The biggest reason I started this diet was because the book said I could eat until satisfied! What a huge difference that is from low calorie dieting! I was so done with counting calories and starving! It was a huge relief to understand I could eat foods from the allowed list until I was satisfied and if I was not satisfied I could have more until I was. So I guess my point is, DANDR says to start by counting carbs only. So my advice would be... count carbs and follow the plan until it stops working and then start tweaking. And don't forget that the advice you get here is anecdotal. What works for you may not work for me and vice versa. The only way to find that out is to try it!