I'd stop calorie counting right now.
Focus on foods that won't have a big impact on your blood sugar. So lower carb, not low low carb, just switch your main carbs out for other things.
For example if you are eating something that would normally include potato, use new potatoes. The sugars/carbs are not as accessible to the body.
Avoid anything with flour (white or brown are both bad for blood sugar), and sugar obviously. Avoid rice and pasta and floury potatoes. All these hit the bloodstream fast and cause havoc with your blood sugars.
I swap in sweetener, there are so many types all tasting different. Also swap in new potato, sautéed, roasted, boiled and crushed.
I've discovered hovis do a very low carb loaf which means I can eat sandwiches.
I also use Fiberflour (I order online) In my cooking as it's very low carb. So I can have a small amount of traditional products if made with this, such as scones, cake, pancakes.
You can buy no added sugar jams now which are fine.
I'm not reducing the amount on my plate at all and I've lost 7lbs in the last fortnight. It works, I'm not hungry at all and because the mechanism you are controlling is the one that controls appetite, you naturally eat much less as you aren't hungry.
Personally, I'm normally obsessed on a diet and always feeling hungry and thinking about my next meal. I sky rocketed to nearly 15 stone and was pre-diabetic so I had to take action.
I've lost 31lbs easily now. 24 to go!
Having this method to stabilise blood sugars is a game changer.