NutriSystem: A Complete Review

Jim said:
Steve A.
[...]nobody can eat 3000 calories of just steak or just vegetables; the end result is a reduction of caloric intake because of the huge list of 'forbidden' items that you cut from your daily intake.[...]

Jim, you are ignoring the calorie advantage that a ketogenic diet like Atkins represents, and the calorie advantage that even a non-ketogenic lower carb diet can present. Even a diet that keeps the same amount of carb but makes it whole-grain carb will often show people that they can eat more calories, without any increase in exercise, and lose the same amount of weight or eat the same amount of calories and lose more weight.

So it is not just "a calorie is a calorie is a calorie". Anyone who has tried these different types of diets will tell you the same. I don't know anyone who actually managed to do Atkins as instructed, with the 2 weeks to get into ketosis, and gain weight. Not even people who were snacking on butter. Of course, a lot of people will say "I'm on Atkins" and eat fried chicken and then have cereal. That is not Atkins. I saw a woman on a documentary about that that did exactly that, she had cereal and drank orange juice and snacked on bananas and procclaimed to be on Atkins. Amazingly, she still lost 14lb in a month, with her made-up sorta Atkins diet.

You could argue that the type of weight lost on a ketogenic diet is not the best kind of weight one can lose (there is a lot of arguments both saying that it is more muscle-sparing than other diets, because it is not low-cal, but also a lot of arguments that say it is not as muscle-sparing as a moderate carb diet), but that people do lose weight while consuming many more calories than nutritionists want you to believe is possible - that is a fact.

This type of thinking that portions are the only things that matter are what lead to the idea that dieting is eating the same junk as before, but less of it. Steve A's Beefaroni anedocte shows exactly that: NS is serving you the same junk as before, but half of it. That does work to make people lose weight, but calorie reduction is not the ONLY thing that makes people lose weight.

Hi!
This question is to everybody, I will appriciate any input. My husband wants to start NS diet, but what do you do if you HAVE to go to the restaurant and eat there, like with your customers or co-workers, while on NS? Or even worse, when you are traveling to another country. He usually travels for 2-3 days only, but believe me it is really hard to find low-cal. dish while abroad. We had this issue when he was in weight watchers, and his counselor just refused to believe that it's impossible to find a dissent salad in many places, or to be able to explain yourself when you order (I still remember fresh veggie salad with probably a whole cup of olive oil in it in Turkey). Thanks everyone!

I tried the NutriSystems diet for 2 months. The first month, my order came in with food that I couldn't eat (food allergies). I emailed the company and received no response - so called them. The "customer service" rep told me: 1) my email didn't need a reply and, 2) the foods I'd received were the free week and couldn't be pre-selected. So, I stayed another month. Alas - I got more food I couldn't eat - they'd discontinued some of my selections and made substitutions of items I couldn't eat. I cancelled my shipments.

I just started NS, I'm a 20 y/o Male college student looking to loose 60 pounds or more. I'm not a very picky eater, but occasionally I guess I'm spoiled. Hopefully this is the ticket!

I'm 6'1", 267 lbs...gotta do something. LOL

I am one who LOVES good food and sweets. My absolute weakness is chocolate. This, of course, is why I am overweight. After reading all the mixed reviews, I was a little skeptical, but I decided to give NS a try anyway. This is my fourth day on NS. Thus far, I do not have any complaints with the taste of the food. It is definitely fast and easy to prepare. I will have my first weigh-in on Monday moring, 1/22/07. I will post the results.

Jan,
I'm not saying 'a calorie is a calorie'. Think of it more like 'energy balancing'. If you consume more calories (energy) than you expend (energy) then that extra energy (extra calories) are stored in your body as fat. Obviously, the inverse is true.

Now....you are correct; your body burns more fat first before sugars (carbs) because of the ketosis state.

However, even in ketosis; if you consume more calories than you burn then you will get fat.

The problem with these diets; Atkins, South Beach, Grapefruit is that they have a huge list of no no's that lends itself to cutting a lot of your intake (for many reasons I won't list here) and the end result is fewer calories taken in. Which is still portion control.

The few studies of the Atkins diet (and there are only a few) bore this out.

Even the few participants who did consume more calories than before the diet soon reduced thier intake to less than before the diet.

