I was a pretty serious carbo junkie when I started. I lost on average a 1/2 pound a day for the first 30 days. I lost a bunch of weight immediately and I believe it was retained water. I did something called the Paleo challenge which basically involves going cold turkey on flour, sugar and potatoes for 30 days. After about 10 days I lost all desire for sugar. I ate bacon for breakfast every day and it didn't matter how much I ate as long as I avoided processed carbs.  I had twice the energy and found that my stamina when hiking was through the roof! I ate lots of nuts, olive oils and fruit when I felt the need for sweets. Also started using Stevia to sweeten my iced tea.  I know scores of people who are on the same diet I am with very similar results.  I was doing CrossFit for several months and it's part of the program.  What I learned is that animal fat does not make people gain weight. It's what we are designed to eat.  I go out of my way to eat the fat on my steaks now.

Paleo also emphasizes avoiding processes fooods in general and so eating wild game meat is encouraged!

Yes, cyclist and marathoners are in a group of thier own when it comes to eating carbs. But ask those guys to try and carry a couple of quarters of a animal with all the other gear and they wouldn't beable to do it. You need that high protein diet to pack on and keep on the muscle. If you have 5-10% body fat like they do you will need the extra carbs to burn, I still have plenty of fat to burn, and thats what will happen by keeping those pastas to a minimum.

That sounds like cheating, but I hear ya.  It is funny at how it feals when you go over the 50 mark and can't keep up with the young punks in the group.  I try to get my nieces hubby to show up for the heavy work.  A couple of years ago when my brother in law shot his buffalo in Utah he was with us and almost had the whole critter packed out by the time we finished cutting him up at the kill site.  But then he only had to pack him about 200 yards to where we got the truck to. 

I had to read your comments a couple of times. I thought you originally said you recruited two 25 year olds to get you into shape. My apologizes, but that wouldn't be a bad idea either. I should flag this comment as offensive. lol. Stay strong and in shape!