This is my personal experience—that is to say, my response to 1 year on lo-cal (in 2014) and 1 year on keto (2018-2019). The simple story: I lost weight on both diets, but the lo-cal (calories-in-calories-out) diet was not sustainable: the carbs kept my appetite on a rollercoaster so I had to rely on will power alone to sustain the weight loss. I regained the weight over the next couple of years. On the keto diet (≤25g total carbs/day), not only have I lost 20 lbs more in the same time frame, but I've discovered the feeling of satiety (absence of hunger pangs, no more constant thought of food, no more uncomfortable full feelings...which I used to think was satiety), a feeling totally new to me. I used to think that feeling "full" was "satiety." Feeling the way I do now, at peace and not tortured with cravings, I believe the keto diet will be the way I can live for the rest of my life.

Other changes I've noticed on the keto diet:
• A1C: was 5.8 --> is now 5.3 (≤5.6 = normal; 5.6-6.5 = pre-Diabetic; 6.5+ = diabetes)
• Triglycerides: was 189, is now 116
• Blood pressure: was 156/85 (with meds), is now 125/75 (no meds)
• Three spots of psoriasis that were on my hand for a few years have cleared up with no meds

I have a family history of diabetes and I am carb sensitive. In June 2018 I started seeing symptoms that my insulin resistance was increasing and that I was skirting diabetes. So I got very serious about weight loss and started researching the latest scientific research and findings to understand the metabolic system. I knew low-calorie was not workable to address my morbidity.

Below is my weight-loss graph from both diets: brown line = 2014 CICO (calories in calories out); Black line = 2018 keto.