Again...portion control.

Back to the point about 'energy balance'
It's not just 'calorie counting' although I admit thats a major portion.

However you need to add somethings on each side of the energy balance equation.

On one side (the input) you should requlate with good carbs and good fats.

The other side (the expenditure) should include some form of excercise.

IMHO anyway.

Do NOT Get me wrong....

I think if NS or Atkins or whatever works for you (save anorexia) then I think its fine.

My thoughts are to keep it simple:

Watch the amount of food you eat (only good food) and excercise.

And to all of my fellow dieters;

Keep it up! Your on your way.

Jim

Way too many complaints in my opinion. This is a balanced diet with controlled portions. As such, it will not be comparable to the foods we regularly ate which contained too much fat, too much sugar, too many carbs, and too much meat. What NutriSystem provides is a major convenience and control benefit which factors in the required dietary balance that we need. Considering the NECESSARY reduction in fat, sugar, bad carbs, and meat, this food is actually pretty good and easy. I agree with others that some foods may not be tolerable, but that's true of any diet food. It takes a month or two to sort through what you will regularly enjoy and what you do not like. After that, you will find your groove (your regular monthly order) and can stay on this diet for a long time.

Hang in there.

I just ordered my first 4 weeks of NS, waiting to receive it. I'm 5'2 and weigh 165 lbs, hoping to drop 40 lbs that no other diet has seemed to be able to rid me of (especially the flabby thighs and stomach! - Has anyone had success in this area?). It's encouraging to hear so many success stories, and I'm relieved that I didnt order the muffins! Will post my progress!

I just completed my first week on NS. I lost 6 pounds. I did not excercise this week, but I am always on the go...wife and mother of 4!!! :)

The only thing I have had thus far that I will not order again is the orange beef with noodles. Also, I liked the blueberry muffins. I put them in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

Stay Positive!!!

I read through all of these comments last week and
I decided to sign up this past Sunday. I received $80 off my first order. I got $30 in Buddy Bucks from a friend & I found a link for an additional $50 off. It let me combine both coupons, plus I got an extra week of food and Free Shipping. I paid $213.72 exactly for 5 weeks of food. If I am not happy with it, then I can cancel, but I for $40 a week I could not go pass this one up. If you email me @ rpmuse2004@yahoo.com
I will show how to get the same discount.
The $50 coupon promotion could end at any time, but I can guarantee you the $30 Buddy Bucks.
I am so excited. I signed in & went into the chat rooms & bulletin boards. They also have a Virtual Model that you add all of your info into & it shows you what you look like approx. now & what you will look like at your goal weight. Also, in NutriSystem it shows you how to eat out smart like if you want Chinese, Japanese, Mexican etc. Their website has tons of stuff to look through once you become a member. Good Luck to all.

I have been on Nurtisystem for just over a week, and am loving it. I have lost 6 lbs so far, and am NEVER hungry. To all of you who are whining about how horrible the food is, what did you think? This would be Pizza Hut or Ruth's Chris food in a box that made you magically lose weight? The dinners that you microwave taste similar to lean cuisines. I have stuck to the small pastas for lunch, which are similar in taste to Chef Boyardee pastas, and for breakfasts the chocolate chip granola bars are good. Add some fruit to this, and a salad with your dinner, and you're set. What could possibly be easier??? I admit that it isn't gourmet by any stretch of the imagination, but stop your belly-aching! Dieting is NOT supposed to be fun!

I appreciate so much your advise on how to get rid of all the awful gas that some of the foods cause. It has been so bad that I have had to stay home after eating some of the foods. I can truthfully say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the food. Everything has been delicious except for the tuna casserolle. I had to throw that away. I have had the vegetables and fruit as suggested and have lost 7 pounds in the past 11 days. I had been on a low carb diet for 7 months before starting Nutrisystem and had lost 36 pounds that way. My husband ordered the Nutrisystem for my birthday and I can truthfully say that it is the best birthday gift I have ever received.

I have been on NutriSystem for a week and a half now and I absolutely love it! I'm a 21 year old college student who is working 35+ hours a week, taking a class, and keeping up with school activities and friends.

