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Variations of the Exchange Plan have been around since before World
War Two. It was created for diabetics as an easy way to keep
track of their daily food intake. Since then many people
have lost weight or maintained a healthy weight using exchange
programs.
The diet itself is far from extraordinary. It is based on
individual food categories including: Bread/Starch,
Meat/Protein, Fruits,
Vegetables, Milk,
Fat, Other
Carbohydrate and Free
exchanges. Within each category you may substitute or exchange
one portion of food for another. The foods in each category are
measured into units with similar nutritional information. For
instance a 1oz slice of bread can be exchanged or traded for 1/2-cup
of cooked spaghetti. Each food, in the measurement indicated,
will have approximately the same number of calories, fat, protein and
carbohydrates as other foods in the same category. This makes
menu planning both flexible and easy. It also acts as a short
cut to eating nutritious meals. When you follow the Exchange Plan Diet, you need a food plan. You can use one listed here, or invent your own. Food Plans tell us the number of exchanges we should eat each day to keep within specific calorie ranges. It's up to us to plug the exchanges into meals and snacks for the day. It's like putting a puzzle together. Each day is a new puzzle and it's up to us to fit all of the pieces or exchanges together to make 3 meals a day, plus snacks. Managing our daily food intake becomes much easier when we know our limits and are willing to stay within them. By counting exchanges, we eliminate the need to count calories, plus we are assured a well-balanced diet.
People with between 50 and 100 pounds to lose can generally eat about
1500 calories a day and still lose weight. If you have less
than 50 pounds to lose then choose a 1200 calorie plan. 1000
calorie a day plans are appropriate for those with less that 15
pounds to lose, or those who are metabolically resistant to weight
loss because of a medical condition. It is challenging to get
enough nutrients into one's diet with this few calories. Under
these cirucmstances especially it is vital that one plan carefully,
stay in touch with your health care provider and take a multi-vitamin
to ensure all your nutritional bases are covered. There are a few tools you'll need to begin this diet. First off you need a printer and paper to print out the exchange lists. A small food-scale, measuring cups and spoons will keep your portions honest. A clean, organized kitchen makes it eaiser and faster to prepare your meals. You'll also need pencil and paper or a notebook to plan and keep track of your daily food intake. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, you need a support system so that isolation and frustration cannot conquer all of your good intentions. All five of these tools are vitally important to the success of any weight loss program. They are explained in more detail below.
The Exchange Lists are based on the same lists used by
diabetics and dietitians and physicians. The lists on this site
are not all exactly the same as the diabetic exchange lists, but they
are very similar. The only differences are due to updated
nutritional information and the occasional typo. No doctor or
dietitian has reviewed or looked over my lists, but I am certain that
if any did they would find them quite in order and more than
acceptable. Print out the exchange lists and look them over
very closely. They are a map to successful weight loss.
Measuring Tools make portion and calorie control
possible. If you want an accurate calorie count, then all
foods and beverages must be measured. The only accurate way to
do this is with a scale, measuring cups and measuring spoons. I
used to eyeball or guess a lot of my portions. I always over
estimated. For me to see results in the scale I have to be
vigilant about measuring my food: all of it, all of the time.
In the past I'd measure everything for a while, and then gradually
sluff off and go back to guesstimating.
I use three measuring tools: nested measuring cups, measuring spoons,
and an office postage scale. Measuring cups come in standard
groups of 1-cup, 1/2-cup, 1/3-cup, 1/4-cup and sometimes 1/8-cup.
You will also need a food scale. Cleaning the kitchen every day gives us the work area necessary to cook and store our food. A dirty kitchen is Hell to work in. I know, I've tried and failed, repeatedly. When the refrigerator or cupboards are dirty then the food we store in them can go bad or get lost very quickly. This wastes our food dollar, something most of us have in limited supply. A clean refrigerator on the other hand works like a magic box to preserve our healthy fruits and vegetables throughout the week until we are ready to eat them. Organized cupboards allow us to find our supplies quickly and easily. When we don't have to hunt in dark recesses of cave-like cupboards we save both time and effort.
