Nutrisystem? anyone tried this?

[Misty89]

I am intrested in trying this sysytem to lose some extra pounds that have built up over the years
I am wondering if it works, and what kind of exercise program goes with it? I am not a good exerciser - i know that would dicourage me fromthe plan if it was too intense.


thnaks

PS is the food ok or is it really bad? do they offer any kiond of vitimans to go with it, or is the food all you need?


thanks

 

[sweet angel]

I shouldn't even post this because it's been YEARS since I tried Nutrisystem and I'm sure it's improved greatly.

Back in 1989, I was trying to drop some weight before my wedding, so signed on for Nutrisystem. The food was a fortune and TERRIBLE. I think they put me on a 1000 calorie diet. I don't remember what breakfast was, but I remember for lunch they had these little tiny rolls (like the size of a restaurant dinner roll) and you could put A slice of ham or A slice of cheese on it to make your sandwich.

I remember not wanting to waste the food, so tried feeding it to my dog and he wouldn't eat it. (Side note, my dog ate EVERYTHING including the contents of the diaper pail).

I ended up having the attorney I worked for write a letter so I could get my money back.

Like I said, I'm sure they've changed since then, but I wanted to share my story.

 

[Feralpeg]

I didn't have a problem with the food, other than it is very small portions. I did lose weight, but I gained it right back the minute I stopped eating their food. You lose because you are eating so little. I found myself hungry on their plan. I did much better with Diet Center.

 

[stinkerbelle]

Are you looking for the control of "they are giving me what I eat, I will just eat what they give me"...or are you looking for eating based on the GI? (Glycemic index)

If you just want to eat on the GI and follow THAT way (but make your own food)...I suggest getting the mini South Beach Diet book called "good fats, good carbs" or something like that. It lists the GI for A TON of foods...and makes it easy to follow.

I'm not saying "get on south beach diet"...I'm just saying, I've found that this book is very helpful with eating according to the GI. (and it's about $5 or so at Wal-mart)

 

[LoraJ]

I just started Nutrisystem last week and i am loving it so far. Already down 5 pounds!

So far there was only one meal I didn't like, so I won't order it next month. But the food has been fine, but then again, I am used to eating tv dinner type food. When I got the food, I was kind of afraid. Powdered eggs? But they really weren't bad.

The message boards on the site has members who give lots of tips on how to spice up the food. And while the portions can be small, I break up my meals and have yet to starve.

As for exercise, I haven't done their program. I think they have a section where you can pick what kind of workout you want. I just do Dance Dance Revolution on my X-Box. But I think you can register for free on their site and explore the fitness area.

If you decide to join, send me a PM with your email address, I can send you a coupon for $15 off your order.

I am going to stick with the food until I get to my goal weight. Unless I plateau, then I may go WW.

I'm generally on the go and don't cook for myself, so the meals have been really convenient for me.

One thing to keep in mind though, what they supply you every day is 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner and 1 snack. You have to supplement salad, veggies and fruit and some kind of dairy or protein (I have a hard boiled egg or little tuna and string cheese and yogurt).

ETA:
As for vitamins, they just suggest taking a multivitamin, I can't remember if they sell their own. I am always bad about vitamins. But you could just get a bottle of one a day and that should be fine.

 

[antmaril]

For what it's worth, I had lunch with my sister-in-law on Sunday and she mentioned that she had started NutriSystem. She said she was going to finish the food she had and that would be it. She thought the food was TERRIBLE - the worst.

 

[MickeysMommy]

I just started this and so far the food is ok. Muffins taste like cardboard but I can't get onto their website for some reason.

 

[agnes!]

My sister is on this, but I've never asked her if she likes the food or not.
The thing that struck me was the sodium content...yikes ! If you're trying to limit your salt/sodium intake, NS is probably not for you.

OT - Actually, I think most so-called diet foods have way too much salt. The next time you're in the supermarket take a look at the frozen foods/diet section...Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers, all of them have an incredibly high amount of sodium.

agnes!

 

[laura001]

I tried this years ago and ended up having to quit, I had reactions to some of the things in the food, ie...aspertame etc. They made it very difficult for me to quit even with my doctor saying that I shouldn't be on the program any longer. After a huge and long drawn out fight I was able to recoup only a small portion of what I had paid.

If you really want to lose weight there is no "EASIER" way to do it than to go to Weight Watcher's. You should attend the weekly meetings, that is a great help! Also, you can eat the same food you are preparing for your family and make the necessary lifestyle changes that you can continue forever. There is no quick fix for weight loss, as much as even I would love one, it is a real pain in the ...... to have your weight always hanging over your head. I wish you all the luck no matter what or how you choose to loose it.

 

[LoraJ]

I disagree about weight watchers being the easiest. I have never had luck with them. Figuring out the points for me was never easy. Just counting regular calories on sparkpeople.com is really the easiest. Second easiest for me is the nutrisystem since I have the food I don't have to think about what i have or what I need or what am I going to make now.

 

[Stacy_C]

I lost 60 pounds on NS in 2005. Go to www.nutrisystem.com and click on Community and then NS members and you can see my profile. My screen name is Stacy_C. Other NSers to check out: christinagray, iheartbikes, tiff-in-tx, zachary'smom, losinandcruisin and mrsgeonice.