Taking the time to cook has always been a problem for me. Most of the NutriSystem meals cook in two minutes or less. Food wise, I would recommend (for dinner) the spinach and cheese ravioli, flame broiled burger (SO good on a wheat bun!), and the lasagna. I've been satisfied with all the dinners I've had so far. Lunch is hit or miss -- the chicken salad is awesome, but the instant potatoes and fettuccini alfredo were... eh, okay. Breakfast is pretty standard -- you can't really mess up granola bars and cereal.

I would recommend NS to any college student trying to lose the dreaded "freshman 15." It's quick to fix and per day (roughly $10 after you buy fruits and dairy and salad) it's a great deal, especially since you pay about $8 for one meal in a dining hall.

I HAVE LOST 55 LBS ON THIS PROGRAM IN THE LAST YR. IT HAS HELPED ME A GREAT DEAL . HAVING OSTEOARTRISTS IN BOTH KNEES I CANT WALK OR EXCERISE BUT I STILL LOST THE WEIGHT. THE FOOD IS FABULIOUS AND ITS GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME. ITS A NO BRAINER. JUST EAT THE FOOD AND HAVE FAITH AND YOUR LOOSING AS YOU GO. I NEVER STUCK TO A DIET BEFORE AND I HAVE BEEN ON ALL
OF THE FROM WEIGHT WATCHERS TO ATKINS AND THEN SOME BUT ONCE YOU GO OFF YOU GAIN IT BACK AND THEN SOME.

THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO
ME. I HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH WITH THIS. THANK YOU NUTRI SYSTEM AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. I NEVER WILL BE WITHOUT IT AGAIN. THE NEW FOODS ARE SO GOOD ITS WORHT GIVING UP THE OLD STUFF I USE TO EAT .

I've been thinking about trying the NS for men but this board has me thinking twice. I am a huge fan of The Abs Diet and was hoping Ns would eliminate some of my meal making. Has anyone else tried the abs diet. the book is fantastic. a must read.

Been on NS for 2 weeks, no weight loss. I follow the plan to the letter. The food is ok. I paid extra to pick my own food and of course they didn't get it all right. I have noticed significant GAS, BLOATING and heartburn. I will continue to follow the plan and keep you posted.

I've been on Nutrisystem for two weeks and have not lost a pound. My friend who is on weigh-watchers is doing much better. I don't have much weight to lose and am wondering if the amount of exercise I already do and the low calorie count is screwing up weight loss. I am a vegetarian so I went with that option. The food leaves a lot to be desired but at least I am back to eating 3 meals a day and bringing my lunch to work. I personally think it was a waste of money and am skeptical about the ingredients in the food.

I signed up & received my order on Thursday. I started first thing Friday morning. The first thing I chose to eat was a Strawberry Toaster Pastry. It was gross. But, my lunch was good & my dinner was really tasty. This morning I went with cereal (granola) & it was really good, so was my lunch & dinner. so, so far the only thing I didn't like was that strawberry thing. It has only been 2 full days. I am not going to weigh myself until next Friday & I will come back here and post if I lost anything and if I did how much. I really hope this works. What's good is I have not been starving. I have been eating something every few hours. I read through a bunch of NS members profiles & it really inspired me. To see people that started last July or August having lost 60, 70 or 80 lbs was nice.

NutriSystem is so good. I've tried this product and am very happy with my results. I lost about 33 pounds in 2 weeks. I strongly recommend this product to anyone.

I read all of the comments on NS and I wonder if I did the right thing? I ordered it last Saturday, I haven't received it yet but I was anticipating it until I read all of this. I guess at this point as long as the food is edible I don't care, I MUST lose weight, that's more important than taste. I hope this is it...

I used NutriSystem for about 6 months, cutting out ordering their breakfasts..I could just eat fruits in the morning instead of spending money on their products.
The thing is I lost about 8 pounds and that was it!
I never lost another pound! I ended up gaining it back.
So, now I'm eating healthy on my own and buying Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice dinners. I have dropped 11 pounds so far. This is a lot less expensive. Eat fruits, veggies, drink LOTS of water, exercise, and a low-cal dinner! Seems to be working for me a lot better than NutriSystem.