The solution to the fast-food blues is to keep the dishes done. This gives me the environment I need to prepare healthy, low-cost meals for the family, saving me money and improving our health in the process. Making myself do the dishes is like making myself weigh and measure my food. I don't like doing it. It is inconvenient, time consuming, annoying and often seems pointless. These are lazy lies and self-sabotage. In the short term keeping the dishes done seems like it takes more time, but in the long-run it saves time. Sure, it is annoying to have to hang out in the kitchen at night, finishing up the dishes and putting away the pots and pans when I'd rather be reading in the warmth of a snuggly bed. To be honest though, it's more annoying to be fat or unable to tie my shoes or see my feet when I'm standing. I remind myself of that when I scrape congealed goo off of the plates into the garbage. By morning, I am always thankful for the time I spent on the kitchen the night before. To eat healthy meals, we must have a place to prepare them, so keep the dishes done, and the counters clean. Give yourself clean storage areas for all the healthy foods you have to buy. Sticking to a healthy diet is hard. We have to stack the deck in our favor if we want to succeed. A clean kitchen is a must. There simply is no alternative. Keeping Track of your daily food intake is vital. If you are serious about wearing a smaller size in the next few months then you have to commit to the following requirements:
This seems like a lot of work at first. Many people agree with this plan up until this point. The idea of writing down everything we eat every day though, that is simply ridiculous. I answer with this question, which is more ridiculous, learning to write down everything we eat or living in our fat bodies for the rest of our lives? If I knew that I could be suddenly slim by keeping track of my food intake on a daily basis then I would be much more willing to do it. Well guess what! It won't make us suddenly slim, but it will make us slowly slim. It is another one of the ways we change our behavior and take charge of our situations. Personally I rebelled against the idea of planning and keeping track of my food intake for a full decade. I wasn't yet ready to take responsibility for every morsel I put into my mouth. I thought to myself that it was obsessive, unduly controlling and plain old stupid. I believed that I was strong enough to succeed without having to resort to such drastic measures. Now I can look back and see that I was in denial. I wasn't ready to accept the reality of my situation. The truth is that if I don't plan my meals then I will make poor food choices. I will eat foods that keep me fat and enslave me to my appetite. I refuse to be a victim of my appetite. I am bigger and stronger than it is and I will use every tool in my arsenal to put myself where I deserve and am obliged to be, as the creator and designer of my body's destiny. A Support System is the last requirement. This will take a different shape for different dieters. Formal groups are available like TOPS, Weight Watchers, First Place and Overeater's Anonymous. These are all good support systems. Some of them will make you follow their diet plans and others will let you choose your own plan. Choose the plan that is best for your lifestyle and pocketbook. On-line support communities are another option. It is best if you have both real-life and cyber support systems. They can work together synergistically to give you the benefits of both approaches. I have tried dieting with only on-line support. This wasn't enough for me and it isn't enough for most of the people who have written me. Experience has taught us that real-life, face to face support, whether a formal meeting or an informal pact between friends can make the difference between success or failure.
A Final Note on the Exchange Plan This makes things easier for us. Diets run in trends and fads just like fashion does. Low-fat diets were the trend of the 90's and controlled-carb diets are the current trend. Whichever diet plan isn't the current the rage is more accessible to those of us low on cash. Books at used book stores that support low calorie and exchange diets are not selling real well right now, which means they are more affordable. Library books about low calorie or exchange plans are not in high demand so they are more accessible too. We aren't bombarded with television commercials every 10 minutes telling us that we have to "Buy this now!" in order for our plan to work. This makes the temptation to spend foolishly less acute and easier to resist. We have everything we need in our own kitchens already. We don't need to spend $50 to $100 or more on a book or CD or website membership to convince ourselves or others that "this time it's finally serious". Weight-loss is about behavior. It's about the many small choices we make every day. We can't buy the fat off of our bodies. If we could, then we would have; millions of us would have. Weight-loss is one of those fleeting things in modern culture that we cannot buy to prove our external value. It is something we must create individually, by changing from the inside out. It is something we must earn for ourselves This gives exchange plan based weight-loss some definite advantages over other diets. First off, it's affordable. It can be as cheap or as expensive as we are willing to make it. Secondly, almost all doctors approve of it. The next time you see your doctor, tell her that your diet is based on the diabetic exchanges. She will give you an approving pat as she says "Good Going!" and sends you on your way. Thirdly, exchange plans are fully customizable. We can make each meal fit our own private lifestyles with all the details addressed to our own satisfaction. We can't afford to pay well educated dietitians to custom design our food plans for us so we have to address this challenge individually. By doing research ourselves its possible to customize our own food plans and adapt them directly to our lifestyles and comfort zones. We can make Vegetarian plans, Vegan, High Protein or Low Fat food plans, according to the criteria that are most important to us and our individual lifestyles. Another bonus is that we are learning how to cook and eat healthy foods on a daily basis. When the weight-loss phase is over we can flow smoothly into the maintenance phase. The change over occurs naturally, as an outgrowth of the healthy habits we have already established. Finally, I should note that cost is a significant factor to me personally. I have to watch every penny. For me that means cooking from scratch and focusing on low-cost foods. This gives me direct control over the cost of the calories and nutrients that go into my family's diet. I don't know how to lose weight while eating fast foods or convenience foods. These foods are part of the problem that has resulted in 60% of the American population being overweight. Slow food is much healthier for us and will increase our health, not our waistlines. Before beginning your weight-loss program you should consult your doctor or health care professional. I neglected to do this when I began and had to change several details to match the recommendations of my nurse practitioner. This was inconvenient to say the least! It would have been better if I had spoken with her about my program before I began.
