Hands up here for someone who has lost weight with low carb! It is so much better for you to make your own meals using minimaly processed foods than to be drinking shakes. It might take a bit longer to lose the weight, but you will have a greater chance of keeping it off. Normally though if you go from having low carb into high carb quite quickly that your weight will jump up, that should quickly go once you start watching the carbs again.

I find if I eat a lot of carbs, I just get hungrier. Some of it is to do with GI, but not all of the craving can be explained that way. I think for me wheat is a baddie, I find I do better if I am in a situation where I have to eat carbs that I am better off getting rye based products. When I am really good with carbs I find I sleep better and just generally feel better over all.