Added sugar is the insidious enemy. Forget the anti-grain alarmism and so on, if we can just cut the added sugar from our diets, that's a 80-90% solution that's actually achievable, compared to the insanity of trying to completely cut out all carbs.

We're hard-wired to be attracted to sweet and fatty foods, because those were important back when food was scarce and a calorie surplus was basically unheard of. Now that food is abundant (at least in the developed world) that same hard-wired attraction is a burden that we need to consciously challenge every day.

I'm a big fan of the No S Diet (http://nosdiet.com/ - no affiliation) because it's straight-forward, easy to adhere to and has worked for me. It also doesn't try to sell you anything, it just asks you to cut out added sugars, limit your meals to single servings and to not eat between meals.