As someone who was formerly in the 230's and yo-yoed a few times before settling in the 160's, I feel your pain. Can't really comment on the whole Paleo diet, or the bunged up feeling.
I will say that I've tried a lot of things, including low carb, and I get tired and have headaches when going into ketosis. Though, it has been effective for me in losing and keeping the weight off. Since, I'm at my goal weight and carb cycling to gain muscle, I use simple carbs judiciously. I do eat lots of leafy vegetables, and generally don't worry about them when thinking of carbs.
While losing weight, I found that a low calorie diet and cardiovascular exercise was helpful together, whereas either alone didn't do much for me. Personally, I just didn't have the energy while on the low cal diet to do strength training, so I didn't. However, I'm trying to make up for it now.
Good luck!