Nutrisystem – 50% OFF
* This content is sponsored by Nutrisystem. We receive payments from our partners, including Nutrisystem. This review is based on customer feedback and my extensive research in other weight loss products.
If you have been struggling to lose weight, then the Nutrisystem (NS) plan may be right for you. There are several reasons that we absolutely love Nutrisystems, but the biggest reason is simple: It works, which is exactly why it has so many positive reviews and testimonials.
If you follow the plan that the experts at nutri system have designed, then you should absolutely be able to shed those pesky pounds, and you will be on your way to feeling better than you have in years! Because we love it so much, we have decided to put together our best Nutrisystem review, so you can decide for yourself if their scientifically backed weight loss system is right for you.
The Best Way to Lose Weight?
What You Can Expect When You Sign on With NutriSystem
When you first sign on with Nutrisystem, you will be blown away by their level of customer service and support. Your health and weight loss goals are their number one priority, and they provide everything you need to get the best body of your life.
The folks at Nutrisytem basically created their meal plan around three simple principles:
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- Proper Portion Size: If you are eating giant meals all day long, you just aren’t going to lose weight, and that’s the bottom line. With NS meals, you are given access to food that tastes great, is filling, but is also perfectly proportioned so can be confident that you aren’t overeating.
- Nutritionally Balanced: Getting the proper nutrients is essential to maintaining your overall health, which is why NS is dedicated to making sure their foods are providing you nutrient-rich food that will help you maintain your strength, keep your mind focused, and your stomach full – we like to call that the triple threat!
- 6 Meals a Day: Eating three massive meals everyday is one thing that can torpedo your diet real quick. We’ve all been there – you eat lunch, and then you are so hungry when you get home you eat half a box of wheat thins topped with Tillamook cheese before dinner. We like to call those excess calories “diet killers,” because they can absolutely ruin a day of balanced eating real quick! With Nutrisystems you eat six balanced meals per day, so you can stay fully fueled all day long, and you won’t get those insane cravings that can keep the weight piling on. This system is backed by years of research, that has proven that eating smaller meals more frequently will help you lose more weight, and keep it off long term, which should be the real goal of any diet plan.
These three factors are pretty much the core behind the NS plan, but they also take additional steps to ensure that you are eating and living healthy. For starters, all of their foods are completely preservative free, so you don’t have to worry about putting strange chemicals into your body. If you haven’t read about the dangers of preservatives recently, we recommend it – this will make you happy that NS took the effort to keep them out of your food.
One thing that I was worried about when I first signed up was “would the food taste good, and am I only eating things that come in a box?” These are valid questions to ask when you first learn about their system. It is true that many of the meals that you will be eating are pre-packaged, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be visiting your local grocery story any longer. Of course part of their healthy eating system includes fresh fruit and vegetables, so you will be mixing these into your diet often. And even though many of their foods are packaged, I found that this made my meal planning much more convenient. For breakfast I really enjoy their shakes, and then all of their snacks are filling and tasty (the Honey Mustard Pretzel Bits and the Carrot Cake Whoopie Pie are two of my favorites!) so you will avoid those terrible hypoglycemic feelings that can often accompany an empty stomach.
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Nutrisystem Core Goes
It is also evident that the four main diet plans are being reduced to three, with the depreciation of the Core Plan, which is no longer being featured on the official Nutrisystem website. This leaves the Basic Plan, the Uniquely Yours Plan and the new Uniquely Yours Ultimate Plan available.
Let’s get back to what is available and what you can focus on to get you started and on the road to some easy and convenient weight loss:
With a whopping 130 menu choices of chef created meals already available, there is every reason to ensure you get the food you want to eat when you customize your menu. This is especially evident when you opt for the Uniquely Yours or the newly branded Uniquely Yours Ultimate plans that comprise fresh frozen meals of superior quality.
For example, the new chicken marsala, mac and cheese and cheesesteak pizza meals are all available right now to select as part of your personalized menu from the top plans.
