noticeably effect the rate of bodyfat loss. Lost my period somewhere in the middle and added back some starch for a period of a few months.

1.5 years later and I'm still chasing some stubborn fat deposits - belly is still very puffy with no definition at all. So I decided to cut the amount of added fats, fatty meat, all dairy products and eat more chicken, fish, shellfish etc with a ton of veggies. Still using a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil each day, and if nothing happens in a month I will cut that too. I don't see how I can use up my own bodyfat when I'm supplementing with it so much - yes, it's a CW way of thinking but it can't hurt to try it out for a while.

So nowadays literally the only foods I subsist on are - lowfat whole meats, coconut oil, non starchy veggies, a little bit of coco powder + coconut milk (about 1/4 cup a day) teas and spices. Daily I hit around 1100~1200cal (satiated) - Lets see what happens :)

Or maybe fat loss is supposed to take a few years for some people, and I'm just being impatient...

you know, i was just thinking the same thing not 5 minutes ago. i originally lost appx 6 lbs only to gain it back with muscle at crossfit BUT no bf change since that original 6. i have been vlc for a few weeks now, with no change...id expect a little weight loss after 3 weeks of vlc after being lc and working out as much as i do. i began thinking...what if i increase my (good) carbs...i.e. veggies/fruits...again cut back on the fat and increase the lean protein and see if it helps. as thats how i originally lost 10% BF was when i didnt worry about how many carbs i was eating and had less fat...even though it was still a decent amount. i will definitely be following this thread.

i think once you become leptin sensitive and your body is able to burn fat efficiently, i think reducing the amount of fat and increasing carbs a bit(IF you exercise and are able to use these carbs) it could be another approach to fat loss.