Has anyone tried Nutri System or their products? I have just signed on to be a consultant (mostly to save money on my own orders) and I am very serious about losing weight, but have never tried their product. Would be interested in hearing from anyone who has and what your thoughts were on it. I have over 100 pounds to lose, so that is the reason I wanted to sign up as a consultant right off the bat, I have a long way to go!!
Hello Chantelle,
I have tried some of the NS products-it is a balanced plan, but I feel the same results can be had by eating balanced meals and watching your portion sizes-which is what the packaged food is doing for you.
Some people like having the prepackaged food, because they do not have to think about what to eat-no portion measuring or calorie counting, but in my opinion, you need to think about it if you are going to make the PERMANENT necessary changes to keep it off for life. The eating habits that make us fat can be changed to keep us slim-and in time it will be easier.
You will lose weight following the NS plan, but I think maybe you will find it harder to maintain that loss, unless you learn what to eat at family gatherings, restaurants, and at home with your family. If you continue with NS, please take note of the portions and combinations of foods in the NS plan-lots of fruits and veggies, very smll portions of main courses and sauces and condiments.
(As a moderator here, I must also tell you that while you are a consultant, that advertising for NS or trying to recruit members for your own benefit are not allowed, and those posts will be at risk of being deleted or edited by 3FC.)
We welcome you here at the forum, and hope you find what is successful for you.
Aphil
Thanks for your reply aphil, I really wanted to know if anyone has actually tasted the food, and how it tastes. I am waiting for my food to arrive as we speak, and have never actually 'talked' to anyone who have tried it.
Anyway, I did some more looking around about Nutri/System and found some good info from people who have tried it...if anyone reading this thread is interested in more information on Nutri System from people who have actually been on it or are on this plan now go to IVillage : http://www.ivillage.com/diet/feature...203878,00.html
This is just information that I found, it is not an advertisement to or for Nutri/System, and it also has information on many other diets and diet plans.
Thanks again...I love this website...have been a 'guest' since this 3fatchicks site was first started! Believe it or not, I have always lurked in the background, but I have never posted until now!
Hi Chantelle:
I have done nutri system in the past and some of the food I actually liked and some I did not. the snacks are the best. and I still enjoy the soy chips once in a while.
Good luck being a counsulant
Diane
I am currently on the Nutrisystem program. Your best bet is to go to their web site and read the bulletin boards. It is basically an exchange diet (like Richard Simmons or old Weight Watchers) based on the food pyramid, a calorie limit based on where you're starting from, exercise, water, etc. Many people on the site use the site and diet plan without buying Nutrisystem food.
I like the web site because the members pretty much "stick to the subject" - there's not a lot of off topic chatter and since everyone is focused on the same plan, not a lot of arguements, etc. on what to do that will work.
I am one happy customer, but don't want to sound like an ad either - I be glad to post more of my thoughts if anyone is interested -
It is a good program, but I don't feel that they teach very well what substitutes can be used for their food, as well as dinig out substitutes/exchanges-because they want you to buy their food. IFor those of us that are familiar with counting calories, etc. it isn't a problem, but I have been to their boards, and a lot of the less informed users do not know what else to eat, or are afraid to eat anything but the NS food and the fruits and veggies allowed. They lose the weight, and then don't know what to eat to keep it off. I feel it would be much better if they would coach you better on what to eat to maintain your weight, or if you have to go to a banquet or dinner out, and cannot use the NS food.
On the food side-some of the food is really good, and some of it is pretty bad-some of good ones are-the cereals, Raisin Bran muffins, spaghetti, veggie beef soup, enchilada, cheese curls...
I personally didn't like the blueberry muffins-they were way too dry and fake tasting, and I didn't like the hamburger AT ALL. YUCK.
Aphil
Actually, when you sign up, they give you a diet sheet that tells you what "normal" food you can eat and in what portions. It's all taken straight from the food pyramid. I think people just don't read their materials well or forget where all that stuff is available on line.
This is not to say that they aren't basically in the business to sell their food - but, what that does allow is a free web site with no pop ups and access to all their other features (virtual model, exercise and food tracking software, weight loss charts, bulletin board, counselors, etc.). Like any other on-line service, the more you use it and become familiar with it, the more information you can obtain.
