How Do I Calculate Food Exchanges?

Losing weight can be a challenging process that involves figuring out what to eat, how much to eat and when to eat, as well as planning a way to fit exercise into your schedule to enhance weight loss. The act of counting calories and reading labels to properly translate nutrition information into exchange values can be complicated. There are many different calculations and formulas that can help you with this task to keep you on your weight loss path.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Calculator
• Paper
• Pencil
• Food journal
• Nutritional information

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Instructions

• 1

  Look at the various food exchange lists that are available online. You will most likely be able to find the foods that you are eating and calculate the number of exchanges this way. If you are unable to find your answers online, you can calculate your own exchanges if you know the nutritional information of your food.

• 2

  Locate the nutritional information on carbohydrates. Divide the number of carbohydrates per serving by 15 in order to get the number of starch exchanges the food has. For example, if a food contains 45 grams of carbs, this would equal three starch exchanges. Keep the starch exchange number in mind, because you will need to use it again to figure out protein and fat exchanges.

• 3

  Calculate the number of meat exchanges by multiplying the starch number by three and subtracting it from the number of grams of protein in a serving. This total will then be divided by seven. For example, if a food contains 23 grams of protein and 45 grams of carbohydrates, multiply the number of starch exchanges (three) for this food by three (which equals 9). Next, subtract nine from 23 to equal 14, and then divide this answer by seven, arriving at the answer of two meat exchanges.

• 4

  Multiply the number of starches by 80 and the number of meats by 45. Subtract both of these number from the total number of calories then divide the answer by 45 to get the number or fat exchanges.

  (Calories - (fruit and veggie calories) - (# of starches x 80) - (# of meats x 45) / 45 = # of fats)

  A food with 260 calorie, 1 starch and 2 meats would be calculated: 500-80-90 divided by 45 = two fat exchanges for this food.