Introduction
I know several of us have talked about starting a thread for those of us who follow exchange plans, and so I thought I would get the ball rolling.
I debated whether to place the thread here or in the Calorie Counting forum, as exchange plans are calorie-controlled, and so I consider them a form of calorie counting, but some people do not, so I opted for this forum.
For anyone unfamiliar with exchange plans, there's a very good explanation of the basics on the hillbilly housewife website (here's the link):
http://healthy.hillbillyhousewife.co...tiontoexpd.htm
One of the strongest advantages of exchange based plans, is that they tend to be quite similar (at least in terms of the exchanges). The American Diabetes Association and The American Dietetic Association first developed the exchange plan in the 1950's to make meal planning more convenient for diabetics. The exchanges have not changed much over the years (although various plans vary in terms of the distribution of exchanges, the exchanges themselves are quite consistent). This means that cookbooks written for one exchange plan is probably interchangeable with other exchange program cookbooks).
Some plans that are exchange-based
Many diabetic food plans (check cookbooks - some count only carbohydrates instead)
Weight Watchers (until 1997)
Richard Simmons Deal-A-Meal and Food Mover plans
Joanna Lund's Healthy Exchanges
(her cookbook recipes do rely heavily on name brand and processed foods)
First Place (a Christian program)
TOPS (taking off pounds sensibly)
The Duke Diet: The World-Renowned Program for Healthy and Lasting Weight Loss (the book lists two different carbohydrate levels)
Hillbilly housewife website, diating on a budget
(lists three carbohydrate levels at four calorie levels (12 plans)
http://healthy.hillbillyhousewife.com/foodplans.htm
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