We must have been posting simultaneously. I wanted to share more of my experience...

Carbs control insulin which control weight.

That's how it works. That's why cutting carbs, any carbs, works so well. However, people vary greatly from how they move on from "meat & veg."

For instance, some people would find that my summer strategy of adding high fat dairy and mostly low-sugar fruits (berries & melon are my favorites, but I do indulge in cherries & apples, too) would not mean a five pound loss, but a stall or even a gain.

And that might even have been me; this time I tried it AFTER I ditched all grains completely. AND seed oils, too (my latest experiment.) AND while in the past I always ate fruit in isolation, this time I eat always fruit with a meal; a meal that contains plenty of protein and fat!

Other people find fruit triggers binges; yet they can have a flax seed muffin every morning or even, in maintenance, the occasional slice of whole grain bread, without a problem. For me, such things kept me stuck at a higher weight than cutting calories, OR even carbs, could shift in the long term. For continued success, I had to stop looking at carb count and start looking at where those carbs came from.

Don't get stuck in the fallacy that THE PLAN means the same thing as WHAT YOU CAN EAT. The plan can allow grains, or fruit, or both... but it means nothing if your body doesn't get along with these food choices.

No, THE PLAN is a roadmap to guide you to figuring out WHAT YOU CAN EAT. Once you are eating the right things, and sometimes the right combination of things, so much falls into place.