Variations of dietary exchange plans 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. 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.
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 included 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.
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