I also used NS in 2002 and lost 50 pounds. I found it easy to keep off after I stopped NS because my body, mind and stomach had adjusted to proper portions. I ate whatever I wanted...just in moderation. I gained the weight back while pregnant with baby #3. I had my NS food waiting on me when I got home from the hospital. I started it about 3 weeks after she was born. There was no question about what type of program I would do to lose the baby weight since I had such great results with NS previously.

Definitely visit the support board and recipe board to find out how to "spice up" the NS meals....like making a taco salad w/the Taco entree.

Good luck. It really works!

 

[MickeysMommy]

Could one of you veteran NS'ers please tell me what you have for lunch and dinner and snacks? I mean besides the NS meals. I'm a little confused as to what I should be having. Like could you give me a sample "day" ? Thanks.

 

[Stacy_C]

Could one of you veteran NS'ers please tell me what you have for lunch and dinner and snacks? I mean besides the NS meals. I'm a little confused as to what I should be having. Like could you give me a sample "day" ? Thanks.

Here's my NS Meal Plan:

Breakfast:
NutriSystem Breakfast Entrée
1 Fruit Serving
1 Milk/Protein Serving

Lunch:
NutriSystem Lunch Entrée
1 Milk/Protein Serving
Salad Vegetables
Fat-Free or Low-Fat Salad Dressing

Snack:
1 Fruit Serving
1 Milk/Protein Serving

Dinner:
NutriSystem Dinner Entrée
2 Vegetable Servings
1 Salad or Fruit Serving
1 Fat Serving

Dessert:
NutriSystem Dessert

 

[MickeysMommy]

Thank you. What do you use for your milk/protein servings? For lunch? A glass of milk, a piece of pork chop?

 

[Stacy_C]

Thank you. What do you use for your milk/protein servings? For lunch? A glass of milk, a piece of pork chop?

I like to add egg, cheese or meat (chicken, tuna, shrimp) to my salad or sometimes I'll just do a yogurt for "dessert". Also, if you get burned out on salads, add one of your entrees to lettuce.

Examples:

*make a taco salad out of the taco dinner entree or add the black beans and rice lunch or Tex-Mex Rice Lunch to lettuce and top with salsa for a "mock" taco salad

*tuna salad or chicken salad on top of lettuce

Or, you could drink a V-8 in place of your salad.



Here are the suggestions from NS for your Milk/Protein Servings:
• Cheese, Fat-free or Low-fat 1 oz
• Chicken or Turkey (without skin) 1 oz
• Egg 1
• Egg Substitute 1/2 cup
• Egg Whites 3
• Fish (fresh or frozen, not breaded) 1 oz
• Lean Beef (Round, Sirloin, Flank, Tenderloin, Chuck, Rump) 1 oz
• Lean Pork 1 oz, (Fresh or Boiled Ham, Canadian Bacon, Tenderloin, Loin Chop)
• Milk, Fat-free
• Non-fat or Low-fat Cottage Cheese 1/4 cup
• Parmesan, (grated) 2 Tbsp
• Sandwich Meat, (with 2 grams of fat or less per ounce) 1 oz
• Sardines, 2
• Shellfish, (Clams, Crab, Lobster, Scallops, Shrimp) 2 oz
• Tuna, (canned in water) 1/4 cup
• Vegetarian Protein Foods, ("Veggie" Burgers, Smart Dogs) 1 oz
• Yogurt, Fat-free, 8 oz

 

[LoraJ]

This is what I eat and when i eat it:

BREAKFAST:
8AM - Nutrisystem entree, today it was a bowl of cereal
9am - Danon fit-n-trim yogurt
10:30am - an orange
LUNCH
12PM Nutrisystem Meal - Minestrone Soup
1PM - Salad with a boiled egg (or sometimes tuna)
SNACK
2pm - string cheese
3:30pm - apple
DINNER
6:30pm - Nutrisystem entree - thin Crust pizza
spinnach and broccoli
salad w/ff dressing
DESSERT
8pm - peanut butter chocolate bar


splitting up my meals like this gives me energy during the day. While there is a huge gap between my snack and dinner, I am usually fine. That's when i am leaving work, commuting and getting home. if I need something to tie me over, I'll have a sugar free jello cup.

The nutrisystem site message boards have been pretty slow since I started. But I found this site and it has been great:
http://s2.forumforfree.com/index.php?mforum=jazzman&act=idx

 

[MickeysMommy]

Oh my goodness...thank you for that website. Answered a lot of questions for me. Please correct me if I get this wrong. Follow the plan for your weight but there are some "free foods" that if you are hungry you may eat? Like sugar free jello? I also didn't realize that if you have cereal for breakfast, you must have another dairy besides the milk you put on your cereal. A common misconception I see I know that I would definitely like to have a jello inbetween all the other stuff that is on the plan.

 

[LoraJ]

I believe the free foods are anything under 20 calories. So the sugar free jello, sugar free popsicle, celery and some other goodies.

 

[Keggy]

I was thinking about this too - but I am a picky eater and I am worried about the meal options and how they taste - so thank you for posting this.

Kelly