Recommendations on diet seem to vary more than any other subject. Most work to a degree under the right circumstances. What helped me the most was a book called "Life Without Bread".
My past: For decades I've struggled being a skinny guy with a pot belly - only about 30 lbs overweight. I tried dieting by eating low fat and calorie restriction - it never worked. I struggled to lose even a few pounds. My blood sugar sky rocketed and crashed many times every day. I was constantly starving on this type of eating pattern and I didn't lose weight. It seemed like I was forced to eat every few hours or I couldn't take another step. I tried weight training to help and found that I got stronger, but gained almost no muscle mass. I remained a fat skinny guy.
After applying the principles in the book I mentioned, my body has transformed. My blood sugar stabilized. I now never get hungry - at least not like before. I am usually reminded to eat, not by my hunger, but by the time of day. I lost 35 pounds and actually gained a several pounds of muscle without even trying. Body fat is 7-8% measured with calipers at several points. The pot belly I despised is totally gone. I'm 53 and my body has never looked this good. I carry more muscle than I ever did and about the same fat level I had at 16. My blood pressure went from an average of 135/80 to an average of 112/63. I have a monitor at home and check it weekly. My HDL went up to 65 and my LDL went down to 91. Triglicerides went way down to 64. My resting pulse is 45-48. If I could be healthier, I'm not sure how.
The diet: The principles in the book want you to eat approximately 76 g of carbs per day. I usually eat about 100 grams since I'm very active and I think this results in needing a bit more. The book advises adjusting your carb intake from the 76 g, according to your body and activity level. This is still quite a drop for me from an average of 300-400 grams on my low-fat diet. This equates to about 15% carbs. My protein intake is approximately 35% and fat calories account for around 50%. I eat plenty of saturated fats from eggs, milk, cheese and meats. I round it out with lots seeds, nuts and olive oil on my salads.The carbs I get are from non-starchy vegetables, and no more than one piece of fruit each day. I seldom eat grains and never any that aren't whole grains.
It took a few weeks for my body to adjust to this diet, but since then, it's been so easy to maintain that I still can't believe it. I feel better than I ever have. Even as a young child, my blood sugar fluctuated wildly every day. This is the first time in my life that I can go through a day and not feel like I'm going to melt into the floor at some point. The hardest part isn't cravings that I always had on other diets, it's just the constant exposure to high carb foods that I know I like. Society is always pushing something in your face that is not good for you. I think the big advantage to this diet is the fact that it allows a moderate amount of good carbs. The extremely low-carb diets seem almost impossible to stick with long term. This diet allows plenty of good foods that have some carbs and help satisfy this desire. One day each weekend, I allow myself 150 grams of carbs - that way I can have a beer and a slice of pizza. Fortunately, my corner pizza shop make whole wheat crust an option, so I get one that contains carbs that are at least a bit more healthy.
My wife did not follow this diet when I first started it. She simply refused to give up the carbs she craved. After a few months of seeing what it was doing for me, she switched to it and is now seeing the same results. She too is now in the best shape of her life. Now, if I can only get my kids to give it a try. Unfortunately, they still look at me like I'm nuts.