When I used it, I didn't get a food sheet of what normal food I could sub for the NS food. I got a sheet of the diet plan-stating when to eat what NS meal, and the allowed fruits and veggies and dressings to add to that. (For people unfamiliar with NS, you buy your entrees and daily snack, and add a fruit or vegetable or dairy product to the entree to complete your meal-for instance, for lunch you have a lunch entree and you provide the salad) It said nothing about cereals or entrees to replace them with.
Don't get me wrong-I don't think this is a bad diet plan-it is very balanced-but as a moderator here, it is my job to read all of the information, and check out all the things offered in these plans-I have used the virtual model to see what that was all about, and I think the NutriBear rewards system is a good motivator, (they give you a bear for each 10 pounds you lose until you reach goal)
and the exercises they show on the plan is good.
But, when it comes down to it, they are in the business to sell their food, and to better propel that, they don't give quite as much information as they could about eating. You have to weight the pros and cons-and here is what I think:
PROS-
-excellent online site with no pop ups,etc.
-Nutribear motivation program
-virtual model on website
-calorie/fat infor available online of all food
-you don't have to think about calories or fat grams or measure out portion sizes, etc.-you just eat what you are sent with your fruit, salad, or dairy product.
-they ship food fast via UPS-when I ordered a shipment to see what it was like, I received it in 2 days
-some of the food items are very good-such as the popcorn, cereals, and soups
-it is a balanced plan-the right amounts of each food group
CONS-
-Some of the foods are not very good-blueberry muffins, funny tasting meat in some entrees
-They give you no information when you get your starting materials on what you can substitute NS foods for (for instance-you can buy instant oatmeal packets at any store with about the same amount of calories, and find plenty of evening snacks around 100 calories, which is what they allot for that.)
-The food is expensive-about $60 a week-You are paying $1.20 for each serving of cereal-when you can buy a whole box of the same kind for $3 that will have 8-15 servings in it. Just use a measuring cup and measure it out yourself. I am a frugal person, and would rather spend $3 on a box of cereal or instant oatmeal, and pay attention to my portion sizes, rather than pay $8.40 a week for the same thing from NS. When I use coupons and watch sales,I can get groceries for my whole family for $75 including diapers, rather than spend $60 on myself each week alone for food.
You basically have to judge for yourself what is more important to you-if you don't mind the cost, and don't eat out much, and don't want to bother with counting calories, etc. NS is for you-but if you like to spend your money on other things, like to cook, and don't mind counting fat, calories, and portions sizes-save your money and spend it on new exercise videos or weights or whatever else to help your fitness goals.
Aphil
I guess we could go back and forth on this a lot, when basically we're saying the same thing! I am spending less than $60 a week - I am on the autoship program and get 15% off of each of my orders with free shipping included. My last order (which included 28 optional milk substitutes, a drink mix, and some individual packets of diet dressing, came to $198. If I subtract the cost of these optional items, it comes to $172 for 4 weeks or $43 a week.
The reason the plan works so well for me is from about 4:30 a.m. when I'm up and out the door to 8:00 p.m. when I get home from school, I get about an hour and 15 minutes at home for dinner and prep time for the next day. Having everything individual portioned for my use so I can just "grab and go" has been a life (or diet) saver! I really don't want to go to the grocery store, buy a box of cereal, and divide it up into little baggies. I also think that would be more boring than the NS breakfast options - a box of cereal (Special K red berries for example) has 14 servings in it. I would much rather buy 14 individual packets of 14 different things. The same thing comes to mind when thinking about preparing up to 28 different dinner items in a month - for one thing, I don't have the spice cabinet!
I don't feel right commenting on the taste of the food - that's such an individual thing. I know women that rave about the hamburger for instance and order half their dinner meals as hamburgers. I'm a vegetarian, so my choices would be quite different from most people's.
I also will say that in comparing the calorie counts of NS meals versus market diet meals - the calories of the NS meals are slightly lower. Maybe not much lower, say 20 to 30, but when you are watching each and every calorie like a hawk, those 20 to 30 calories per meal can add up to either additional condiments or an occassional splurge.
