re: I can't imagine anything worse than the Paleo diet.

I didn't realize how much fat I was carrying until I bought some calipers. Always had a bit of a gut because beer and liquor, but people who only saw me with my clothes on thought me insane to start a diet this year. I figured out my body fat% and TDEE, then set a meal plan at 25% less calories than that, logging everything into MFP, working out 5 days a week and doing HIIT one day a week along with 30min fasted walks first thing in the AM 6 days a week.

In 5 weeks I'm down 13lbs, down 5% body fat and down 2 inches around my waist. Plus my lifts are still going up despite the cut.

No low carb here. Doing 40% Carb/40% Protein/20% Fat.

Eating at a 25% deficit was tough for about 2 weeks. Now, I'm adapted and don't even get cravings or hunger pangs. My viewpoint has entirely changed. The majority of my meals now I view as fuel, still tasty, but my meals don't have to be extravagant anymore. I allow myself one night of drinking per week and one of eating something' bad'...but I still log it and if it's over my daily allotment, I make adjustments the next day.

I have more energy now than I have in years.