Nutrisystem... Yey or Ney?

You can learn how to do it all on your own...Nutri is expensive and pretty gross, a family member bought into that mess and I tasted a few things...Whhhhhy!

It may possibly work fine and well. I am sure it will help you to lose weight, but it is all about portion control. You can do the same thing by saving your money and eating your favorite foods every day while eating in a deficit. It's a weight loss program. MFP is a weight loss site. Try the free route and give MFP a try first by sticking to your daily goal. I bet you''ll have much success if you stick with it.

Hi everyone! Hope you all are having a great day... I need some opinions. What is your take on the Nutrisystem diet? Has anyone tried it? Success? Fails?

You won't learn very much with meal replacements. Keeping the weight gone will take some changes. Logging foods and portion control helps you figure out what those (permanent) changes will be.

I did it once. It was a good kick start and I lost weight easily. Most of the food tasted fine, just a few things were bad. You have to know how to jazz it up with veggies and free foods (sour cream, salsa, etc.) or make a new recipe out of the meal. It seems expensive, but it's really only about $10 a day and I spend more than that normally.

The most important thing is that when you stop, you have to make sure you go back to logging all of your food and knowing how many calories you are expending and eating each day.

The biggest problem with it is that most of the time people do it, lose pretty easily, then go off and go back to old ways of eating, which is usually overeating. Calories in vs. calories out is really the key.

Here is a great effective plan and it's free:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

If you want to spend money then buy a digital food scale, a nice pair of walking/running shoes, some exercise clothes, and a few water bottles. Next, follow the link above and you will lose weight and be healthy.

There's nothing like grabbing that soft serve ice cream on a hot day and going .. yeah I got room for this and being able to chow down guilt free.

That's such a great visual! You made me smile. Thanks for that!

NAY. For the lack of nutritional education.

If you eat the food you can lose weight, but what will you do for the rest of your life? Gain it back just to go back on the system to lose again... and the cycle begins.

Put in the work to get nutritional education so you never have to be overweight again!

1. Does it work, yes - basically it cuts your calories for you
2. will it last - possibly, if you learn to eat properly on your own,but most likely you will rely on the prepackaged food and not learn to eat properly on your own and regain
3. is it more expensive than weight loss needs to be - yes

do it if you want but its not some miracle, its just disguised calories in vs. calories out

To me, Nutirsystem is like handing someone the answers to a test, and getting excited when they pass the exam.

It will work, but you won't learn much, and you'll go back to old habits once you stop paying.

I vote Ney and I'll quote something that mike_ny wrote on another post from someone asking about a different weight loss plan but it applies here as well and I agree with it:

You don't need any diet foods, diet products, diet shakes, or diet pills to lose weight. If they work, it's at a significant monetary cost plus it reinforces that you need them as a crutch to lose and maintain over the long run. This is exactly what the people selling these products depend on for long term profits. There's a high probability that most threads you read about HerbalLife or any other product were covertly started by someone who sells the product or has some financial gain associated with it.

Eat real food, get more active, stay hydrated, and get enough rest while keeping a calorie deficit and you'll get the results you want as quickly as you would with the help of whatever snake oil you fall for.

Nay. It's way cheaper to invest in a food scale and portion control your own foods. The internet is rife with fast and easy 3-ingredient meals, so why would you want to microwave a sad little pizza?

While doing NS I logged all foods on MFP and was always under the sodium allowance according to MFP

I'm doing NutriSystem and find with the right combo of salt/pepper/butter flavor spray that the foods are Ok to good. No major cooking or food planning/grocery shopping for all my meals. That's been a nice relief.

Yes, it does all the portion control for you...
Yes, it doesn't teach you how to prepare your own food during the main part of weight loss..

So, here's what it did for me:

I've been doing calorie counting, WW, and calorie counting again. NutriSystem has been my buffer for when the food is done for the day, so am I. Pick the color of the boxes, eat, and be done.

It has allowed me to lose 24 pounds in 10 weeks. My plan is to transition back to total calorie counting maintenance with MFP once I hit the goal. Since I'm in the last 6 pounds to goal, I've started tracking my NS food in MFP in order get back into my MFP groove.

It's given me simplicity. Not having to shop for entire meals, prep them, cook them, clean up a major effort. The time I've gotten back has been a nice break....but I know it will come again.

In the end, NutriSystem gave me a break from "thinking" and did all the planning for me. While not permanent, it has gotten me back on the right track and to where I was on the scale before all the bad choices leading me into a 25 pound gain diversion. Not good.

While opinions vary, my experience with NutriSystem has been a good one. I'd recommend it...or at least go to Walmart and pick up a five day box to try it out. I'll keep one of those handy for the times I need a quick microwave meal on the go.