Back to Basics
Regardless what low carb diet you choose, it is always good to begin your diet with just the basics. This means basically using only low carb whole foods. I would even go so far as suggesting abstaining from sweeteners for the first couple of weeks. There are a few reasons for this:
• Firstly, it will help by hopefully ensuring weight loss and thus show you first hand how effective this diet can be, as well as providing motivation.
• Secondly, by doing this you are more likely to be able to spot a potential trouble maker whether it be an allergy, intolerance or weight staller.
• Thirdly you will change those taste buds. After, a couple of weeks of no sweeteners you will find, you crave sweet things less as well as being able to taste the natural sweeteners in foods. Thus, when you start introducing them back in, you will require and want less!
You might think 2 weeks won't make a difference, but I really found it helped me heaps. When you start adding other low carb foods in, introduce them one at a time and keep them a few days to a week apart, that way you will be more likely to spot any problems with them straight away!
Also remember just because something is low carb doesn't mean it is good for you, low carb processed foods whilst lacking in carbohydrates can still contain some of the same rubbish as high carb foods. Rubbish such as, food additives, trans fats and other undesirable ingredients or byproducts of the processing such as MSG. As well as that, they are more likely to contain, sugar alcohols, artificial sweeteners and soy amongst others. Sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners as well as 'natural' ones like stevia are not created equal and soy really is not the wonder food it is cracked up to be.
Please educate yourself on these when you have some spare time, as I feel it is, really important. One preservative alone known as 282, has been implicated in so many health and behavioral issues in children it really should be banned, it is most commonly found in low carb and high carb bread products...
Check our forum and links pages for more information on these, in the future I will write some articles on these to help people get started on their research.