![Diet Plans and Nutrition [Home]](/images/everydiet5.png "Every Diet [Home]"){kind=small}
Nutrisystem Diet
Nutrisystem is a portion-controlled diet plan from online weight loss company Nutrisystem. Nutrisystem began in a similar way to Jenny Craig (with bricks-and-mortar weight loss centers), but a few years ago they became internet-only (sometimes incorrectly called nutra system)
Diet Options
The Nutrisystem Nourish program is based on the Glycemic Index. Carbohydrates on the diet are generally low glycemic. A typical day would include 3 meals and 2 snacks. The food is available directly from NutriSystem (via their web site), who ship the food directly to the customer. There are options for men, women, and vegetarians.
The idea is to restrict the diet to accurate portions based around the persons required calorie count. Food can selected from a pre-made menu, or you can select individual food items. The typical meal plan cycle is 28 days.
Like most packaged weight loss programs, they are useful for short term controlled weight loss. However many people will not continuing buying foods like this for the rest of their life, and will have to ‘wean off’ the program.
However, considering that a significant contributor to obesity is growing portion size, Nutrisystem can be very helpful for some people.
Nutrisystem have a current offer of one weeks free food (with an online order)
NutriSystem Program
The NutriSystem program does provide more than a diet. A weight loss counselor is available via online chat (there is apparently no charge for this service). They also provide more information regarding exercise and building a healthy mind.
Foods on the Diet
Here is a sampling of foods on the Nutrisystem diet.
BREAKFASTS
- Oatmeal
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
- NutriCinnamon Squares Cereal
- NutriCoconut O’s Cereal
- NutriFrosted Crunch Cereal
- NutriFlakes Cereal – 40% Bran Cereal
- Lowfat Granola Cereal
- Frosted Oats Cereal
- Mini Frosted Shredded Wheat Cereal
- Lemon Poppyseed Muffin
- Banana Spice Muffin
- Blueberry Bran Muffin
- Chocolate Chip Granola Bar
- Apple Granola Bar
- Cranberry Granola Bar
- Scrambled Eggs – Smoke Flavor
- Scrambled Eggs with Cheddar Cheese
- Scrambled Eggs with Peppers and Mushrooms
DESSERTS / SNACKS
- Vanilla Pudding
- Chocolate Pudding
- Almond Pistachio Biscotti
- Amaretto Coffee – Unsweetened, Decaffeinated
- Apple Cinnamon Soy Chips
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert Bar
- Blueberry Lemon Dessert Bar
- Cappuccino Coffee – Unsweetened, Decaffeinated
- Chocolate Macadamia Nut Biscotti
- BBQ Soy Chips
- Hot Cocoa
- Chocolate Shake
- White Cheddar Soy Chips
- Mint Hot Cocoa
- Mocha Shake
- Chocolate Mochaccino Dessert Bar
- NutriCrunch Chocolates
- Sour Cream and Onion Soy Chips
Criticisms
As with many packaged food diets, some will not enjoy the taste of the NutriSystem food products. There have also been stories of some foods being substituted by NutriSystem at peak times (such as the new year) – this could be an issue if you have a food allergy.
Please see also a fuller review of Nutrisystem at Diet Blog.
been on it 3 days now and i LOVE it. the food i think is awesome. i’m full after every meal and actually feel i am eating too much but i am following the plan. i eat 1100-1200 calories a day and exercise 500-850 a day. i’m down 3.5 pounds. everything i have eaten so far tastes really good.
The food is affordable. But I couldn’t continue with it because I couldn’t stand the taste. I would suggest trying the one week free food first before committing to this diet.
I tried this diet. It did work and it was convenient and I was not hungry. The bad part is that it gave me the worst stomach cramps and gas pains so I had to stop eating the food. I took all of my left over food to my place of employment to share with my co-workers.
I was disappointed that the food caused the cramping and gas pains.
I love Nutrisystem and recommend it all the time!!!! I used it in the past when I was in undergrad, and I lost 30 pounds. I kept it off for 3 years, and I actually lost a bit more on my own using the tools I had learned. Being a single female, I found the program to be very convenient, and it fit well into my hectic schedule. I am currently in medical school and have decided to start the program back up (currently in week 2 and 5 pounds down) due to the poor eating habits that developed during my first two years (late night studying is a KILLER–I was also out of the country which made things a bit more difficult for me). I really do not understand the people who complain about the bad taste and “small” portions of the food…isn’t eating big portions of fatty foods what led us to wanting a change in the first place?? I found some items that I was not a huge fan of and opted to just not order them the second time around. I would advise picking your own items instead of ordering the favorite meals option…even if this is your first time, you can still pick things based on what you know you like and do not like instead of being “surprised” when you see something with, let’s say for example, spinach, which you have hated since the third grade.
Being honest here, the only negative I can find about the program is that it can be a bit pricey up front. However, even with adding in fresh fruits and vegetables and dairy products as suggested, my monthly finances for food are really NOT that much different than before (when I sat down and really calculated it out). Different programs work better for some people more than others. I think the real key to success here is making the decision that you really are ready for a LIFE change and sticking to it! Good luck to those of you who do decide Nutrisystem is the prgram for you.
