Don't waste your money - Nutrisystem Nourish Weight Loss plan
Written: May 05 '06 (Updated Apr 23 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The plan is a no-brainer, just grab the food and go.
Cons: Expensive, the food tastes terrible.
The Bottom Line: I think the only reason people lose weight on this plan is because they simply cannot keep the gross food down. I'd rather eat a live snake.
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| uglybugg's Full Review: NutriSystem Weight Loss Program |
I've tried lots of diets with lots of success, but I have trouble consistently sticking to a healthy way of eating so I decided to try NutriSystem. I'm a busy professional who doesn't want to be bothered with cooking meals for myself. I wanted a no-brainer type of plan that didn't involve buying tons of ingredients, cooking, measuring, etc, so NutriSystem seemed to be a good fit for my needs. Yes, the program is expensive, especially when you consider that it does not include all of your food, but you definitely pay for convenience and I was willing to do so.
I ordered the NutriSystem Nourish Favorites 2-week plan from QVC for approximately $150. According to QVC's website, this package is "Chock full of popular meals, the NutriSystem Nourish Favorites Package features the foods NutriSystem customers enjoy the most" so I figured that was a good package to start with as only one of the items (beans & rice) was not appealing to me. The NutriSystem plan is supplemented by fruits, veggies, and dairy that is not included in the plan. The Nourish plan included the following items (as copied from QVC):
low fat granola
cinnamon squares cereal
apple cinnamon oatmeal
scrambled eggs w/ cheese
scrambled eggs w/ veggies
frosted shredded wheat
pancake mix
frosted oats
lemon poppy muffin
banana spice muffin
blueberry muffin
apple granola bar
cranberry granola bar
chocolate chip granola bar
black beans & rice
fudge graham bar
chocolate raspberry bar
sweet potato
noodles w/ chicken
chicken cacciatore
pasta w/ beef
chicken noodle soup
pasta parmesan
cream of broccoli soup
chicken salad
tomato salad
cheese pizza
mac & cheese
pot roast
rotini
beef stroganoff
lasagna
chicken noodles
cheese/spinach ravioli
chicken pasta parmesian
chicken pizzaiola
chicken w/ rice, veggies
basil chicken
beef & mushroom gravy
chicken Marsala
BBQ chips
pretzels
honey mustard pretzels
white cheddar chips
NutriCrunch chocolates
cheese/garlic pretzels
caramel popcorn
chocolate chip nut biscotti
chocolate peanut butter bar
blueberry lemon bar
caramel bar
nacho snacker
chocolate pudding
The meals come in various types of packaging and are shelf stable. This means that you can carry them around or store them without having to refrigerate or freeze them. The breakfast cereals come in small packages about the size of a single serving of chips or crackers from a vending machine. Some of the soups, eggs, and noodle dishes come in what I call the cup o noodles style. Basically it's just a cup with a paper lid and you just pour hot water inside and let the food steep like tea with the lid on according to the package directions. The hot water reconstitutes the ingredients in a matter of minutes. The hot lunches and dinners come in either a metal cup that is microwave safe or in plastic trays that are typical of frozen dinners.
The plan that I ordered came with 2 weeks of breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners. The box was so heavy that I was unable to drag from the porch inside the house so I had to wait for my husband to come home and help me. I started out by separating the food into 4 boxes so it would be easy to just grab one item from each box on my way out for the day and not have to think much about it. Total calories for NutriSystem food only is about 1100 and the added fruits and salads add another 200 or so.
The first day I started the plan, I grabbed a breakfast item, a lunch, a few snack packs to keep in my desk at work, some fruit and milk, and left for the day. I was really pleased with how portable and easy it was just to grab an item from each category from my box system and be on my way. For breakfast I had the cinnamon squares cereal with 4 ounces of skim milk and an orange. The cereal was good, sweet, and loaded with fiber which kept me full until lunchtime. For lunch I had the pasta parmesan which was supposed to be pasta with broccoli in a creamy parmesan cheese sauce. This item came packaged in an 'instant lunch' type of container that you just add water to and in 5 minutes or so the pasta soaks up the water and you have a nice, hot bowl of pasta in a creamy sauce. Well not in this case. I followed the directions exactly, filling the cup up to the line with boiling water, mixing well, stirring thoroughly twice during the six minutes it needed to soak. But when I opened it after the time was up, there was just a mess of green pasta that smelled awful. The people I work with actually left the area it smelled so bad.
So I dug into the bowl of noodles, fully expecting it to be as delicious and satisfying as the woman on QVC who lost 85 pounds on NutriSystem said it would be. Well, it was not delicious and satisfying; it was disgusting. Probably one of the most disgusting things I've ever eaten in my life. I managed to eat half of it before the thought of eating one more bite literally gagged me and I tossed the rest in the trash. The noodles were crunchy and only half cooked, the sauce was runny and had absolutely no salt or spice or good flavor. When I attempted to stir the whole mess with my spoon it bound up like concrete in the bottom of the cup.
But I kept a positive attitude and when I got hungry again shortly thereafter, I reached for the the snack size bag of honey mustard pretzels and ripped them open. There were not many inside but they smelled good and they looked good and the nutritional panel said they contained over 8g of fiber so I figured it would at least keep me full until dinner. Wrong again. Yes, the pretzels smelled good and they even tasted pretty good for the first two bites or so. But as I chewed, the pretzels began to fall apart in my mouth like little clumps of pressboard and I literally spit it out. It turns out that the flavorful coating ws only on the outside of the pretzels and there was not any good flavor on the inside. Not a good mouth feel, not a good mouth taste. They were just plain yucky.
Still trying to be the optimist, I cracked open a bag of the NutriCrunch chocolates that everyone had raved about, then a bag of the BBQ soy chips, then a banana nut muffin and the caramel bar, desperately trying to find just one item that was palatable. I finally tried the fudge graham bar and was able to eat most of that without being totally grossed out.
This went on for 2 more days until I finally gave up and realized that I'd been had. I am so disappointed that this product was of such low quality and horrible taste. It has totally changed my opinion of NutriSystem and even QVC as a result of this bad experience. Thankfully QVC offers a money back guarantee even if you've already used up most of the food. I tried a few more of the meals and gave a few to my mother who had the same awful experience and sent just a few of the lightweight items back. Shipping to return what was left cost $10 but I did receive a full refund of my original purchase price which is good. I do not think that NutriSystem offers the same type of guarantee.
Bottom Line I would not recommend the NutriSystem program to anyone. It's horrible.
Recommended:
No
Approximate Monthly Cost (US$) 300.00
Food Variety Restrictions A somewhat varied menu
Restrictiveness of Portions Few small portions
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