As far as teaching you to eat a balance diet, I think it's finally starting to "sink in" to me. Maybe it's my close to 45 age, but on NS I am finally starting to "get it". I have been very successful in the past with Weight Watchers (both the point counting and the exchange program) and tried it again for 3 months the first of the year. I kept gaining and losing the same 5 pounds. I then tried 3 months of counting calories on my own - same thing happened. On NS, I am losing weight! Twenty-six pounds since June - certainly not rapid, but slowly and acceptable. I figured out what it was - on both WW point counting and calorie counting on my own, I didn't really pay attention to the nutritional breakdown of what I was eating. On NS, I eat two salads a day, at least a cup full of vegetables, 3 servings of fruit and 3 servings of milk or milk exchanges in additional to my NS entrees. I am very aware of what I have to eat to get my stubborn over 40 fat to go away. Yes, on Weight Watchers and straight calorie counting, they encourage you to do the same, however, for some reason, I just wasn't doing it. On Weight Watchers - I counted the points and if I wanted to substitute a half a cup of ice cream for a glass of milk and some fruit, I did, heck, it was the same points, I should be OK. When calorie counting on my own, I steered towards high carb items, maybe had one piece of fruit a day and protein always took a back seat to another cup of pasta!
What I am learning about maintenance while I am on the NS plan is that I basically will have to eat this same breakdown of foods when I want to maintain - just adding a few calories. There is a maintenance thread on the bulletin board and I am a frequent visitor there for maintenance preparation.
Hopefully, about February of 2003 I'll be done with the weight loss portion of my plan. Then, this time next year, I can report on how I'm doing maintaining my weight loss - something I've never been able to do before, regardless of diet style -
I didn't NS back in the day. I did lose weight but when the program was over I had a hard time readjusting to normal life food and gained all my weight back over time. I did do WW w/ some success, I see that program as a lifestyle, a way to eat for the rest of my life, but I didn't lose weight as quickly as I wanted to. I'm currently on LA weight loss and it's working for me. When i'm done w/ the program I plan on rejoining WW and using my new methods that I learned w/ LAWL to guide me for the rest of my life. LAWL works to lose weight but it's a hard program to follow. WW is the best for the long haul.
NS is good, it's effective but the portions are so tiny, I had a hard time being satisfied. I felt tortured the whole time I was on it. Everything was prepackaged, nothing tasted fresh, the sodium count is way to high because everything has preservatives in them. IMHO, I don't think NS is the way to go, but if it's works for you i'm happy. I did have success w/ the program though. It wasn't a happy time in my life and I didn't walk away from that program learning how to eat for a life time or lifestyle.
I think it is difficult to evaluate the "old" version of a plan versus the "new" version of a plan. That would be like saying you tried the old Weight Watchers exchange program (or worse, the one from the 60s where you had to eat liver I think it was twice a week!) and that Weight Watchers wasn't liveable or you tried Richard Simmon's old Deal a Meal program and Richard Simmon's program wasn't right for you 10 years later.
Many people follow the NS website and program without purchasing the prepackaged food - that's a choice you have to make like aphil said based on your lifestyle, pocketbook, and personal feelings.
Hi KitKat,
Millie is right about the NS products and program being different than 10 years ago, just as WW and Richard Simmons keep improving with time.
It sounds like you have been on a lot of diets and yo-yo'd with your weight a lot. For those who know me on other threads-I finally succeeded in permanent weight loss and found a permanent solution-I am overweight right now, but that is due to a pregnancy-I am back with it, and plan on sticking with eating the way I am the rest of my life.
I know how hard it is to lose weight, and there are days that I would rather eat junk and not work out-but for me, being sucessful requires me to treat it as if I were an alcoholic-I run a very high risk for diabetes (I am a gestational diabetic/diabetic while pregnant) and I have to treat my body right for my health.
I hear so much about ladies who go on LA Weight loss, NS, WW, Richard Simmons-etc. and keep yo-yoing and going from plan to plan. All balanced diet plans will work for you if you find the right one that works best for you-NS works great for Millie because she is gone all day and has not time to cook-counting calories works great for me because I am home a lot and like to eat out ocasionally-and others need the moral support of following WW with the meetings...
If you are a yo-yo dieter-there are a few things that you need to look into for permanent success:
1.) That "click". Some people talk about that moment when they get that click, or finally make that lifelong commitment to lose weight-either being faced with a health issue, or having an emberassing moment happen associated with their weight, or a rude comment, or finally realizing in a fitting room that they need a size 28 jeans-or whatever your "click" may be...it is a change of mindset when your body and your health become more important than the latest diet plan you are on, and losing 3 pounds feels better than eating that donut.