Ok, 1st of all, i’m on this diet for a week, i follow it strictly, and no result, absolutely none. It’s not working for me. Im 22 i have a fast motabolism and it’s just not doing it.
Does anyone know where to find the expiration dates on the food? I cannot find them anywhere.
I’ve been on NS now for 3 weeks. The food is absolutely TERRIBLE! I had bad gas for the first week. That went away the second week. Now the third week I’ve got bad stomach cramps every time I eat the food that comes in the tins. I think they use Fiber as the filler/thickener for all their foods. When I signed up, there was some small sneaky wording about “auto-renew”, meaning after one month of food, they will automatically ship you another month’s worth. I luckily found this out and had to call to cancel the ‘autorenew’. Unfortunately, they charged me another $57.00 to cancel the autorenew. I would NOT recommend this diet food to anyone. Way too expensive, food is bad, causes bad gas and cramps and too much fine print.
I was on this diet along with my mom, my dad, and later my brother before he moved out. All 4 of us lost weight on it. We followed the meal plans for daily intake and ate out every saturday night just making better decisions then we did before. This gave us a little taste of the “good fatty foods” so that we didn’t get burnt out on the nutrisystem.
My Dad lost 50lbs, my mom lost 35lbs, my brother lost 40lbs but gained muscle as well with doing his job along with the diet (hanging gutters), and I lost 15lbs (fyi, this brought me to 115lbs, i wasn’t fat before just couldn’t lose a few pounds on my own)
I didn’t mind the food, there were some things i ate and decided weren’t for me.
For the first 2 weeks i actually had to force myself to finish my meals, not because they tasted bad but because i was full. I didn’t eat enough in a day and that is why my body was holding on to everything i ate because it didn’t know when i was gonna get food again. After the first 2 weeks I was great with the amount of food, eating more then normal and losing weight.
I did not combine with exercise either. None of us did.
Since i have been off the nutrisystem for about 4 years i have gained the 15lbs back but now that i have been given the tools to succeed i know now that i can do it on my own when i want too without nutrisystem
I hated this diet. The food is TERRIBLE. I thought it would save me money because I was eating out at restaurants a lot, but you still need to add fresh fruits & vegetables- which are the most expensive part of grocery shopping. The food is processed and disgusting and can’t be good for you. You will lose weight if you follow it, but you will be miserable watching the people around you eating food that doesn’t taste like it was made at a factory that manufactures pet food. If you want the portion control that Nutrisystem offers, save yourself the trouble and buy some LeanCuisines at the grocery store. It’s just not something that you can stick to for life.
i like this program. for a girl in college it really helps me lose weight. the food is fine for me. i ordered the meals i wanted instead of the favorite meal selection because those foods didn’t look good. it is very easy to understand. people that done under stand it just need to read the book that COMES in the box.
NS really works i have been using it for about 2 weeks and i lost 6 pounds but what i didn’t like is how the food tasted. im not saying that there bad but some foods were good and some were really good.also with nutri system you hav to excerise regullary while eating the foods
I’ve been on nutrisystem for about 2 weeks. Here’s the good – it works, as I’ve lost about 5 pounds. It’s also convenient, as all of the portions are premeasured. I really like the bars they give you for lunches because it’s easy to eat on the go. But the bad is that the food ain’t good in my opinion. It’s not BAD necessarily, but it’s not good either. Some things are better than others. I personally like the egg fritatta for breakfast, but the wedge potatoes and beef steak is basically bland crockpot food. And the hamburger patty was practically inedible but the nutrichocolates are yummy. So bottom line is that I’m not disappointed, but I won’t do it again…
I’ve been on this diet for only 3 days and what I’ve had so far is far from appetizing. I did Weight Watchers before and had much better luck with preparing my own meals and deciding what I wanted to eat each day. The food is just gross. I have called twice now to have the advisors reset my login to get help online and still on day 3 I can’t access the websites member information.
The NS diet does work. Anyone who says they are gaining weight are NOT following the diet. NS doesn’t claim to keep you fit for life, that is up to you to do; take some responsibility folks. If you do some research, you will see that the sodium levels are less than the daily recommended levels. I have been on the diet for 2 weeks and lost 4# each week. You have to exercise with the program, just like any other diet. NS food is not the best, but don’t expect to eat fattening and delicious foods on any diet you go on.
I have been on Nutrisystem for 3 months and have lost 26lbs, i like the food and it is very convenient to take to work, the diet does not work without the excerise along with it. the powerwalk cd is wonderful and i am seeing amazing results i have dropped 2 sizes and will keep on going with this diet till i loose 40lbs more. if you don’t like a certain food then don’t order it the next time its very simple, you have to be serious about loosing weight and keeping it off if you want to be successful, for a person with a back injury, knee surgery and shoulder surgery i am having no problem doing the exercises and my back is stronger than ever. good luck