Ok,

I did the LC thing several years ago and went from 220lbs all the way down to 175. Then I got a desk job and a wife

Now that I'm trying it again, I have noticed a lot of products on the market that weren't there the last go-around. Foods with all kinds of super-low "net effective carbs", lo-carb pasta, and more are now readily available to the LC dieter.

BEFORE YOU READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPH, KNOW THAT I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT PRODUCTS WITH SO-CALLED "HIDDEN CARBS"

The problem I have is the number of people in these forums that bash the usage of these products during induction. For many folks, induction is a big Turn-Off, especially if they've been following the 'low-fat' mantra that is so prevalent. So my argument is, if encouraging (or at least not DIScouraging) the usage of some of these specialty products will help people through induction, why not?

A perfect example of this is "Flax-O-Meal". I found this at a local store and immediately decided that it would be a fantastic help in forging through induction-land. No hidden carbs, just some in dietary fiber which even Atkins says don't count because there's no way your body is gonna digest that stuff. However, several posts argued "not to use this during induction". To them, I say "Phooie."

Another example is diet soda. I drink Diet Rite White Grape, and it has no carbs or caffiene to worry about. Where the technical part of the diet is concerned, it won't "break" induction. It won't take you out of ketosis. It's sweet though, so the argument for not using it during induction is that you won't be able to break away from normal sweets if you're just substituting lo-carb sweets. Again, "Phooie."

Most diets are 1/2 "technical nutrition" and 1/2 psychology. ALWAYS remember that. The psychology is flexible - use what works best for you, but don't mess with the nutrition part.

What I'm talking about here is a totally different *psychological* approach to induction. Where many people's personalities REQUIRE a cold-turkey attitude to induction, to break sugar addiction and what not, many are RESPONSIBLE enough that they can still consume lo-carb products like Flax-O-Meal and still kick the carb habit. In fact, in my case I have given up *3* times on induction in the last couple years because I just couldn't handle another 2 weeks of meat, cheese, veggies. Some may argue that there's plenty of variety in the veggie department, but I have a hard time with most vegetables. I belong to a rare portion of the population that LEGITIMATELY has a "taste disorder", where lettuce, broccoli, and most other green vegetables all taste horrendously bitter. The lo-carb products like Flax-O-Meal, diet soda, etc. have introduced the variety that I need to sucessfully pull off induction.

So bottom line - quit driving people away from products that legitimately add variety to a LC diet's induction phase without any nutritional risk! Products using sugar alchohols, etc. are another story of course....

Sorry for the rant, especially with this being my first post, but it's been on my mind...