If you thought dieting was boring, what about their lunch choices of plain hamburger, grilled chicken sandwich, pepperoni pizza melt or double chocolate caramel bar for revving up the desirability factor? Or how about the dinner choices such as the Italian sausage and turkey pepperoni pizza, artichoke and spinach stuffed chicken breast or the margherita pizza?
It just goes to show that just because you’re putting yourself on a diet it doesn’t mean you have to go without exciting and tasty food!
Breakdown of the Diet Plans
As of now, there are only three main diet plans for men and for women as well as the diabetic plans (Nutrisystem D). I will take each plan and explain what you can expect to get from each:
Basic Plan
This is the lowest cost of all the plans. It provides the customer with access to a wide range of processed, packeted meals that are easy and fast to have on the table and ready to eat. The meals comprise three main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) along with one snack bar for women (two snack bars for men) and protein shakes to consume between meals as required.
This plan is often chosen as an introduction to the Nutrisystem diet program by people looking to lose weight as easily and conveniently as possible while also keeping costs way down.
Uniquely Yours Plan
This plan is the premium one with a wider menu that includes a range of fresh frozen meals of higher quality and greater variation than those available in the Basic plan. You get access to over 130 menu items to choose from with complete menu freedom to choose what you eat.
Again, there are the three main meals plus snacks and shakes and the menu is fully customizable to cater for the individual preferences of the customer.
It also comes with access to Nutrisystem’s own qualified nutritionists and counselors that can help you maximize your diet and achieve the greatest level of weight loss by following their advice.
Uniquely Yours Ultimate Plan
This is a relatively new plan that is similar to the Uniquely Yours as far as meals are concerned (over 160 menu items including unlimited fresh frozen meal choices) with the additional benefit of Probiotic Shakes each day to further boost your body’s fat burning capability.
You also get an additional evening snack to round off your day and never feel hungry while on the diet.
Nutrisystem D
There are plans designed especially for diabetics and those suffering with pre-diabetes as Nutrisystem fully recognize that many overweight and obese customers may suffer from these conditions. Currently the Nutrisystem D plans are arranged as Basic, Core and Uniquely Yours with similar meal variations that mimic the main plans.
According to the official website, Nutrisystem D enables diabetic customers to lose weight and manage their type 2 diabetes by lowering their A1C by an average 1.02%.
Diabetes Basic Plan
This, like its regular counterpart plan is the lowest cost of the three Nutrisystem D plans. The menu is made up of processed meals that are quick and easy to prepare and serve along with between meal snacks to help maintain blood sugar levels and avoid spikes.
It also includes the option of having Flex meals (as mentioned above) to break up the week and provide you with the chance to create your own meals or visit a restaurant with friends or family.
Diabetes Core Plan
This plan comprises a larger menu selection than Basic with the option to customize your meal choices to suit your tastes. Costing slightly more than the Basic plan, this is the choice of many customers looking for a more flexible menu with access to the company’s own nutritionists and counselors.
Diabetes Uniquely Yours Plan
Like the regular version, the Uniquely Yours plan for diabetics is made up from a wide selection of over 160 fresh frozen meals specially created for those with diabetes or pre-diabetes. This is the highest cost of the plans but that cost is offset by having access to the best quality meals and the backup of nutritionists and counselors provided by the company to help you achieve your goals.
You can customize your menu to include the meals you prefer that are designed to help you avoid sugar spikes by making use of low GI (Glycemic Index) foods.
How Long Does the Nutrisystem Diet Last?
When you order direct from the official company website (or by phone direct to customer service) you will receive a full 28-day package of meals delivered to your home address. The package includes everything you need to get started losing weight.
When you approach the end of your first month, you can choose to order a second month’s supply of meals or if you opted for auto-delivery, the next month’s package will be shipped to you in time to continue without a break.
You can choose how long you want to stay on the Nutrisystem diet for. Some people have stayed with the diet for several months and in that time lost a substantial amount of weight
What Makes the Meals so Healthy?
