It was when the Swedish students Tom and Ewa-Lena one morning looked in the mirror that they realized that they had grown in size considerably over the years of studies at the University of California Los Angeles, UCLA. It was that awakening that a few years later led to the start of the company CarbZone, which provides health-conscious people with clean and healthy food without the unnecessary carbs.

Both Tom and Ewa-Lena had been elite athletes a few years earlier, but a healthy lifestyle with nutritious food and plenty of exercises was replaced by a more relaxed one when they came to the United States. Maybe it is not so strange that pancakes with syrup and butter for breakfast, coffee topped with sweetened cream during classes, and a dinner buffet with pizza, fries and grilled cheese sandwiches were adding up to a lot of extra pounds.

Trying to reduce the weight, they purchased gym memberships and workout clothes - and decided to cut out fat from their meals. After three months, not much happened. The turnaround came when Tom one day found a book about the low carb way of life and realized that the body always burns carbohydrates first, before going after the fat. After they had gone through the struggles of sugar withdrawal the pounds started to shred. Around the same time, the Atkins diet enjoyed its immense success in the United States and there were plenty of low carb products in food stores, which helped. Five months later, Tom and Ewa-Lena had lost 50 kg together.

Back in Sweden in 2003, it all came to a stop. Reducing your carb intake was an unknown concept and there were no products to buy. The bread on the shelves was baked with sugar or syrup and containing hydrogenated fats, and diet products were low fat but high in sugar. It was somewhere here, between food store shelves and the breakfast table in their small studio apartment, that the idea for their own company, CarbZone, was born.

After a few too many breakfasts with only eggs and bacon, both longed for a delicious, healthy bread made without a wheat flour base. It took several trial and errors and a lot of hard work before their first product was born. Sales started in 20 local stores in Stockholm.

The journey from there to now has been anything but straightforward. However, stubbornness and hard work prevailed. Today CarbZone can supply products all over Europe and anyone who wants to live a low carb lifestyle whether they're hungry for a creamy pasta dish or want a cake with their coffee. A low carb lifestyle today is not just a dream, it is a sweet reality.