It depends on the person. Myself if I'm strict paleo, I don't need to count calories. I eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full. But if you add any sugar, fake sugar or grains, I need to count calories. When I'm non-paleo, my hunger cues lie. LOL Others will tell you they have to count calories no matter what. Play with it and find out what works for you. And welcome to the group.

I eat primal and my diary is open but I don't really cook via recipes at this point.

I just heat up some meat and prep some veggies (sometimes heated, sometimes cold) and eat.

Don't buy any diet or low-fat products, use the normal or full fat versions. Don't use margarine, use butter (from pastured cow milk - Kerrygold is pretty common).

I'm to the point now (almost 3 months primal) where I normally skip breakfast because I'm not that hungry in the morning anymore.

I mainly eat the following: beef, chicken, pork (all from a local butcher and local farms), salads, non-starchy veggies (no potatoes or corn), cheese (both in block and cottage form - full fat versions remember), tree nuts (not peanuts though - they are a legume). I don't eat fruit as I seem to be very sensitive to sugar and it seems to give me the munchies so I try to limit it.

I have discovered the wonderful world of spices to flavor the meat we are cooking. We make our own taco seasoning since the prepackaged stuff almost always has wheat in it.