Sue,

I have also read the reviews for this diet. I chose to go with another program, Medifast, I have a ton of weight to lose and I need to lose it as fast as possible as I have started to notice certain symptoms of type 2 diabetes. This could all be in my head but I would rather not take the chance anymore. The most important thing is that you have decided to take the first step in making your self get healthier. Remember that everyone is differnt. This blog is good for giving you a large number of PERSONAL opinions on different aspects of heath and weight. Jim the creator of this blog has provided a wonderful reasource of information that you can look through to find ideas that can help you get back to your optimum health but you have already made the biggest, most important step. Sure the food may taste bad, most diet food does this is a common fact. Have you ever sat and eaten a slim fast bar? Those taste like recycled newspaper. But I find that the real sucess stories are not the people who liked the taste of the food it was the people that kept a positive outlook and were excited to reach their goal. The line keep your eye on the prize works very well in weightloss. If you are all excited about doing this for yourself and then start to second guess it then you will not succeed. Go back to the website and start looking more at the people that have gotten the results that they were looking for with this program. Build up that excitment again and take the comments on this board with a grain of salt. Betty, mary and dave or who ever has posted on this board are not going to interact with you on a daily basis and in fact you will probably never hear much from them unless you look for it. So as you begin a new chapter in life you must throw away an old, comfortable but dangerous part of yourself. I find alot of overweight people have it, myself included. It is that part of me that has taken my willpower and motivation on a two year bender and kept writing home to my head to tell me that everything is fine and that it will come home soon so I don't have to worry about looking for it. I really do wish you the best in your new journey and I know that if you hold on to the excitment you will be the next success story. Come back to this board, be honest and I for one will be more than happy to be your cheerleader as you go. Good luck and I look forward to your next post.

The one site that this blog does not address is www.edietsexpress.com It is real food cooked by real chiefs. Much like nutrisystem, it is based on a 1200 calorie diet, but offers real food with real taste. It is significantly better then nutrisystem or jennycraig

I just checked out the suggested site of edietsexpress.com and it has to be one the most expensive programs I have seen. Here is a run down on the cost for a weeks worth of food.

Carb-Controlled Signature Plan (cancel anytime), Charged weekly $244.93
Anytime Access to Nutritionists, Dieticians & Counselors (800 or e-mail) FREE
Customized Meal Guide & Starter Kit FREE
Thermal Tote with first shipment FREE
1 Free* Week of Fresh Meals (5th week Free – only pay for shipping) FREE
SUB TOTAL: Charged Weekly: $244.93
Tax: No Tax
Shipping & Handling: Charged Weekly: $29.95
GRAND TOTAL: $274.88

I guess if you were single it may be a program that could work. But if you have a family I couldn't see spending over a thousand dollars on just your own meals.

I've been on NS for a while. The fiber (or it may be the sugar alcohol mentioned by one post-thanks) finally got to me. I would eat my breakfast and lunch at work and many times had major gas, growling and bloating! Geez, eating healthy can have huge side effects.

I found the foods that I liked and discovered that most of them did not involve adding hot water. Good Luck.

A co-worker has been having good results with Nutrisystem so I decided to try it. I've lost one notch on the belt since Monday (today is Thursday) which from prior experience is about 10 pounds. I think the food is fine--even my wife and picky teen have tried some and have liked it.

Portion control is a major problem for me, so this is great. I eat breakfast at 5:00 so get hungry around 9:00 and eat my fruit then. Lunch at 12:00 and dinner around 5:00 or 6:00 along with a big salad w/some LF mozzarella for my dairy and LF/LC dressing. I save my dessert for a late snack while watching TV or working on the comptuer.

Given the relatively modest cost (about what I'd pay per day to eat anyway), convenience (we don't cook much) and effectiveness (how can you NOT lose weight on 1200 to 1500 cals?), unless you are ultra-picky about your food, I'd recommend it.

Just started on NS yesterday, and so far it's been pretty easy going. I started out at 291 pounds (I'm 5'10", way overweight) and I'm looking to lose around 75-80 pounds by September for my wedding. The food isn't gourmet, but like someone else said, eating for taste and enjoyment is how you get fat in the first place. The NS food will nourish you and (at least in my experience) keep you feeling reasonably full. It really isn't that bad, as long as you try to stay away from the freeze-dried options (like the eggs, etc).

I've started walking a mile per day on my treadmill (which was collecting dust prior to starting the diet) and hopefully the combination of 1300-1500 calories per day and a reasonable amount of exercise will get me close to my goal.

