Happy New Year, Polly. Here's my two cents on the Journey--going on about four decades of continual learning myself.

--I hate counting stuff: calories, macros, steps, even carbs! So, the KISS method works best for me. Keep it simple, stupid. KETO or the Westman Page Four plan (you can look up all that on this site) is simply SIMPLE. Eat this, don't eat that.

--Calories may or may not "count." Apparently nobody can agree on this. What's scientific is that the "calorie" as a quantity is meaningless as compared with the metabolic function--what happens to what you eat inside your body. Bodies don't all behave the same, as you can observe from your skinny friends who manage to eat everything in sight and still stay...skinny. Maybe not healthy, but thinner than you. Not fair, right?

--You're looking for a way of eating that you really enjoy. Eating fat (like butter, bacon, mayonnaise, some salad dressings, frying oils) provides needed energy--but more important, makes things taste good. You don't have to eat more than you like.

--Aiming for 1-2lbs/wk is probably realistic. It won't happen on a dependable downward trend line. Ups and downs. Don't torture yourself with statistics. It's about the journey, right?

Best wishes for 2020 and always!