i'm just starting out too. i've tried v low carb in the past (dukan) and it worked well, but was too restrictive - veg only every other day, no fruit at all...
i've cut out refined sugar, grains and processed junk. but i'm still eating dairy (goat's cheese, ghee and a little milk) and honey. i'm not finding the changes hard, though my sweet tooth does shout every now and then. i'm also looking at the 100 push up challenge as a way to get extra exercise. my gym membership is gathering dust and i'm really not sure when i'm going to get back there. i prefer being outside to in a gym, but the weather last year just didn't want me to. you can't do much outside when it's over still 90 degrees at 8pm.
one thing they say with paleo/primal. if you do a lot of cardio, get your carbs from sweet potatoes. i love them baked like wedges or shallow fried in ghee like potato chips.

On your cardio heavy days, feel free to eat those sweet potato fries. Eating more fat will do nothing to your energy levels for cardio. YOu just burn fat instead of carbs. You eat the extra carbs after you are done to refuel your muscles with glycogen after.

I do about the same amount of cardio as you do and stay around 10-20% carbs. I haven't felt a lack of energy in my workouts. If you are going to keep your skinny lattes and saturday fries you should be okay.

Welcome to the group!

Honestly, I don't know the difference in paleo, primal, low carb, and clean eating yet. I'm still reading. I'm probably a mishmash of all four.

Everyone has slightly different interpretations, but generally...
Primal = Paleo + Dairy, and is based on the Primal Blueprint at www.marksdailyapple.com
Both Primal and Paleo encourage eating whole, unprocessed foods, and so by default you are eating "clean".

Neither Primal nor Paleo have to be low carb, but in comparison to other diets, they often are much lower. Some people choose to be very low carb/ketosis (less than 30g/day), some are more middle of the road, maybe 50-150g/day, some go higher. It's really up to you. You might try lower carb, and then after a few months add more in and see if you continue to lose, and which types of carbs work best for you.

I'm hoping for about 80-90% primal, as I'm not yet ready to give up my daily skinny lattes or my Saturday french fries.... Maybe some day I can give those up.

That's a pretty common goal. The way I look at it, I eat Primal as much as possible, so when I want to "treat" I feel like I can without guilt. You can keep your lattes on Primal, just don't add any sweetener and make them full fat! Those Saturday french fries are fine as long as you're eating well through the week. One serving of fries won't mess you up, but if you can find them cooked in something other than crapola oil, you'll be doing even better. Even better... make them sweet potato fries.

So, I'd love for any of y'all to add me. I'd especially like to know if there are any other older folks here. Are any of y'all 80-90% primal?

I'm a decade younger, but fee free to add me. I'm about 90/10 primal.

I'm concerned about how the lower carbs will affect my cardio. I love my cardio!!!! I box 2 hours a week and do a crossfit/HITT/circuit/P90X mashup 2 hours a week. The latter class can vary from an hour of high intensity cardio to an hours of mostly heavy weights and body weight work. It's totally different every time. Oh, I also sometimes run 3-6 miles once a week.

You will go through a transition period if you go low carb for about the first 2 weeks. It's called the carb flu, and you just need to tough it out. After that, your body adjusts, and you should see BF decrease. As above poster said, best time to eat your carbs is post-workout. Eat a 1/2 sweet potato after those intense sessions. Although I'm really bad about taking my own advice.

I'm also a bit concerned about the higher fat. I'm from the "fat makes you fat" generation, though I logically know that not to be true.

This is the hardest thing to wrap our brains around. Fats are Good??? Actually, yes, they are. Good quality fats help to trigger the satiety response in your brain. They help you feel full longer so you avoid snacking. They make your food taste great. We are wired to want them. Some people shoot for 50% fat daily. Some higher. Don't be afraid of fat.

8 oz steak? omg, I would need two!

It might not hurt getting a book from robb wolf or Whole9. When we try to combine paleo with other eating styles (low fat, healtry grain) we are destined to fail. Please ignore the calorie numbers in MFP and please ignore the fat %'s.

You will do yourself a favor by getting extra protein, working heavy in the gym and getting rid of ALL grains. (rather than cutting them).

Some of the experts show that it takes weeks for your gut to heal from the damage caused by grain proteins. That is why most challenges are of the 30 day ilk. You won't ever see a "10 day paleo diet" - because it isn't supposed to be a diet.

I'm on 13 months now and LOVE how much I get to eat and what I get to eat. While my friends taunt me with bread (former bread-a-holic) I taunt them with insane volumes of bacon, eggs, steak (and other proteins) ALWAYS of the highest quality. While they sit around worried about their cholesterol, I chow down and have far better numbers than them.