See UPDATE BELOW**

I began with NutriSystem online on 12/3/01. Actually I set my account up some time in mid November, but didn't have the guts to buy the food and start until 12/3. I am writing this from a perspective of someone who has 50+ lbs to lose and who never attended a brick and mortar NS clinic. I am also a "slow user" and on thyroid medication.

First of all, when you are done reading this, go to www.nutrisystem.com for more details. You can be a member and use their site and have lots of weight loss tools available to you and never buy the food. There are chat rooms, message boards, before & after stories, member profiles, food and exercise diaries, online counselors, etc. As a former Weight Watchers failure, I opted to buy their food because I lie. I lie about portion sizes. I don't always weigh and measure. Plus I am a lousy cook. Even if I were good at it I don't like cooking.

The food runs about $200 a month. If you order a 28 day supply the shipping is free. Yeah this sounds expensive at first, but going through old Visa receipts, I spent close to that in fast food and restaurants. You do have to buy fruits, veggies, and milk so that also adds to the cost. I started at 196. I was knocking on 200lbs' door. 2 months later I am at 181. If you add in the nontangibles of avoiding future health problems and depression, it isn't so bad. The food is shipped via Fed Ex and arrives within 2 days for me - may take up to 5 for others. The food is "shelf stabile". This means no refrigeration necessary. Examples of the kinds of foods are oatmeals, cereals, meal bars, cup-a-soup type of meals, little microwave ready tubs, and entrees. The entrees are similar to what you would buy from Lean Cuisine, but they are not frozen. For there complete menu, see their web site.

How does the food taste? I really like it. A lot of people come up with excuses why they can't have it. Don't like the taste. Too spicy. Not spicy enough. Too salty. Not salty enough. You get the picture. I have things I like better than others. Yeah the food may not be as good as that pizza with 900 calories and 23 fat grams, but on a scale of Army MRE to Chef Emerill, it is somewhere in the middle.

When I placed my first food order I received a meal plan from a counselor. You are assigned a personal counselor that you can make appointments and chat with. I never use the counselor but know of others who like this option. If you do not like your counselor you can switch. I have heard that some are a lot better (more responsive) than others.

Back to the meal plan. There are 1000, 1200, 1500, and 1800 calorie/day plans based on your age, starting weight, activity level, breastfeeding, etc. Sometimes the counselors miss and put you on a calorie plan that is too much or too little. Again you can discuss it and possibly switch. The meal plan in a nutshell is this. Sorry if this makes the post long. This is by no means the full plan but gives you an idea: Breakfast(NS entree, fruit, yogurt milk or milk alternative), Morning Snack(yogurt, milk, or milk alternative), Lunch(NS entree, fruit, salad), Afternoon Snack (fruit), Dinner (NS entree, 1 starchy or 2 regular veggies, salad, yogurt milk or milk alternative), and Evening Snack (NS Snack food) The idea is to eat 6 small meals a day, every 2-3 hours. I am constantly munching away. You also have to have at least 8 glasses of water a day. This actually has been easier than I thought to do.

If you order food from the web site regularly and weigh in once every 2 weeks, you qualify for the Nutri Bear program. For every 10lbs you get a colorful beanie bear (ala Salvino Bammers). The bear is attractive and has a number (10, 20, 30, etc) embroidered on the front and "Nutrisystem" and the number embroidered on the back. You may think, I don't need a stupid bear, but trust me, when you open that food box and see that bear, it makes you smile. It also helps people with lots to lose to not get discouraged, and instead to focus on losing 10lbs at a time. You work towards earning bears, not losing 120lbs. The mini goals help you to not feel like it is an impossible task.

As for the gallstones, chat with your doctor before starting this. They apparently have altered the diet a lot since the early days to include a little more fat to prevent this problem. If you are susceptible to gallstones, you may end up with them - but not because you are on NS. Weight loss can trigger them using any plan. Just be careful. I have had no problems. Most people I have met on the BBs have not had this problem.

As of this writing (2/1/02) there does not appear to be a maintenance program to use to wean you back to regular food. They are supposedly working on this. This does teach you how to eyeball correct portions though and get you used to eating veggies and salads. I will be determined NOT to gain back this weight. For convenience though, I would still order lunches, snacks, and some dinners from them even after hitting my goal weight.

I really like this plan. I look forward to the next 15lbs that I lose, and the next 15 after that. This is so easy to follow. If you want to try it, you can either order a week of food at a time or try Ebay. I hate seeing people bash this plan when it works. There are people at the NS site who have lost more than 100lbs. If you venture there, check out my profile, dindygirl, to see how I have progressed past this 15lb loss.

UPDATE** I still like the food and emphasize that this plan really works, however I have seen the uglier side of NS recently and this taints my view of their corporation. For one thing, they are trying to initiate a "pyramid" marketing plan where if you pay them $$ to sell their products. Sounds sleazy to me. Second, a bunch of people were coming on the website begging for food in the chat rooms and B boards. After a while a lot of us who struggle to afford NS food started getting irritated. Deb, their Vice President, made a post to the board knocking 2 of the paying members who expressed being annoyed with the people begging on the web site (I wasn't one of these - just a witness). It wasn't anyone faking - it was really her. She has posted before and people have emailed her and seen her hawking the food on QVC. This woman was incredibly rude to these paying customers - and went on to say how she gives out free food ALL the time in exchange for feedback, etc. I guess that explains why the food is over $200/month for the people that pay! Also, there are several NS members who have allowed NS to use them in promotions, before and afters, etc - most of these people have apparently have not gotten any compensation. One woman on the site who was receiving free food apparently posted something that rubbed VP Deb the wrong way and Deb announced to the whole site that this girl was getting free food from her and embarassed her. Not very professional considering her position with the corporation. I have dealt with managers of sleazy bars with more grace and courtesy than Deb. I am still on the plan, but see the company itself as second rate now (or at least run by sleazoids). Oh, and there is still no real maintenance plan for people who have reached goal 5/1/02.

Recommended: Yes

Approximate Monthly Cost (US$) 220
Food Variety Restrictions A wide variety of allowed foods
Restrictiveness of Portions Satisfying