Not a fad diet, it's a philosophy on portion control
Written: Nov 01 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Portability, convenience, practicality, variety, overall taste.
Cons: Sliminess and/or gritty texture for some meals, $$$.
The Bottom Line: Enforces common sense & Portion Control.. GO FOR IT if you exercise & have $$$ (@ roughly $10/day, avg-cheap in NY standards).
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| joisme's Full Review: NutriSystem Weight Loss Program |
I've been on Nutrisystem for about 4 weeks now. Here's what I received on the new NOURISH plan:
- An exercise booklet listing a regimen of basic weight lifting and yoga, is included.
- 28 days worth of Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Dessert entrees, plus and extra 7 days of these packages (totalling 35 days of entrees)
- a meal plan checkbook-sized planner, so you can keep track of your meals.
- a few other educational booklets, including weight loss philosophies, and what NS offers (e.g. counselor).
REALISTIC OUTCOME:
So far, I've lost about 7 lbs, but I admittedly have not been adhering strictly to the diet. I started doing the exercises, but as in all hectic life-work-stress situation, THE BOTTOM LINE IS you still need to find time to exercise. Sure I lost weight, but wasn't what I could've optimally lost.
Also, Real-life dining situations arise, such as birthday parties and Holiday events, where the only thing to eat is something of high-caloric content (e.g. fried foods, cakes, high carbs). They suggest optimally bringing your entrees with you to whatever events you attend (but honestly, who's going to carry their turkey hot dogs, which come 3 to a pack, but you can only eat 1 per meal sitting, with them to a tailgating party???) What is good about Nutrisystem is that you are provided with a handy "Dining Out" guide, which gives you tips on how to stay in control of your portions amidst a sea of temptation. Much of this guide is common sense, but the idea of being on a diet forces you to be more mindful of what you put in your body.
VARIETY:
The Variety of foods is pretty good... some things on the dinner menu include Thin crust pizza, Pot Roast, Ricotta-Spinach Ravioli, and Beef in Burgundy sauce. They have chocolate bars and desserts (e.g. pudding, shakes) on the menu. I was not a fan of the chocolate offerings that required mixing/adding water (e.g. for shakes, coffee, pudding), because the taste was just unpalateable (See Section "TASTE"). However, for a diet menu, the meals overall are pretty yummy.
TASTE:
Within the first week of eating the meals, I notices all the prepackaged entrees that I considered "wet" (meals of the microwavable-tray variety, or those needing to add water) had a sliminess to it. So for example, the pudding in dessert (which you needed to add water) was not creamy like the Jello-brand, but SLIMY. Same with the Choco-shakes. The gravy from various meaty lunch and dinner entrees were not rich, but SLIMY. In the ingredients there's an added protein product added to each meal in order for you to boost your metabolism... perhaps this is where it comes from.
"Dry" foods that need no added liquid, primarily snacks like the Ranch flavored soy chips (dessert), and breakfast bars, were palatable. Most dry foods have a gritty texture, due to use of whole wheat flour, wheat starch, and/or soy proteins.
Overall, this is still "Diet Food", so don't be expecting rich culinary flavors of Peter Lugers... or even that guilty flavor of a McD's Big Mac. However, within a week, I got used to it. Also, the inclusion of various Pasta, potato, and rice entrees gave me my carb fix when I needed it.
PORTIONS:
It's been said that the capacity of your stomach is roughly the size of your fist. That being noted, the size of the entrees are as such. BREAKFAST cereals are in those tubs that remind me of packs of Kix and Rice Krispies I used to get in schools. LUNCH entrees are about the size of those small Chef-Boyardee microwavables, and DINNER entrees are about the size of a small Lean Cuisine Lunch meal. However, with each meal, you are supposed to supplement it with a serving of Fruit (e.g. small apple, 1/3 cup apple juice, or 1/3 cup apple sauce), or Veggie/Salad, as well as additional protein or dairy (e.g. 6oz cup of yogurt or 1 oz slice of cheese). Further, you're supposed to eat a snack between lunch and dinner, which they suggest should be a fruit and a protein (that you need to supply yourself). Also, you have to drink 64 oz of H2O throughout the day. Whenever I've adhere to the recommended suggestions, I never felt hungry.
PORTABILITY:
The best thing about this plan is the convenience! All the entrees are portioned out for you, a months-worth of food is delivered directly, so there's not counting or measuring. Most are ready to (h)eat. If you have a busy lifestyle, this plan would be ideal. For example, I would choose my breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert entrees in the morning, take 2 apples, bag of carrots, a yogurt, 1-2 sticks of string-cheese, and throw it all in a bag. I'd get milk at a local 7-11 or Starbucks, and water from the work cooler. If I needed to, I could order salad/veggies from a local deli with dressing on the side (certain Salad greens you can eat in unlimited portions).
THINGS YOU NEED TO ADD YOURSELF:
Veggies, Fruit servings, breads & melba toast (of the whole grain variety), dairy, Water.
FLAGS IN NUTRITIONAL LABELS:
Few things that caught my attention immediately was the high amount of Sodium and Protein in each entree. A serving of Lunch might have as much as 33% of the daily recc'd serving of Sodium, and a dinner might have around 35g of Protein. I was told that the body can only handle digesting 32g at any given time. That, in addition to your fruit and veggie serving, might be a bit much. Though I didn't see it on their website, NS didn't give any beforehand indication of the high sodium content. Therefore, those with HBP might need to consult with both NS and their Dr before starting.
SERVICES:
From a sales perspective, it's OK. Customer service is helpful, if you are able to hold long enough for them on the phone. In fact, I called today to change something very small in my order, and waited about 15 mins on hold after the inital automated message. I haven't need to talk to a counselor, but I'm honestly not sure about what their credentials are. I was never promised that they were licensed nutritionists nor have they had any higher education in basic nutrition or food science.
GUILTY PLEASURES:
Halloween just past, and I gave into temptation by splurging on a few Oreos and KitKats here and there (I work in a school... junk food is rampant!) I haven't weighted myself this week, but I'm sure I'll notice a small gain due to the extra sugar and carbs. I will say that being on NS has helped me stay mindful of those small binges.... so instead of eating 3 mini-twix bars, I afforded myself 1 in a 2 day span.
CONCLUSION:
I noticed a slightly slimmer me in recent pictures, and so have my friends. My clothes either fit better or are looser on me, and that is a better indication of weight loss to me than a scale alone. In addition, I lost that small pooch that used to hang over my pants ("muffin-top") as well as the roll on the side (love-handles). I'm going to stay on for now at least an extra month to see if I love it or hate it after 60 days. Regardless, it's the philosophy about portion control that will stick with me the most.
Recommended:
Yes
Approximate Monthly Cost (US$) 250-300
Food Variety Restrictions A wide variety of allowed foods
Restrictiveness of Portions Few small portions
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Epinions.com ID:
joisme
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Reviews written: 2
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