Isabel - the carb thing is both a weight thing and a 'feel better' thing - but it all depends on your physiology, imo.
If you are significantly overweight, then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a lower-carb eating plan, because it will reduce cravings, and have you eating the most nutrient-dense foods. Highly refined carbohydrate foods don't have a whole lot of nutrients for their calorie 'bang', so to speak. Refined carbohydrates also raise your blood sugar and can cause weight gain if you're not fairly active.
That said, I really believe it depends on what type of 'carb' you're talking about. There is (imo) a difference between pasta and some blueberries, or between a bagel versus half a baked sweet potato.
If you're battling cravings, and having a tough, tough time losing weight, then I'd always suggest reducing refined carbohydrates, as in - don't eat the carbs that are man-made. That means skipping muffins, store-bought cereals, pasta, bread and the like.
On top of all this - you also have the fact that grains in particular are hard on our digestive systems. A half a potato is going to be a lot better than a bowl of wheat-based pasta.
Having said that, if you don't have issues (digestive issues, mysterious weight gain, bloating, various aches and pains) - it's probably not necessary to worry about it - but there's a catch. The amount and number of refined carbs you can "get away with" is dependent on how active you are. If you're at the gym most mornings, or getting a decent amount of exercise, then you don't need to worry too much about this, because you'll be burning those refined carbs off before they have a chance to mess you up.
Even though I follow a lower-carb eating plan, I will say that I actually had to add in a few carbs in advance of my early morning workouts back when I was going to the gym on a regular basis. This wasn't a lot, just half or a full Larabar - but in order to actually complete the weights routine, I needed that little bit of "carb" to fuel my workout. Thing is? It had no effect on my weight loss or on my so-called "carb count" for the day because I burned it all off before it even registered, if that makes sense. This is what's known as a 'Targeted Ketogenic Diet'. The idea is that you purposely put your carbs in front of your workouts.
Meanwhile, if you are concerned and/or curious about all this, I'd start like this:
1. Get rid of sugar - this doesn't mean you don't ever eat sugar, it just means you avoid 'added sugar' like the plague. Fruits and vegetables have natural sugar in them, marshmallows or cookies do not. Swear off added sugar. This might mean buying full-fat Greek yogurt and adding your own fresh berries instead of buying the typical mass-market branded sweetened yogurts out there. Special note from me: avoid artificial sweeteners too. They also muck you up and cause cravings, even though they are not supposed to.
2. Avoid grains if still struggling - no wheat, no corn, no baked goods (other than what you make or buy yourself that is relatively grain free). I've made "cereal" with a variety of toasted mixed nuts, fresh berries and a splash of coconut milk.
3. Boost vegetables (and fruit, to a limited extent) to "replace" the pasta, cereal, muffins, baked goods and so on. Voila! Suddenly, you're eating the so-called "five-to-nine" recommended servings of fruits and vegetables without even trying.
Give this a few weeks, and I swear - you will be *amazed* at how naturally sweet whole foods really are. A single cherry tomato will taste sweet. Fresh lemon atop some fish will taste amazing, and not at all boring.
Just last week, I was grocery shopping, and the guy in the produce dept. offered me a piece of some oranges he was putting out. It was *insanely* sweet to me. I bought two of them, just for a treat. Who would think of oranges as a treat? Someone who'd sworn off all the sweetened cereals, muffins and refined carbs. That thing tasted so sweet, I could feel the sweetness from my mouth all the way down to my toes. Sounds silly, I know - but after being off "added sugars" for so long, it's amazing to me how sweet natural, whole foods really are.
This is all kind of fun, actually. It's a kind of cleansing of the palate, in a way.
Rationale for lowering, reducing and eliminating refined carbs:
*Reduces cravings
*Weight drops because your body isn't kicking out all kinds of insulin to deal with blood sugar spikes
*The food you eat is much more nutrient-dense - you're not wasting your time on 'empty' calories
*Real food tastes so much better
*All kinds of aches and pains just disappear
*Cholesterol normalizes
*Blood sugar normalizes
*Appetite normalizes - weird for me - because suddenly I no longer had a so-called "emotional eating disorder" or whatever
*No bloating, no weird digestive issues
Just some food for thought.
ETA: you can still eat cookies! Just mix up some roasted almond butter with an egg (throw in some vanilla if you like), and make them like you would peanut butter cookies. I don't add any sweetener, artificial or otherwise, but have been known to dip these into melted dark chocolate. It's not all "diet" or doomsday - far from it
