I think counting macros is just as problematic as counting calories. It often just becomes an excuse to eat poorly or to eat supplements that some vendors push. There is an awful lot of junk food that is horrible for our health that can be fit into many counting schemes.

A simpler and probably lot healthier approach is just to avoid all foods with added refined sugar. This forces one to avoid most processed foods and is likely more effective for most people. At least it works well for me.

When I was using calorie restriction I had fit in a ice cream bar I liked into my daily allowance. At the time I was eating around 1800 to 2000 calories a day. At that time I was also doing greater than 500 calories cardio workouts almost daily. I wasn’t able to lose weight and in fact was slowly getting fatter which meant I most have been losing lean body mass. When I cut way back on foods with added refined sugar I ended up adding things like calorie dense nuts and fruit to replace things like the ice cream bar. My daily calories when well over 2000 calories a day and the fat started melting off. It was such a shock I start studying like mad and within six months had even started fasting. I now eat a lot more on a weekly basis but am about 12kg+ lighter. Much of the fat has been replaced by muscle and I feel great. My diet has shifted a lot and now it is much more plant based although I still eat diary, eggs and meat. My protein consumption averages less than 80g / day where I used to be well over 100g / day, but now I’m building muscles. It really isn’t just about the macros, it is more about overall nutrition. Foods of low nutritional value just don’t help much.

The one problem though is I find I often have to eat more food as a lot of nutritionally dense food isn’t very calorie dense. So I’ve been finding combo’s that are more filling, for example adding blueberries to oatmeal or chickpeas to a salad. Still I normally feel content and I no longer have so much hunger like I used too.

I agree with diverdog that you have to find the foods that work well for your body. We are all different and a diet that works wonders for me might not be great for someone else. For example I eat a lot of fruit because that just works well for me. There are people that have problems or even gain weight with too much fruit. However I think almost everyone benefits from avoiding processed foods.