Anyone here use Nutrisystem?

stinsonkms

I know it works because my mom lost a ton of weight on Nutrisystem. She said the only bad side was that the food tasted bland. Since in my last post a lot of people were all about counting and portioning your food, Nutrisystem is great because it does that for you. Now the only bad side for me is that it costs A LOT of money. It's over $250 for a month. It may not sound like much but as a college student, I'm also trying to save up for a new car and $250 would be half of what I'm saving each month for my new car, and I really need a new car, but I'd also like to lose weight.

What are some of the pros and cons of Nutrisystem?

socioseguro

Hi:

If you know it already works, why are you asking the pros and cons ?.

tomatoey

Oh, god. I tried it once. I was 15. I was maybe 5 pounds "overweight" (not even, I would have been normal according to BMI, just wanted to lose 5 pounds). First of all, I can't believe they had no problem selling me the stuff. Secondly, the "food" was disgusting.

theresaneal77

Why not learn to prepare the meals they offer yourself? That way you can switch what you like, don't like, ect.

Liftng4Lis

socioseguro wrote: »

Hi:

If you know it already works, why are you asking the pros and cons ?.

^This

astrose00

My sister is doing it and lost more than 40lbs in 4 months and just started exercising. She likes the convenience and I think the food is a lot better, from what I hear. If money is an issue, you absolutely can make your own meals and accomplish the same thing. I count calories, try to hit macros, work out and have lost 58lbs in just over 5 months. If you can handle the calculations, shopping and cooking, I would suggest doing it yourself. You can make meals in batches and freeze them for later consumption.

kCalCrusher

I've done all of that stuff. The food sucked and being so restricted as to what I could eat that wasn't powdered food I quit after a week. Do something you can do for the rest of your life... it's a lifestyle change after all. We're here because we've made poor choices in what we eat, how we eat and why we eat. I think addressing those three issues in your normal environment will set you up for long-term success. Small but consistent changes win in the long run

astrose00

The food is not powdered. They must have made improvements. My mom also started it in January and is sedentary. She has lost 15 pounds and really likes it. She said she doesn't feel like she's on a diet which is a big deal for her. There's no best way. We can all reach our goals in a variety of ways. It depends on the individual. I think NS caters to people who are less hands on. I think they can learn how portion sizes and what they can/should eat from this diet over time. My sister is super busy and doesn't have time to cook all her meals. I am super OCD and measure and control everything that goes in my mouth. But even I have to admit it gets tiring sometimes. But I know that this will be something I have to do for the rest of my life.

stinsonkms

socioseguro wrote: »

Hi:

If you know it already works, why are you asking the pros and cons ?.

If you can't be courteous enough to answer the question or not answer at all, why are you replying?

Alatariel75

What happens when you stop? That's the biggest problem with these things, you stop using it, and put the weight back on because you go back to old habits. Or you could use something like MFP, have much cheaper food that isn't bland, still lose weight and learn good habits for life.

wizzybeth

I personally think it's gross food and overpriced. I tried it last year I think...fairly recent.You can probably accomplish the same thing with Lean Cuisine for less money. Nutrisystem stuff tasted like canned Chef Boyardee food. Might be okay once in a while but after a week or so I was depressed and not looking forward to eating.

Sued0nim

stinsonkms wrote: »

I know it works because my mom lost a ton of weight on Nutrisystem. She said the only bad side was that the food tasted bland. Since in my last post a lot of people were all about counting and portioning your food, Nutrisystem is great because it does that for you. Now the only bad side for me is that it costs A LOT of money. It's over $250 for a month. It may not sound like much but as a college student, I'm also trying to save up for a new car and $250 would be half of what I'm saving each month for my new car, and I really need a new car, but I'd also like to lose weight.

What are some of the pros and cons of Nutrisystem?

Waste of money
Waste of time
Where's your learning curve
Spend $250 on fresh food, vegetables
Use free websites like skinnytaste.com to learn how to cook nutritious, calorie accounted recipes
Weigh your food, learn appropriate portion sizes and how to balance your food and set yourself up for long-term success

Meal replacement programmes almost never work long-term

LAWoman72

My sister tried it. It was expensive and she said the food was awful.

kayeiam

Alatariel75 wrote: »

What happens when you stop? That's the biggest problem with these things, you stop using it, and put the weight back on because you go back to old habits. Or you could use something like MFP, have much cheaper food that isn't bland, still lose weight and learn good habits for life.

^^^^ This 100%

emilyesq

There's nothing inherently bad about a program like Nutrisystem or that other one that's named after some woman... brain like a steel trap, mine.

