Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Answering a Question

July 25, 2023

Hi folks! Somehow I’m not getting notified of messages so I’m going to answer here so the reader will be sure to see it (hopefully). So sorry it took forever but hope it’s not too late on the information.

My Deal A Meal poster post garners the most attention around here and I got a question recently about what to put on some of the cards. The short answer is I only put what I knew I would eat realistically like canned or frozen fruits or veg. The other part of that is I don’t own the Deal A Meal cards. Haven’t for a long time. For some stupid reason I gave them to Goodwill. I keep hoping though that maybe they’re languishing in a box in the garage or attic and I’ll still find them. Also, I worried about copyright issues when I posted my plans so that’s the other reason. Deal A Meal belongs to Richard Simmons and not me. I just wanted a more visual way to stay on track and as a replacement for the real cards which are really hard to come by now. Now on to the question.

The reader wanted to know what to put on the Freebie and Joker cards. The Freebie and Joker cards I didn’t really set up because I couldn’t find much info about what to put on them since I didn’t have my cards. I later found this website and a listing of some foods on the cards is here. Also, some of the items on the Joker and Freebie cards seem to overlap with other cards (like vegetables and starches) so I just didn’t add those cards in. However, here is a little more information about both.

Freebies (renamed Bonus with the Food Mover) are foods that have very low calorie counts like lettuce, celery, and cucumber. You can eat as much of them that you want without counting any cards or windows on the Food Mover. Like at the end of the day if you are still hungry you can fill up on veggies listed on the card and not break your Deal A Meal plan. The one exception to filling up is coffee, tea, and diet sodas – Richard wants you to limit those because of the caffeine and the junk in the diet sodas. Sparkling waters like La Croix are unlimited though since they are mostly water and not sugar or fake sweeteners. For me, I have to have my coffee in the morning but I’m trying to limit it to one cup a day. I drink it for the flavor not the boost – it just starts my day right. That said, when I do limit the coffee I feel a whole lot better later in the day as opposed to having had 2 or 3 cups. If I remember that more coffee makes me feel crappy then I can stick with the one cup. But I digress.

The Joker cards (Extras in Food Mover) are worth 30 calories each and are extras you can have. You only get 2 joker cards maximum though depending on the calorie plan you are on. If you are in the 1200 calorie range you get one Joker card a day and 1400 to 1600 calorie range you get two. And I think two was the top amount. But don’t quote me. Again, the website I linked to above has more information on those. And again, I just really didn’t get the whole Joker card thing so I didn’t use them or make them.

The amount of cards you use for 1200 and 1400 calories can also be found at the above website. I also found an Exchange List for Meal Planning here in the handout section of their website that you can print out. You can use this list to add a lot of foods and their amounts to your cards to personalize the program. Also, the My Plate program has a lot of similar information about food groups, exchanges, and how much to eat each day as well as printables you can use as well. All of these things are just like Deal A Meal and can help you get to your weight loss goals.

And I think that covers everything. Sorry if I’m not listing much here but I just don’t have the time to get super detailed. The websites I mentioned have all that information in a great format so click around and you’ll have the information needed to finish your cards. Don’t get bogged down in having to have it all just right or you’ll never finish the project or use the cards. Start small, and add to them as needed in a way that works for YOU. That really is what it’s about – YOU and YOUR goals. Good luck!!

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» 2023 » July » Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Answering a Question

July 25, 2023

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