Exchanges for children

[carolray]

I recently joined First Place last July. On January 8th my husband and I started again. We are very excited about this adventure together and our son wants to do the program as well. He will be 10 in April and has started following in our bad eating habits. If anyone has information where I can find the exchanges for children so he can join us with learning to eat healthier I would greatly appreciate your sharing the information.
This is the most positive and wonderful experience for weight loss but most of all growing closer to God and our church family that we have ever found!!
Thank you
Carol ;)

[RebaR]

Hey Carol,

Way to go-making it a family thing! There is a First Place program for teenagers, but I don't know about for children... my first question would be is your son overweight? Or is the goal that he eat healthier? I would say the best suggestion would be to talk to his doctor and see what the doc says... they would have the best answer as to what calorie level etc your son needs... sorry I can't be of any more help than that.

I must say, I'm impressed that it's a family plan for you. I've always told ladies in my class that FP was family friendly- that the other family members would need to adjust how much they ate...but that everyone needs the healthy Live it!

Reba

[carolray]

Reba
Thanks for replying so quickly!! We are very excited about this family adventure and I hope that we will bond even closer thru this special time. My mother-in-law is also in the group with us and so we are spreading the word.
As for our son - he is a little heavy but not obese. We would like for him to learn at this age the importance of eating healthy. The health issues for both sides of our families is not the best so maybe this will help him for his future to have a more solid foundation with the eating - we know it will definitely change his spiritual growth for the better!! His doctor at one point had mentioned me going to a local hospital that has a "diet" program for children but I am not wanting him on a diet so to speak. Does that make sense? I know that with one of the papers or books I was reading it said what for children to eat as far as servings per group and it might have even put a calorie total on it - but I can't locate it again to save me.
Thanks for your encouraging words and best of luck to you as well. My husband actually said last night after his second full day - he cannot imagine losing weight and eating as much as he has for the last two days. :) I asked him if that was bad and he said no it just doesn't feel like I am on a diet!! YEAH! Next week starts the Bible study and then he will forget he is on a diet.
God Bless You!
Carol

[Pat/TX]

Carol,
I agree with Reba that you might want to check with your son's doctor about the appropriate calorie level for him. Then you can use the calorie equivalents on the back of the CR card to allocate exchanges to a framework for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner...plus snacks. Once you set up this framework and you know you have all the healthy exchanges plugged in, then determining his servings from each food group should be easier.

I have a little spreadsheet set up in Excel that makes this easier to do. All you do is type in the number of exchanges for each food group and it automatically calculates the calories for the day. You can play around with it until you get the right number of calories for him. If you want it, just send me your email address (you might want to use the private message here) and I'll send it right to you.

Pat/TX

[all4Him]

I would love to have a copy of the excel spreadsheet...but I am so new at all this...I don't know how to send you my email privately.

[Pat/TX]

All4Him,
I've try to attach it here, but it won't work....Just email me at pcook@houston.rr.com and I'll reply to you and send it. Be sure to specify the calorie counter spreadsheet.

PatTX