As far as my favorites go, I've enjoyed everything I've tried so far (aside from the toaster pastry, which is very bland). Kudos to the granola cereal (which is actually tasty, although a tiny portion), the chicken noodle soup, and the chicken pasta parmesan.

Since I'm a guy, I'm allowed an extra GI carb with every meal, and I've found that a simple piece of wheat toast can make all the difference in filling you up (while only adding 40 calories to your bottom line).

I'm going to try and stay off the scale for the first month, so I can see a big difference as opposed to seeing a pound here and there (historically, I can't handle seeing a two pound drop one day and then nothing for the next 4, it's the fastest way to McDonalds for me).

Good luck to all, and in all honesty, Nutrisystem isn't as bad as a lot of folks are making it out to be.

Well, I weighed myself this morning. I lost 9 lbs my first week! I am very excited. That was really motivating. I am staying on nutrisystem. My goal is 80-85 lbs. so losing 9 the first week was awesome.
I tried a different meal every lunch & every dinner this week so I could see if I liked all of the food. I like everything & some things are really, really good. This diet may not work for everyone, but I like knowing exactly what to eat. I just wanted to post my 1 week results. If you are considering it, worst case you try it for a month and cancel. This is the first time that I feel I found something that will work for me. Good Luck to all & you can email me for Buddy Buck coupons.
Rpmuse2004@yahoo.com

My husband and I have been on Nutrisystem for 4 weeks now. We've both lost 13 pounds. Some food is bad, some is wonderful. Just remember to dress it up by adding your own items. I love the pancakes! The blueberry muffins are wonderful if you spray a little zero calorie butter spray and eat it with 1/2 a banana. The lunches and dinners may not be so good alone but I just add in spices, quality protein, veggies ect.. and they turn out wonderful. I can't eat much with beef or chicken in it because even though it tasted okay, the meat was poor quality and the consistancy was gross. But I love the Pasta primavera with Tofu, lasagna, ravioli's, beef taco's (the beef in these isn't so bad), the mac and cheese and a couple others. They do add too many chemicals though, and I am reading the labels and trying to order ones with the least chemicals like the split pea soup, ect. Desserts can be good. I add a little Stevia, cinnamon and fat free whip cream to the apple cake and it's pretty good. I add Stevia, a few raspberries and some Fat free whip cream to the chocolate cake and the puddings. I really love the chocolates, especially the cherry nutri chocolates and the mint bar. My husband loves the chocolate covered carmel corn. Hope these tips help someone.

I have been on Nutri-systems for 11 days and have lost 9.5 pounds. As of today, I've packed up everything except those items that my 4-year old palate decided were ok. To those who posted before me:
1. The muffins ARE gross, ditto the Mac n Cheese.
2. The eggs scrambled in a skillet really do taste like eggs
3. You better like or tolerate soy....it's in everything.
4. The cereals are a bit gravely, thank Goodness I like crunchy stuff.
5. Dessert, by definition, is chocolate...do not order anything from the plan that does not contain chocolate, it's not worth it.
6. If you are a "texture eater", you're in trouble. The consistency of the lunch and dinner entrees is the consistency of canned dog food...very mushy. Though not all taste like we imagine dog food tastes.
7. The cakes have the consistency of a sponge and are barely sweet. Don't bother.
8. Some of the entrees are so laden with artificial "something" that they do taste toxic.
9. My best advice is to try not to breathe in before you take a bite, some of those chemicals WILL get you.
10. Will I stay on it? Yes, because I do need the crutch of something totally structured and mindless. I will hang in there 'till the food becomes too intolerable. By then, I am hopeful that I will have new habits of eating fruits and veggies and finally get "portion control".

I have been on NS for 5 weeks and I am very happy with my progress, I have learned to order what I like. I am a picky eater,so I sent back the foods with alot of sauce. Even though the portions may not be a good value, I am happy to finally be getting my weight off. Breakfast and Lunch as well as desserts are fine. Dinner I stick to the few things I like. I have lost 13lbs so far.

Have you had your thyroid checked? Are you drinking all of your water? Either of those things can affect weight loss. Your post was in September so I hope things are working out better for you by now.

