[Momofsteel]

Hi. I am looking to jump start some weight loss during a particularly stressful time in my life. My insurance company has two discounted plans:

Jenny: free for 30 days (pay for food), 50% off a 6 month program (again, I pay for food)

Nutrasystem: 15% off 28 days, 2 free weeks with auto delivery.

I have read around that the Jenny food is better than the NS but the later seems to be cheaper. If it is dramatically worse than JG than its not worth it as I won't eat it.

Sodium is also a concern - I do not eat Progresso soups any more because they are like 1600 grams of sodium a serving. Would that be a problem with either plan?

I was kind of encouraged about JG after reading the article about Valerie Bertinelli.

What is the skinny (no pun intended)?

Many thanks....MOS

[Vickie]

DH and I started Nutrisystem together on January 13, 2009. I only made it 5 days. DH is still on it and has lost 32.6 pounds. He exercises 7 days a week on the treadmill and had about 100 pounds to lose. He never cheated once.

I lost 5 pounds the first week doing Nutrisystem and my own concoction of being good until I decided on JC. I've 160 pounds to lose and I'm perimenopausal/menopausal. I'm down 15.8 all tolled. It's been slow going on JC for me but NOT for everyone. If you are young, you'll do outstanding on JC. There are a couple of ladies here who are on fire with JC. There is NO comparison on the food IMHO. However, I almost exclusively eat the JC frozen food which is more expensive than the shelf stable. And JC snacks, treats are awesome. NS has some awesome ones too but they did not come with the package I ordered. I exercise 5 days a week on the treadmill at 2.2 mph. If I could go longer/faster maybe I'd have done better. I stick to the plan religiously and have not cheated once.

On JC, I'm spending an average of $100 a week on food and probably another $50 on add ons.

If you order NS through QVC, and hate the food, you can send it back (whatever is left), and they will credit ALL of your money except for the shipping charge fee to you and whatever it costs you to send it back. I sent mine back for a refund. The down side is that you cannot choose your food at QVC. You get what they give you. If you custom order on the NS site it costs WAY more than on QVC, but you get what you want. I'm not sure you can return it if you order directly from NS.

Hope that helps. I'm definitely sticking with JC, even though it's slow for me.

[Vickie]

I forgot to tell you that JC says that their average daily sodium is below what is allowed by the American Dietetic Association.

NS is VERY low sodium. I think 1800 per day and up to 2400 mg are allowed. I think JC is 2100-2200.

[Momofsteel]

Thanks - that is helpful. If I do JC, I will most likely do JennyDirect. On both plans, I have read that you could purchase snacks outside of the program like the 100 cal packs and that keeps the costs down.

Thanks for your help!

[Newshinyme]

Hello there!
I am on NS and have been since September 08. I have been losing slowly but steadily ever since.
I think with either plan you'll get what you put into it (i.e., the stricter you are and the more you exercise, the better results you'll have).
When I was doing my research on which plan to go into, I found a few people who complained that with JC there was too much pressure to buy "extras" from the staff and that they felt that they were more driven by that than the actual weight loss. I have no first hand knowledge about this, but it is something that I took into consideration.
NS is more economical and there is no visiting centres or talking to consultants on a regular basis, which is what attracted me to it. Of course they do have counselors available to you if you choose to talk to one, and I have done it on a couple of occasions.
As for the food, NS is fine, it is definitely not gourmet, but most of the items are good (there's a few I can't stand). I am the kind of person that likes to have different meals everyday and I have been fine with the variety I get from NS.
About the money back guarantee, I think it applies to any food you get from NS regardless on where you buy it. The advantage of buying it directly from them is that you get to choose your items (QVC and Costco give you pre-packaged combinations that can turn out to include the not-so-good stuff).
Good luck wth your journey.