Nutrisystem Opinions

[smokeyblue]

I'm considering trying Nutrisystem for a month. There are several reasons why I'd like to do this. I truly want to lose some weight, portion control is very difficult for me. Secondly, I have very limited use of my dominant hand. I've messed up both my wrist and my thumb and I am in a very restrictive splint, basically I can only use my hand to steady and hold minor items. I really can't use a knife to chop or cut anything. Third, I spend a lot of money on food. I spend roughly $100/month in the cafeteria for lunch, $300 in groceries and $100 in restaurants a month. I end up throwing away half of what I buy and I feel like I never have anything to eat. Lastly, I really hate grocery shopping. If I could just go in and buy a few produce items and be done with it it would make life so much better! Plus, grocery shopping is literally painful right now with my arm.

Has anyone tried Nutrisystem? What is your opinion? What did you like and not like about it?

 

[Gracie09]

I lost 35 pounds on it and kept it off for 9 months until I started my last set of ivf cycles. They always cause me to gain a ton of weight no matter what I try. Anyway, it was easy and relatively painless. It helped me with the eat small meals multiple times a day thing. Its not the healthiest of options because its mostly processed food, but it has its advantages.

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

I have not tried it but am also considering this... Would love to hear replies too.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

My dad did it, and I tried some of the meals and snacks. Some of the food was ok, some was awful. All of it was filled with preservatives and not good for people who need low salt/low fat diets. My dad quit when my mom found that she could find healthier premade meals cheaper at the store by just taking an extra few minutes at the store every week.

 

[Gracie09]

If you do do it, get the most expensive plan where you can choose your own meals and frozen food. Trust me. Also pay attention to the number of stars each item gets.

 

[roflclaw]

I did it for about a year in 2005 or 2006, so it was a bit ago.

It worked for me, but like any diet... really only for a period of time. I lost a lot of weight, and still have the little milestone bears they would sent for ever 25 lbs gone. But I hit a plateau in my exercise/diet plan with my weight and once I was 'off' their processed food it eventually came back.

I'm sure the food has drastically changed since 2006, but during that time I literally ate the same things everyday because a lot of it wasn't very good. (at least to my 15/16 year old self!) Cereal similar to cheerios for breakfast, a meal replacement bar for lunch, and either pizza or lasagna for dinner. Along with fresh fruits, veggies, and proteins bought from the store, and usually a carb during dinner.

My mom also did it during the same time I did, but she gained an unhealthy obsession with working out and losing weight that she lost it too fast for her body to keep up with it. Her trainer had her move onto a protein enriched diet and she was able to steadily lose the weight while building muscle rather than just losing the fat and gaining nothing.

 

[Alliekat79]

I started NS in early December, and I'm loving it so far. I've heard lots of complaints about the food, but it's really not that bad. Like someone else said, look at the ratings for the food products and buy based on that.

I love the structure of the program. For me, less flexibility is better. I'm less likely to go off track.

As far as getting a good deal goes... You can buy a $100 gc for $80 on the Costco website. You can use multiple cards on an order, so there's a 20% savings right off the top. I also used a referral code from Brad's Deals and got a free week & $30 off. You can combine all those savings when you check out.

Good luck!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

My husband and I did it for about 4-5 months before our wedding in 2012. He lost 35 lbs. and I lost 30 lbs. (but I was also training for a marathon). We picked our own food, which I really enjoyed because I'm the type of person that can eat the same thing everyday if it's something I like. My husband likes to have something different every day. One of the things I like best about it is that it is easily transportable. Even when we went out of town, we could stay on the plan. The food was pretty good, but I second what a previous poster said about the number of stars an item gets. The things I liked most were the things that had a higher star value. It did what we needed it too, but I was so ready to not eat food that came out of a plastic container or paper cup after a month or two.

Cancelling was a pain in that we had to call and they really try to get you to stay on Nutrisystem.

 

[LJSquishy]

I did it for a month or so about 8 years ago and lost about 7lbs. I was about 15lbs overweight when I did it. I don't think I exercised much while doing the program but I can't remember.

I think it can be a good program to jump start your weight loss, but it isn't a healthy program long term and you will have to eventually learn to prepare your own healthy meals and control portions. With that said, they do make it really easy to choose your fresh produce items to add to your meals. When I did it there was a chart that came with it so I knew what I could eat and how much of it. You would probably like that.

Just know that if you start with Nutrisystem you will still want to slowly making your own meals over time. Try viewing recipes at Skinnytaste.com -- I make about 90% of meals from her recipes and love them all! No weird artificial ingredients and all are healthy!

 

[DawnM]

I tried it but I felt awful on it. I stuck with it for about 2 weeks, maybe close to 3. I hadn't been eating a lot of processed foods before starting it, and the transition back to processed gave me brain fog, joint pain, and gave me general malaise.

Thankfully, they do have a 30 day return and I was able to return the shelf stable food and keep the frozen food for free.

I won't do it again.

BTW: If you want to try it out, Walmart sells a 2 week box in the diet section near the medications.

Dawn

 

[tloveswdw]

I have a friend who tried Seattle Suttons, I am hit sure if that or another plan/provider might be more local to you

 

[DisneyDiana]

I have lost a lot of weight on it. The food has generally gotten better in the past year or so. I agree with the poster who suggested the frozen foods. They are much better than most of the shelf stable food. I also believe you must commit to at least two months or they will charge you shipping on your first months order. Finally, sign up for Costco if you haven't already (even online). They sell $100 Nutrisystem gift cards for $79 and twice a year, usually March and August, the cards go on sale for $50. I buy enough during the sale to cover me until the next one.

 

[smokeyblue]

Lots of good advice! Thank you. The Costco tip is a great one, my bf has a membership so I can just have him buy cards! The thing that has me on the fence is that you pretty much need to commit to 2 months or it isn't a good deal. However, I probably need at least two months on the program anyway to get my jump start so maybe it is just as well.

 

[happily single]

Ok, apparently I am the only one who didnt have success on NS. Some of the food was good, some was ok and a few things were yucky.

I have seen "starter packs" at Wal-mart I beleive, which was a two week or so supply of food. It might be worth it to try that to see if you like it before committing.

 

[Sadie22]

The starter packs I saw were five days worth of food, and each box was the same. They have regular and diabetic. They're not bad unless you need a low sodium diet.

Healthy Choice frozen meals can be another option.

 

[momtosam]

For me the food was better than I expected it would be, but I just did not lose weight and I really followed the plan. I will say, though, that I am a person that just cannot drop weight without exercising. I swear I could eat salad for every meal, everyday and not lose a pound if I don't exercise. I was never really able to incorporate too much exercise while on NS, so that may have been part of my problem.

QVC always has it as a Today's Special Value this time of year. Watch for that. The GREAT thing with QVC is if you try it and don't like it, you can return it no problem -- even if you've ate much of the food! Also, you can order from QVC via eBates.

 

[DVC-Don]

I did it back in 1990 and lost 30 pounds, but once I hit the goal and went back on real food I found it very difficult to keep the pounds off. I managed to stay at my goal weight for only 9 months after getting off their food.

 

[kirstenb1]

It worked well for me.

 

[momtosam]

Just got an email. QVC will have it on special value on January 6.

 

[lucyem]

I tried it once many years ago. A lot of the food was really horrible. Some was not bad. But highly processed. Honestly you will do better buying a whole bunch of lean cuisine meals.

OP my advice would be to work with a nutritionist to develop a workable plan for you using supermarket foods. (frozen, precut veggies, learn portion control, freezing meals etc) Then you will get healthier food, not be stuck in a contract for expensive meals, and develop a long term eating healthy program for you.