I've lost 13 lbs in 21 days, from 236 to 225. The food is certainly not "delicious", that's false advertising. It's prepackaged, processed food for heaven's sake! But generally the selections are good, and really, it's all about low glycemic choices and portion control. I'd recommend Nutrisystem to anyone trying to kickstart weight loss.

I'm a male and I've been on the NS for over 5 weeks. I started at 231 pounds and so far I've lost 19 pounds. I ONLY weigh myself every 7 days as I feel any shorter period is just not meaningful. Also, you have to weigh yourself at the SAME time as your weight can vary 2 or more pounds during the day. The first week I lost 8 pounds and since then, I've been losing 3 pounds a week.

Since I went into this diet not knowing what meals were better than others, I just guessed when ordering. However, I kept score of what I liked and what I didn't and my current month's supply is much more to my liking. As mentioned in many comments here, this diet is mostly about protion control which is a little hard to do when cooking from scratch. If you have the time to limit your portions, cooking your own foods would be the way to go. I DON'T have the time or desire to mess around in paring my meals down to the size of NS, so for me it's great.

During my NS diet so far, I've never been hungry and I think I owe that to the amount of water they recommend. I drink 2 8 oz glasses before every meal so I'm half full before the first bite. The downside of that is you better have a toilet close by as you'll be visiting it every hour or less.

As per exercise, I try to walk 3 miles daily. I'm not sure whether I'll order the 3rd month of food or not. That will depend on where I am weight-wise in another 3 weeks. I feel good, I haven't had the headaches others complain about, but there does seem to be an increase in gas.

It's great getting back into clothes that I haven't worn for a while! When I do go back to normal foods, I'm going to keep doing the water-water part as it does fill me up and will limit portions too much bigger that NS.

Overall, I would certainly recommend this diet to anyone who doesn't want to mess around with spliting serving portions into a 1500 calorie daily limit.

samantha said:
common fact. Have you ever sat and eaten a slim fast bar? Those taste like recycled newspaper. But I find that the real sucess stories are not the people who liked the taste of the food it was the people that kept a positive outlook and were excited to reach their goal. The line keep your eye on the prize work[...]

I did check it out even before I saw this post. I'm sure it is good. It ought to be, it's really expensive. Something like 25-30 per day.

I lost the most amount of weight in the first week. Maybe it was becoming accustomed to the portion size. I agree with others on here that the pasta dishes are pretty good. Unlike others......I like sweets......so I found the muffins not at all bad. I adore the honey mustard and onion pretzel sticks. I have kept off seven pounds in two weeks. I ordered my NS through a TV program at a very good price. However, the foods cannot be chosen when ordered via there. Good luck to everyone!And I will add that gastric disturbances are my biggest complaint of the food.

I'm a 52 yo lady on the over 40 nourish program through QVC. This is my second day on NS, Feb 17, 2007. So far, food very good. My goal is to loose about 45-50 pounds. I had gastric bypass 4 yrs ago, gained some wt back. Old habits die hard and come back even harder. Something like this really helps a food addict not have to think about portion control. It gives one a plan. Hats off to the fellas with the positive comments! Will keep posting my wt loss journey. Good luck to all.

Well I have been on NS for just a week now and have lost 6 pounds. I am a little bit concerned because I think that is too much too quickly, but I'm sure it will slow down in the next week or two. So far the food is hit or miss. The "pasta and beef" and the "tortellini" are my favorites so far, but the pot roast tastes like dog food (I think!) With all of the additions, I haven't been hungry at all (I stick to yoghurt, eggs, cottage cheese, and salad/veggies based on my personal preference) but that just goes to show me that if I learn proper portion control, I can lose more weight on my own without a program like this.

So far I am pretty happy and committed myself to 2 months of the program, but I think after that I will go back to my own menu

HATED IT!! I tried NutriSystem for a full month, even though I didn't like the food from the very beginning. They advertise that you can eat for $10/day, but their portions are very small, and the diet depends on additional foods. All the entrees have too many peppers, and I felt like I was eating MREs. When I tried to cancel, they had already sent my second shipment, and refused to give a refund. Their customer service personnel were rude and unprofessional. I would not recommend NutriSystem to anyone - there are lots of plans out there that taste better, cost less, and are easier to follow.