Carbs: Net or total? How do you count them?

This is an interesting topic since my endocrinologist is pushing me to do carb cycling bc she thinks my body will respond better. I'm not sure I want to go that route just yet because I'm a carb addict and that's a slippery slope. To me, it seems, my body treats ALL carbs the same! lol!

In my opinion it is not healthy to keep carbs under 40 long term.  I succumbed to the pressure of the board here and tried mightily over the first two months, but dealth with hypoglycemia and severe constipation as a result.  Just know if you are reading this that there are two camps, and you need to figure out which is the best match for your needs.

Camp 1:  Calories under 800, carbs under 40.   Maybe exercise, maybe not.  Did this for 2 months and it was fantastic to help retool the eating habits.  Otherwise, it was hard on my system.

Camp 2:  My bariatric team wants a balanced nutritional approach.  At month 3 i started doing it, and it was sooo much better for me.  Carbs were alternated with 15 net carbs and 30 net carbs.  The thing is that camp 1 is right- too many carbs triggers a flood of insulin, insulin stores calories to fat, and also triggers cravings and hunger.  So just don't eat a ton of carbs in one sitting to avoid this.  My calories were also higher hitting 900 month 3, 1000 month 4, and leveling out (for the weight loss phase) at 1200 by month 5.  I did exercise to offset calories though- hour of elliptical a day or a 4-5 mile walk, 6 days a week.  I felt a ton better eating a more balanced diet and had no difficulty getting to goal (and maintaining so far).