 Ossie-Sharon 10 years ago | Hi, sduganne. You can move the banana around to wherever you want. Because it is the most dense of the fruits, its “value” is much higher, and so it is difficult to swap – but again, eat it whenever you wish (if you are diabetic, just be sure you are covered). You are also welcome to use milk instead of cheese (though we recommend low-fat rather than skim milk, unless you can find “blue” and watery skim milk that does not have additives such as nonfat milk solids. As for the shopping list, there is an icon in the toolbar above your finished menu, toward the right-most end – click on that, and you will be guided through it. |
 sduganne 10 years ago | Adding to Gamy’s banana topic, I like bananas but like them as a morning snack. However, in the menu program my last snack of the day seems to come up with a banana frequently. When I go to exchange earlier in the day fruit for a banana it isn’t one of the choices. Also, I like Oatmeal for breakfast with a small amount of skim milk, but the meal doesn’t offer milk – rather cheese and no exchange for milk. May I use milk in place of cheese? One last question, I must have been dreaming, but I thought I read somewhere that after creating a weekly menu the program would generate a shopping list based on that menu, but I don’t find anywhere to generate it?!?!? Was I dreaming???? |
| Ossie-Sharon 10 years ago | Hi, gamy. There isn’t a particular weekly limit on bananas unless you have a kidney disorder. As for swapping foods, as long as it is in the same food group with the same general composition, you absolutely can trade it – the example you gave of chicken for fish is spot on! 🙂
It’s great to read that you are not hungry and are in tune with your satiety signals. Yes, you can skip the snacks if you are not hungry, but do be sure to put any fruits/vegetables and calcium sources in other meals so that you don’t miss out on them.
Regarding a cut-off time at night, 1-2 hours before bed is generally recommended. |
 gamy 10 years ago | I like bananas how many times a week can I eat these. Also sometimes I do not like the food picked out for me and when I go to the exchange menu for example when they have shrimp and I do not feel like fish and pop up the exchange it only brings up fish. Can I change it to chicken? I am having a hard time understanding how to do this diet. It seems like I am eating all the time and I am full all the time. Can I skip snacks when I am not hungry. Also is there a cutoff time at night when I should stop eating altogether. |
| Ossie-Sharon 10 years ago | Hi, WheatNo. That’s an excellent idea! Make it your own 🙂 |
 wheatno 10 years ago | I have arranged my weekly menu in an accordian style sticking them together thinking that Icould have a better overall view and that I can easily interchange as long as I stay in the same category.I choose 1 breakfast from the 7 breakfast..,1 from dinners and lunches…and 1 from each snack. Am I doing it right |
| Ossie-Sharon 10 years ago | Hi, Carrie111. There are many different sizes for crackers, so while the exchange list had been based on large crackers, the Menu Planner just goes with weight for an easier calculation. Sorry about the confusion, and thanks for the heads-up – we will try to make it clearer. |
 Carrie111 10 years ago | I am confused, when I build a menu it allows 30g of whole grain crackers(which by the way seems an awful lot), but then in exchange list they assign whole grain cracker amount only 2 crackers! I don’t get it??!! |
