Meal Planning

When it comes to meal planning, our century's citizens are at a disadvantage. Subject to a lifetime of media conditioning, we no longer know how to feed ourselves.

Marched like cattle to feed at troughs where a billion others have been served, we scarf down whatever we are fed without question. Profit dictates our meals be prepared with the cheapest ingredients and we be encouraged to eat massive  portions. In this, we have become willing drones.   

Others,  observing our helplessness, have offered "miracle" fixes including diet pills, diet clubs, pricey pre-measured diet meals, and risky medical intervention. Someone is cashing in to make us fat, and someone else is cashing in to make us thin again.

It's time we escaped this cycle and began to feed ourselves. We CAN prepare food. We don't need it boxed, hermetically sealed, fortified, new or improved. Food is easy -- someone grows it, we cook and eat it.

The Pocket Change Diet takes the guess work out of healthy food planning. Here's How Using the Guidelines & Shopping List, you'll always be ready to go shopping for healthy choices.   Using the coin columns, you'll automatically eat a well balanced diet. Using the coin limitations, you'll control your calorie intake without having to count them.

Start by filling your two compartment coin purse with 8 pennies, 7 nickels, 7 dimes, and 3 quarters. This is an average starting point. Depending on many variables, such as your activity level, metabolism, and food choices, you may need to add or subtract coins for your desired results.

For example: If after the first two months on the diet, you find you are not losing weight, remove a nickel and a dime. Then, after another two months, remove another nickel and dime. Repeat as needed. If, on the other hand, you want to stop losing, but continue to maintain your healthy weight and lifestyle, add a nickel and a dime. Thus, you fine-tune the diet to work with your personal caloric needs.

After Shopping, prepare your meals with the help of your coins and the Guidelines & Shopping List. It works like a Chinese menu. There are four columns, one labeled Freebies and the other three represented by three coin denominations: quarters, dimes and nickels.

These columns list foods in the three main food groups: Quarters = Good Fats, Dimes = Lean Proteins, and nickels = Good Carbs.

You may eat Freebies at will, but you will "pay" for food in any other column. For example, if you eat an ounce of salmon, "pay" for it with one dime. Simply move the dime to the second compartment in your coin purse.
 

Weighing Food
 
In the Pocket Change Diet, (with a few exceptions), foods are measured by weight rather than volume. In most cases, one coin buys one ounce of food.

It works like this:
Weight is the actual method by which calories are calculated in food. On food labels, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are expressed in grams (a measurement of weight). There are 28g in one ounce. 1g of protein = 4 calories, 1g of carbohydrate = 4 calories, and 1g of fat = 9 calories (about twice the calories of the other two nutrients)

One ounce of any two foods, having equal portions of protein and carbohydrates, will have the same calorie count. The only variables that may affect this are water content (resulting in fewer calories per weight), and fat content (resulting in greater calories per weight). When following the Pocket Change Diet, your 1oz. measure of food may vary slightly in calories depending on its water/fat content. Ignore this.

Yes, that's right, don't bother counting calories. As long as you stay within the boundaries of your coin columns, it all tends to even out on its own. Really!

If, after any two month interval, you find you are not losing weight, drop one nickel and one dime from your plan. Add or remove nickels and dimes evenly -- they should always be the same in number. However, never change the number of quarters. Good fats are essential for mental, as well as heart health. Although they should be restricted, they must never be removed from your diet.

It's that simple! 
 

Rules

• Quarters can only be spent in the quarter column, dimes can only be spent in the dime column, and nickels in the nickel column. (Note: Unlike real money, a dime cannot be used as two nickels, and a quarter cannot be broken into two dimes and a nickel.)

• Go to bed with some unspent coins in your purse.

• If your coins are all spent, you can only eat from the Freebies column.

• Pay up immediately! It is easy to forget. Never save "paying" till the end of the day. You could easily overspend and not realize it. 

Pennies

Pennies are the "Flex Coin." Each penny represents only 1/4 ounce (or .25 ounce) and you can use them to buy food from any column you wish.

"The Happy Flex Coin"

Dealing with Pre-ackaged Foods Although the Guidelines & Shopping List assists you in choosing the right coin column for most unprocessed foods, you need to learn the principles for making this determination for yourself regarding pre-packaged foods. Here the Pocket Change method is simple: Although a prepared food may contain fats, proteins and carbohydrates, it belongs in only one column -- the column with the dominant nutrient. In other words, if it contains 20% fats, 30% carbohydrates, and 50% protein, it goes into the dime (protein) column. One ounce would cost one dime.

However, food labels do not reflect amounts in percentages. They use weights. For example: Fats 3g. carbohydrates 6g, and protein 5g. The Pocket Change Diet method for determining the dominant nutrient is -- first, double the fat grams, then compare the three main nutrient values (in this example it would be, fats doubled from 3g to 6g -- making it fats 6g, carbohydrates 6g, and protein 5g.)

When, as in the example above, you have a tie between two nutrients, fats always win the tie. Pay for the above item at a quarter an ounce. If the tie is between proteins and carbs, you may choose which coin (nickel or dime) you wish to use.

Eating Away from Home

As long as an item has a food label, you can use the above method. If you eat at a restaurant or friend's house, you won't have that luxury. Firstly, if the restaurant is your choice, always choose a buffet with plenty of "freebee" foods. For non-freebie foods, you must "guesstimate" whether your item is predominantly fat, carb or protein and use the correct corresponding coin. Determining portion size can be done one of two ways, if you are a perfectionist and not shy, carry a small digital gram scale. In a situation that is more restrictive, you will need to "eye-ball" it. This is do-able. Simply imagine how much of each food item you can stuff into a ping-pong ball. This is one coin. There are a few exceptions, such as, gravies, sauces and oils which are measured in tablespoons, while whole eggs are one quarter each. If the menu lists the calorie-counts, you could "guesstimate" about one coin per 70 calories.

The greatest danger in eating away from home is the strong sense of liberty we all experience. As a "cat away," we want to "play!" Sticking to your coins, through an eating episode away from home (or home delivery), is the stuff of diet heroes! Congratulate yourself.

On the other hand, should you overdo, beware of the old excuse, "Oh well, I blew today, "I'll start again tomorrow." It is never too late to make the best of the rest of the day.

Taming the Beast - About the Glycemic Index

home

about

get started

guidelines & List

meals

tips

shopping

my diet journal

my diet store

contact