I haven't really watched my carb intake for a couple of years (at least not as much as I used to).  I really need to go back to it because it has worked very well for me in the past.  When I was a strict vegetarian and worked at a natural foods store, my health got very bad.  My cholesterol and blood pressure skyrocketed and I developed Diabetes.  The first time I had my A1C checked, it was almost 10%!!  If you look at the labels of the products in natural foods stores, a lot of them are chalk full of carbs.  They will say they are "sugar free", but have a ton of carbs from other sources.
I did lose 18 pounds last summer while we were living in Thailand.  My diet there was quite a bit different.  Truthfully, we did eat a lot of rice and pasta there.  We also though ate *tons* of fresh fruits and vegetables.  A typical meal was a fruit plate and a small amount of pasta with fresh vegetables, chicken, and eggs.