I was just reading over and I have done the exchange plan from First Place for 9 years; but fell off the wagon one year and gained 35 pounds back. We counted calories and exchanges as long as I stayed under 1350 calories ,I lost weight but seemed like my calories kept adding up faster than my minutes in exercise ,sorta like a stack of bills and no money, if I was not careful and write it down when I bit it.
I have been back off the exchange program and tried eating till I got full , well that did not work that just put 10 pounds on me! So I am back to exchange and counting my calories, I think that is the diet for me. Do you mind if I join y'all?

Welcome, Bootsie!

The more, the merrier.

Thank You Kaplods, I am really ready to start loosing again. I know it is going to be hard work but I know that I can do it, because I did before. I had lost 90 pounds but 15 was on the Atkins diet my doctor had put me on.
I think one thing that is causing me to gain weight is I have no garden to work in because of the dry hot Texas weather. Thought tomorrow, I might start up the weed eater and get the dry weeds down so when it does rain it will look so nice. I am going to write out my menu tonight for tomorrow and see if I can stick with it.

I find exchanges quicker and easier to use. I keep my exchange tracker handy (there's a blank copy in The Choice is Mine) so it's easy to see how many I have had that day. There's an erasable one available, too. I can use the meal plan in the book, or there's on online. I use that when I don't want to think/meal plan a whole lot or when I know I'll be tempted to be lazy.

Sometimes I find it tough to get in all of the exchanges. It's actually a lot of food.

Another GREAT thing about exchange plans, is that the exchanges are almost always universal. I've only found one or two where the exchanges are a bit different. For example, I believe in the DASH (a blood pressure reduction diet) one protein serving is equivalent to three protein servings on other plans. And I found an old plan that broke the vegetable category into two types of veggies (potatoes were still "bread" servings, but beets, carrots, and sweet peas were "starchy veggie" servings).

Still, even then the differences were so minor, I could easily "translate" recipes from one exchange plan to the one I was using, and usually no translation was necessary. It means that most, if not all, exchange plan cookbooks are interchangeable. The plans may call for different distributions of the exchanges, but the exchanges are always the same. It means that I can follow a low carb plan, just by reducing the number of carbohydrate-rich exchanges and increasing the protein and fat exchanges. I can follow a low fat plan, by reducing the fat exchanges. I can add more fruit and veggie exchanges and swap out equivalent exchanges somewhere else.

That really was a breakthrough for me, realizing that I could tweak an exchange plan any direction I wanted to. I don't know why I never thought of it myself, but until I found a website (hillbillyhousewife.org) that listed several exchange plan versions for different proportions of carbohydrates, it just didn't dawn on me to consider it. When I found that high-carb foods tend to make me hungrier, I didn't automatically consider using an exchange plan, swapping bread exchanges for protein/fat.

Now I look at the plan much differently. I was discussing exchange plans with a friend recently, and she argued that exchange plans are too inflexible, and nutritionally out-of-date (focusing too heavily on carbohydrate foods and too low in vegetables), and I pointed out that it's a problem easy enough to solve just by swapping the starch/bread exchanges for protein and increasing the number of veggie servings. Voila - updated exchange plan.

I also love that exchange plans, eventually make doing the math easier. You start to notice that most foods of a particular type have about the same calories per ounce, or measuring cup measurement. For example, a fruit serving of most berries usually measure about a cup. For blueberries it's 3/4 of a cup and strawberries it's 1 1/4 cup. If you forget that, but remember most berries will be are about a cup - you would still get pretty close only being 1/4 of a cup over or under (of course it can add up, but still, overall you've got a shot at estimating servings a bit better exact calorie counts - and if you need to be precise, the exchange counts are available online almost as easily as calorie counts).

I am really starting to see how very simple exchange plan can be. I don't have diabetics, but DH does and I thought this would be good for him, and its flexible for each of us to have our own exchanges.
Not that he will use a foodmover.
I have a Joanna Lund cookbook for exchanges, are there any other cookbooks for exchnages?