As others have said, the main problem is that in order to lose weight and keep it off, most people need to learn how to eat less, not just realize that they need to. When your food is pre-packaged and you don't have to pay any attention to the numbers involved, sure, you'll lose weight (given that you stick to it). But once you arrive at your goal, and have to start eating at maintenance levels, you're going to have to learn and adjust to the process of counting calories and tracking macros, which most people on a site like MFP did while they were still losing. Arguably, it's easier to climb up that learning curve when you're losing weight and have a goal in mind than when you're at your ideal weight and aren't seeing any changes for your efforts. There will also be a lot more trial and error and therefore weight fluctuation, which can be quite frustrating when you're trying to maintain.

I'd also like to echo the fact that those meals tend to be fairly bland, which is one of the reasons people tend not to stick with these programs long-term. Most pre-packaged meals aren't as flavourful as stuff you make yourself, because they have to appeal to the masses. If you're someone with quite tame taste buds and/or someone who doesn't mind very repetitive eating, then using Nutrisystem to lose weight might not be a terrible idea. You just have to consider what you'd do once the weight is gone.

But really, though, it would boil down to money for me. If it was a choice between getting a car in 6 months or getting one in a year, I'd personally rather have my car to drive myself to the grocery store and buy my own cheaper, tastier food.

dgardner2010

I use it and love it. It's really convenient and I don't have to worry about cooking or finding healthy foods. I just concentrate on exercising a few times a week and the weight is coming off. The food I get is not gross. A lot are really good. I have the plan with frozen food so you can have ice cream too. It really doesn't feel like a diet and I eat every 2-3 hours or 6 times a day. BTW I'm also a college student and I find it's about the same as a meal plan or grocery shopping for a month. My diary is open if you want to add me as a friend.

krysmuree

My grandmother tried it recently and hated it. The food was terrible, she said. It'd be much cheaper (as a fellow college student! ) to get a Pinterest account and find some amazing, tasty, low/decent calorie recipes and budget a little. But if you can stomach the food (it never smelled very appetizing, haha), the only cons I see are that you can't possibly live on it forever, so what will you do when you reach your goal if you haven't learned how to manage your calories on your own? And the price.

Good luck!

jose4096mfp

I buy mine at walmart just started but 44 bucks for a 5 day supply beats 250 a month and when you do order it online they auto deduct it from your account and send it to you very frequently it was anoying i think weekly is better maybe you dont have money one week you can alternate with different foods and go back to it next week

determined_14

jose4096mfp wrote: »

I buy mine at walmart just started but 44 bucks for a 5 day supply beats 250 a month and when you do order it online they auto deduct it from your account and send it to you very frequently it was anoying i think weekly is better maybe you dont have money one week you can alternate with different foods and go back to it next week

Errr, $44/5day supply actually comes out to like $262/30 days, which is a bit more than the above poster mentioned it would cost to buy monthly.

dekmom33

It may work, but you can't do it forever. In the end it's all about learning how to live a healthy lifestyle.

GoalWeight165by2018

I did nutrisystem before and all I lost was money.
Honestly? Shop around the frozen section of your local grocery store. You can get the same thing but cheaper and tastier. Green Giant Steamers - frozen vegetables, you just microwave for a couple of minutes. They have a little sauce already on them. Really good really cheap. You can get fish frozen by the fillet, too. You just cut open the package and put it on a baking sheet for how long the package says. Squeeze lemon juice on it. You can even buy pre-packaged brown rice that you just pop in the microwave. Buy frozen baby shrimp, thaw under warm water, chop lettuce, or just tear it with your hands, and put ceaser dressing on it. The frozen vegetarian burgers are good too. What I'm saying is, give the grocery store a fair shake. there are alot of pre-packaged and/or frozen meals that taste better and are cheaper. Everything is already portioned for you, too. In the organic section at my grovery store they have really good and low calorie soups too. breakfast for me is 2-3 slices of 35 calorie a slice toast with 2 tablespoons of light cream cheese/greek yogurt on each. Super easy, super fast. Oh, another good breakfast food - egg beaters, with some flour, like a couple of tabelspoons, slice of bananas, cook like a pancake. You don't even need syrup. Takes 7 minutes.
You can eat healthy buying frozen pre packaged foods, right from your grocery store. You don't have to make kale and arugala salad, there are in between options.
Good luck!

ticiaelizabeth

I tired this during my teenage years. I found the majority of the food inedible. You could always make your own at home "nutrisystem" using protein shakes/meal replacement shakes for breakfast, frozen meals for lunch and dinner. Doing this would bring you in under $150/month. However I would recommend cooking your own as you can control what is going into the meals.

Debmal77

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leggup

Nutrisystem
Pros:

• It works.
• It takes no thought, just eating.

Cons:

• You don't learn serving sizes because the food is often low-fat-low-sugar-low-everything that isn't available everywhere.
• People come to MFP and say they gained back the weight after coming off of it.
• The food is not as good as food you can make yourself.
• It's very expensive.