[Home] [GFCF Recipe Index] [Frugal Food Storage] [Biblical Womanhood] [Archived Recipe Index] [Links] [New Blog] [Old Fashioned Education] [Prairie Homemaker] [My Mother's Blog] GFCF = Gluten Free & Casein Free
The Christian Counter
© FrugalAbundance 2007-2008
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Weight
Watchers® was based on exchanges until 1997. Richard
Simmons Deal-A-Meal® system used exchanges. Joanna Lund's
Healthy Exchanges® and a Christian Program called First Place®
are two other programs with which you may be familiar. All of
these plans are variations of the Exchange Lists produced by The
American Diabetes Association and The American Dietetic Association.
This
has always slowed down my weight-loss and even halted it on many
occasions. In order to really lose weight and not just pretend
to, I have to weigh and measure all of my food all of the time.
I also purchased a separate 2-cup measure because it is handy for
measuring dry milk for reconstituting. Measuring Spoons come in
standard sizes of 1-tablespoon, 1-teaspoon, 1/2-teaspoon,
1/4-teaspoon and sometimes 1/8-teaspoon too. I find teaspoons
to be very helpful when measuring oil and other fats, so I have a few
extras. Small cups used for measuring liquid medicine are also
handy for measuring small amounts. For milk, water and other liquids,
you need a glass measuring cup. Don't be tempted to buy a cheap
plastic one. Glass measures last longer, and hold up better to
temperature changes. I like to have three of them: sizes
1-cup, 2-cups and 1-quart. If you only have one then a 2-cup
size is good.
There
are lots of cheap plastic models available that simply don't
work. Toss them out or sell them at your next yard sale and
never buy another. To get a decent food scale you need $30 and
a good office supply store. At the office supply store go to
the postal scale section and have a look around. There will be
many digital scales all in a row. Look for one that measures in
both ounces and grams. You will have several to choose from, so
pick the cheapest, and march home with your purchase. Keep an
extra battery on hand in the kitchen junk drawer and you are
set. To make cleanup easier I lay waxed paper or plastic wrap
over my scale before measuring items like cooked roast beef or
shredded cheese. 
My postal scale is such a joy to use too! It gives me accurate,
readable results every time. If a $30 investment helps loose 10
or pounds or more, I consider it well worth the cost. It also
helps to get a good visual of what 3 ounces of meat or a 6 ounce
potato really looks like. This helped me cut down a lot on
overestimating my portions because it forces me to stay honest and on track.
Dirty
dishes are probably the hardest for most of us to keep up
with. Some folks can magically make themselves wash as they go,
so they never have a sinkful of dirty dishes frowning at them from a
cluttered kitchen. I am not one of these people. I
struggle with the dishes. A lot. What I've noticed about
myself is that when the dishes are dirty I am unlikely to cook.
I'll find any excuse to get out of it. Instead of preparing
good wholesome meals at home, I find myself running by a fast-food
joint to pick up happy-meals for the kids. While I'm
there it's a small matter to choose something for myself too.
Fast-food chains are doing better at offering healthy choices on
their menus but I usually don't purchase them. The healthy
options tend to be expensive and I never seem to have enough cash to
buy enough food to fill the bellies of growing children plus an
expensive healthy alternative for me.
As
a matter of fact it almost seems unnecessary. This is
absolutely true for anyone who is able to stick to a diet on their
own. If you can make yourself eat less and lose weight this
simply then keeping track of everything you eat is indeed
unnecessary. Most of can't do it this way. We've tried
dieting this way and failed. That is why we are overweight. If
we could have done it alone, we would have already. If we could
have succeeded just by watching what we eat and consciously trying to
eat less then we would be swim-suit skinny by now. The fact is,
we have proven again and again that casual dieting leads to failure
and frustration. We need the control of planning and keeping
tack of what we eat. We need the accountability of other human
beings to maintain our resolve and our commitment to ourselves.
There is no compromise.