WOW! I never knew but there was one exchange plan, the diabetic one, that is good to know. I am not a diabetic either but it is in my blood and I am determined to nip it in the bud before it even gets started.

There are TONS of exchange cookbooks (many are out of print, but can be bought very cheaply used on amazon.com - or can be found or ordered through interlibrary loans at local libraries).

All Weight Watcher's cookbooks published prior to 1997.

Cookbooks by Richard Simmons

Many cookbooks published by the The American Diabetes Association and The American Dietetic Association.

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If you use the amazon.com search box "exchange plan cookbooks," dozens and dozens of cookbooks will pop up.

I checked out Amazon and some of the cookbooks said the new Carb counting system, i had no idea what that was.
I will look at the WW old cookbooks thank you.

Kaplods thanks for the info, I am going to town tomorrow and by the Library Thrift Shop and they always have some of these books on hand for like 3 dollars. I got to thinking I had bought a weight watchers and I did and it is a 1982, this is really going to help. Thanks here for the info!

HI everyone! Glad to see this group has grown!

I like Leanne Ely's cookbooks: she lists the recipes both by exchanges and calories counts. She has a vegetarian cookbook, a Low-carb, and her regular, everyday "Saving Dinner" as well as others. I find the "Low-Carb" to be easiest to use on the exchange plan, really. I love Ely: five out of six meals a week at my house are from her books.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Bob Greene's Best Life "diet" is an exchange plan. You simply add more exchanges of different categories as you excercise more (and subtract if you eat less.) I'm following a plan which adds up to 1600 calories. I made my own chart to help me keep track. Perhaps it might help some of you to see it?

I've been extremely unfocused this month--I am recommitting to my goals today!

I love this way of eating, today I had my day all planned, well things happened, (an unsuspecting few cookies) and all I had to do was adjust my starch add 1 fat. Now I don't want to do this all the time, the point is I don't feel like I cheated and have to start all over again, its more like a mild speed bump that I made allowances for.

Karen your getting the hang of it. I got my meals all planned out and exercise too, that is very important. I was reading the weight watchers cook book last night and it tells about how to plan your meals too a-lot of tips so glad I bought that book , actually it was for someone else and they got them one more up to date than this one, so it became mine , so happy now about that.
I was up last night protecting my goats from coyote's and drinked coffee all night so I did not even look at the scales this morning ugh! Made the guys some cookies , my favorite Oatmeal and chocolate chip with pecans and I did not eat a one! Yeah! I have 3 Oatmeal in there , for 3 goats, Battle Axe, Allison and Flower that love my cookies. The dogs love them too next time will save them some.

Battle Axe and Flower how funny, love the names.
I had a good day yesterday, stayed on plan, washed sheets and walked WM.
I made a decision to stay away from sugar stuff of any kind, except in my coffee. Giving up sugar, one less thing to worry about now.
Planned my day and will enjoy the food I have chosen to have, and will do my gazelle today.

I stayed on my menu yesterday but have not made it out for today yet. I really don't feel very hungry this morning. I think I will have some toast and I have found that diet pudding made with splenda on my toast is not bad at all but tasty.

Karen, please be careful giving up sugar all at once you may get a hang over headache that last for 5 days and even if you eat sugar to get rid of it ,it will stay, it is terrible. Please gradually cut down and eat natural sugar to prevent that from happening. I hate to hear of anyone going through that pain and it is all because we are addicted to sugar, like a drug.

Natural sugar is food that turns to sugar or honey but remember don't eat to much or it will make you sick. I am trying to think but carrots, sweet potatoes ,potatoes , honey , maple syrup or all natural, and I am sure there are some more. Look on the labels if it has more than 10 grams of sugar in it avoid it, that is the way my friend taught me to prevent the severe headache that will throw you for a loop. After your body gets used to eating like that, then start cutting back some more, but do it slowly. Just a suggestion to avoid the headache.