MyFitnessPal (aka weigh your own food)
Pros:

• It works
• You can eat literally anything you want, so long as it fits in your daily calories.
• You learn serving sizes.
• It's free (minus the cost of the food scale, which is like USD $15-20).
• It is as tasty as you want to make it.
• What you learn lasts you a lifetime

Cons:

• You have to put thought into your food choices instead of paying extra to have someone else do that for you.

rungirl1973

I tried it a few years ago when my company offered 40% off as part of their "wellness" plan. The food wasn't awful, but it wasn't delicious, either. It's like the poster above said, sort of like canned Chef Boyardee.

Also, the plan calls for you adding your own fresh fruit and vegetables in addition to the meals they provide. The cost for food is more than the $250/month or whatever it is.

For me, I was hungry all the time. I'm 5'8" and very active. The 1,200 calories per day that the plan allows is just not enough food for me, even with extra fruit and veggies.

SLLRunner

stinsonkms wrote: »

I know it works because my mom lost a ton of weight on Nutrisystem. She said the only bad side was that the food tasted bland. Since in my last post a lot of people were all about counting and portioning your food, Nutrisystem is great because it does that for you. Now the only bad side for me is that it costs A LOT of money. It's over $250 for a month. It may not sound like much but as a college student, I'm also trying to save up for a new car and $250 would be half of what I'm saving each month for my new car, and I really need a new car, but I'd also like to lose weight.

What are some of the pros and cons of Nutrisystem?

I've had friends who did this diet, lost weight, but gained it back once they returned to their regular eating. Obviously this is because they ate more calories on the real food than they did on Nutrisystem. Because I saw what happened to friends, I never tried this diet.

I'd like to suggest that the reason your mom lost weight on this diet is because she was able to stick to it and eat at a calorie deficit. In other words, the type of diet is personal preference only, the hard work of moderating our food is really up to us.

If I were in your shoes, I would put that $250 in the bank and create a calorie deficit eating all the foods you love. If you have not done so already, I encourage you to set up your goals in MFP, to weigh all foods and log whatever you eat, log your cardio calories and eat a portion of them back, and see how that works for you. You get all the foods you love, you don't spend any extra money, and your food won't be bland.

jkwolly

Why would you want to eat something that taste bland!?

And costs an insane amount of money for what it is?

Insanity.

SLLRunner

britishbroccoli wrote: »

Nutrisystem
Pros:

• It works.
• It takes no thought, just eating.

Cons:

• You don't learn serving sizes because the food is often low-fat-low-sugar-low-everything that isn't available everywhere.
• People come to MFP and say they gained back the weight after coming off of it.
• The food is not as good as food you can make yourself.
• It's very expensive.

MyFitnessPal (aka weigh your own food)
Pros:

• It works
• You can eat literally anything you want, so long as it fits in your daily calories.
• You learn serving sizes.
• It's free (minus the cost of the food scale, which is like USD $15-20).
• It is as tasty as you want to make it.
• What you learn lasts you a lifetime

Cons:

• You have to put thought into your food choices instead of paying extra to have someone else do that for you.

THIS is the best post I've seen in a long time.

jkwolly

SLLRunner wrote: »

britishbroccoli wrote: »

Nutrisystem
Pros:

• It works.
• It takes no thought, just eating.

Cons:

• You don't learn serving sizes because the food is often low-fat-low-sugar-low-everything that isn't available everywhere.
• People come to MFP and say they gained back the weight after coming off of it.
• The food is not as good as food you can make yourself.
• It's very expensive.

MyFitnessPal (aka weigh your own food)
Pros:

• It works
• You can eat literally anything you want, so long as it fits in your daily calories.
• You learn serving sizes.
• It's free (minus the cost of the food scale, which is like USD $15-20).
• It is as tasty as you want to make it.
• What you learn lasts you a lifetime

Cons:

• You have to put thought into your food choices instead of paying extra to have someone else do that for you.

THIS is the best post I've seen in a long time.

Double agree!

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

britishbroccoli wrote: »

Nutrisystem
Pros:

• It works.
• It takes no thought, just eating.

Cons:

• You don't learn serving sizes because the food is often low-fat-low-sugar-low-everything that isn't available everywhere.
• People come to MFP and say they gained back the weight after coming off of it.
• The food is not as good as food you can make yourself.
• It's very expensive.

MyFitnessPal (aka weigh your own food)
Pros:

• It works
• You can eat literally anything you want, so long as it fits in your daily calories.
• You learn serving sizes.
• It's free (minus the cost of the food scale, which is like USD $15-20).
• It is as tasty as you want to make it.
• What you learn lasts you a lifetime

Cons:

• You have to put thought into your food choices instead of paying extra to have someone else do that for you.

You are awesome.