Newbies

I don’t know if cashew cream is there or not, but if you use the ‘make your own menu planner’ (choice 3?) Nut milks and nut butters are options you can choose.

While it is more time consuming to use this planner over the others, I’ve just made it using some favorite meals to find how much of each exchange, then printing it out for multiple reuse. When I come up with something else I’d like I go back and figure it into the menu and print it out again. That way I have many choices of what to eat at any given time.

It does make shopping more difficult to figure out, but it is quite possible to figure what foods to keep on hand to keep your options open. Of course, I eat out of my freezer a lot. I always freeze my meats and breads and even most of the raw veggies after blanching them. But I find that way I have less waste from fresh foods going bad.

I would take sugar snap pea as being in the limited serving list, hwyla.

Sorry – I’m going to repeat my last question since it hasn’t been answered yet. I suppose the main question is how much does it matter if you have 3 fruits and 2 veg in a day instead of 2 fruit and 3 veg. I’m aware that fruits are obviously higher in sugars than veg, and so probably affect your blood sugar levels more.

However, on the days I go to the pool to work out, they are considerably easier to use as snack while driving home. I always eat nuts or cheese with them to be sure I have some protein at the same time. It is also considerably easier to keep small containers of nuts and dried fruit in the car for ’emergencies’ – such as driving past a drive-thru after your errands have gone later than you thought they would.

Is it a problem to have more fruit than veg on almost half of your days? I could switch my breakfast fruit to veggies if needed. I already eat veggies in my eggs most days and I like tomatoes as a side with eggs. That way I could use fruit for snacks only. However, I’m still likely to end up with 3 fruits that way. Is this a problem. I have noticed I’ve actually gained 1/2 lb for each of the last 2 weeks.

Hi, Mandy. The intention for the combination is for you to add seasonings to plain yogurt and use it as a dip for the vegetables. However, if you prefer to add fruit and a sweetener to the plain yogurt, that’s fine – the serving size would be 1/2 cup of fruit.

Hi, Bmorse, and welcome. While it is normal to feel off when you start a new way of eating, I definitely wouldn’t recommend pushing yourself to eat more than you can handle. It’s great that you’re in tune with your satiety signals. Just be sure that by the end of the day, you’ve gotten at least 5 total fruit/vegetable and 3 calcium-rich food/beverage servings.

Hi Trimdowners, my name is Mags and I am new to this way of eating. Have any of you tips that I can use. I have medical problems and cannot exercise much so any help will be welcome. I am amazed at the amount of food you can eat. I have tried almost every diet going so hope this one works for me.

@ConnieSides – A suggestion – I mix my flavored yogurt (regular flavored lowfat) with plain lowfat greek yogurt. About 1/2 the 6oz container of flavored with about the same amount of plain. It helps the flavor but cuts the sugar down, making it a bit healthier and making it 1 full protein exchange (instead of the 1/2 exchange of protein in the flavored alone.

I wanted to ask about yogurt. I can not stand plain yogurt. But I like it flavored or with fruit in it. My menu does not say plain. So I checked the exchange list and it said a serving was 1cup. So do I eat 6oz or a 1/2 cup?