2.)Not taking advantage of your diet plan-plans like Body For Life allow a free day of eating whatever you like, and WW gives you the freedom with the points system of choosing your own food. These are choices meant to be enjoyed-but not taken advantage of. Millie talked about forgoing the fruit and milk for ice cream with an earlier post, and I have heard of people using all their points on junky foods, and not eating enought veggies and fruits, etc. or totally gorging themselves on their free eating days. Whatever freedoms your plan allows you-they are to be used in moderation-it is fine to have a cheeseburger on your free day, but you shouldn't have a nonstop eating fest all day, or have a candy bar for breakfast every morning on WW.
3.) Eat "clean" food whenever possible. Things are so processed nowadays...instead of apples we eat apple pie, instead of a chicken breast or small piece of steak, we eat frozen processed bean and cheese burritos...and what exactly is a Twinkie made out of? Your body will function a lot better if you eat food as close to they are in nature as much as possible-choose whole fruits or whole fruit pureed smoothies over juice when posible, real fish, chicken or meat over processed-like chicken patties or nuggets-whole wheat bread over white bread-and if you do eat occasional ice cream-something like Breyers with less ingredients you cannot pronounce. I eat cereals like Frosted mini-wheats because I know what it is in it-whole shredded wheat with a bit of sugar on top...and my kids eat Life or Rice Krispies instead of Choco Donuts cereal or Kaboom.
4.) Commitment to exercise-this is something that some of us think of as a supplement to our diet plans-but it is HALF of our plan! It is necessary to get our exercise-you are burning more calories, strengthening our bones if we are doing any strength training exercise, and keeping our bodies younger longer.
I have known many women who have lost 20-30 pounds without a day of exercise-they still have arms that keep waving after they have stopped, and jiggly jello inner thighs-so even though they are at their ideal weight-in tank tops and shorts they still look FAT. You don't have to do traditional aerobics classes-do walking, jazzercise, weight training, step aerobics, walk in your neighborhood, take country dance lessons-whatever you like. I weight train 3 days a week, and bellydance the other four-I am getting sexy firm shoulders and biceps, and the dancing really helps relieve stress from daily life.
It is a fact that those who have lost a lot of weight and kept it off are most often times than not exercisers.
5.) Do it for yourself. Do not lose weight to please your mother, or husband, or to get more dates, etc. Do it because you want to feel better about yourself and your life. If you are trying to please someone else-it isn't going to last. Do it for yourself-and if you please others who look at you in the process-then that is just an added bonus.
6.) Expect sabitogers. Not everyone will be leased with your weight loss. Some husbands, best friends, sisters in law, etc. will be jealous and try to hinder your efforts. The women sometimes will be jealous of your success, the man in your life may feel jealous, especially if you have always been heavy since you have been with him-it is common in that case for the man to feel that you will leave him when you get "too good" for him, or overly jealous, because he thinks every other man will be looking at you.
Losing weight and keeping it off is so much more than the latest diet you are following. This is why people have success with so many different plans-you have to have all of your other ducks in a row for any plan to work.
Aphil
Another thing to remember is to not think of past weight loss experiences as "failures" - think of them as "learning exercises". There's a group out that compiles a database - I think it's called the National Weight Loss Registry. They keep track of people that have lost weight and kept it off for a long period of time. One of the things that most of them have in common is past weight loss attempts - almost all had been on at least one diet (or lifestyle change program as we're all now fond of calling them), regained their weight and maybe even more pounds, and tried again.
DO NOT GIVE UP - I firmly believe there is a way to lose weight that will work for everyone. Spend a little bit of time up front with a notebook in front of you asking yourself what's worked about programs you've tried in the past, what's failed, what your currently lifestyle requires (like cooking for others or not) and then research various programs to find one you think might work for you. Try that program for a minimum of 12 weeks - it takes that much time to evaulate just about anything properly - then re-evaulate it. If you have medical problems, be sure to run anything you want to try by your doctor (in fact, it would probably be good if we all did this - but I honestly can say I never have!). If it's not working, identify what's not working about it, and give it another shot, either tailoring what you're doing to fit you or maybe you need another program.
I am sure we would all like to succeed the first time we try anything new, but I can't think of one thing in my life I've ever done that the very first time I tried it, it came out perfectly. Why should weight loss be any different?
Nutri System - Anyone Tried it?