The NS team has gone to great lengths to ensure that their meals are beyond nutritionally balanced, like we mentioned above. They have all of the proper proportions of protein, carbs, fiber, fat, and sodium, so you’re putting high quality foods into your system all day long, which made me feel much more comfortable when deciding to take “Nutri-Plunge.” In addition to be healthy, I really thought that all of the meals and snacks were pretty tasty. There weren’t too many that I dreaded eating or anything like that, and in fact I found most them quite tasty and satisfying. That doesn’t mean that I don’t still crave a double bacon cheeseburger or giant piece of cheese cake from time to time, but in most cases the desserts did a good job of keeping my sweet tooth at bay, and if you haven’t seen their menu yet, they offer burgers, sloppy joes, and even a meatloaf sandwich (one of my all time favs!)!
My Results and Why I FULLY Recommend It
When I finally decided to sign on with NS, my health was not in good shape. To be honest, I had been eating and drinking way too much, and in the span of about 5 years I had easily packed on an additional 125 pounds. The crazy thing is that the weight gain really snuck up on me, and I’m not sure if I was just in total denial at the time, but I really didn’t see it coming. I have always been a bigger person overall, and by that I mean both tall and also “rounder” than most. That has been an OK thing for most of life – I generally felt healthy, could keep up with my peers in sports, and really never had a problem getting a girlfriend or anything like that. But, that all changed once I hit my mid-20s. As my friends began settling down and starting families, I kept up the partying and overindulgence of my college days, and as my metabolism slowed I really began to pack on the pounds. Most of this was due to my terrible diet – I considered eating just one quarter pounder with cheese and fries as being healthy at the time, and I was really drinking way too much alcohol around this time. The big wake up call came when I finally decided to visit a primary care doctor. I hadn’t been since my high school days, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the results of the visit came a shock to say the least. In no particular order I found out that I was now tipping the scales at nearly 375 pounds (I hadn’t weighed myself in several years – I think I was too scared to learn the truth), had high blood pressure, my cholesterol was through the rough, and some of the other random indicators on my blood test came back as “abnormal.” My doctor didn’t hold back either: “You need a lifestyle change,” were his exact words and I left his office knowing that something had to change, or my entire future could be in jeopardy.
I spent the next couple of weeks feeling depressed and embarrassed, which I masked by eating and boozing even more. It was the middle of winter, and I was laying on the couch late one night with a bag of Doritos and a cocktail in my lap, when a Nutrisystem commercial came on the TV. The actor on the commercial was talking about how he had lost more than 20 pounds on NS, and for some reason his words stuck with me. “Could it work for me,” I wondered. I’m definitely not one of those people who sits up late at night ordering things from QVC or infomercials, and quite honestly I usually fast forward right through commercials, so it was unusual that this particular commercial happened to be on my TV in the first place, and even more unusual that I was paying it any attention. Whatever the reason, I was hooked. I grabbed my laptop, fired up the internet, and began researching everything I could about the program – how much did it cost, what was the food like, how long did it take to lose weight, and most importantly, DID IT WORK?
Well, what I found convinced me that not only did NS work, but most importantly it would work for me: it was affordable, they make everything easy, tons of people reported great results online, and they guaranteed the weight loss. I signed up on the spot, began receiving my first shipment of meals and snacks just a couple of days later, and the rest is history! So with all of that being said, here are my results:
Starting Weight: 250 lbs.
Ending Weight: 185 lbs.
Current Weight: Hovers between 175 to 185 lbs.
Ups and Downs
Yep, you read that right I lost more than 65 pounds! I was 250 pounds when I finally decided to jump on the NS bandwagon, and my weight was going nowhere but up at that point. I’ll be totally honest too – when that first shipment of meals came and I actually began following the plan, things were not easy. I had become accustomed overeating at every meal, while also eating anything I wanted – McD’s, Pizza Hut, and pretty much any other fast food option for every meal. So when I first began eating portions that were controlled and healthy, it was a bit of a struggle. But, my mind and body gradually began adjusting, and in a short period of time I felt totally satisfied with the Nutrisystem meal plan.
Do You Have to be on Nutrisystem Forever?
I know this was a big question for me when I started, and the short and easy answer is no! It was really reassuring to me that there was an end date, as I didn’t want to have to depend on NS for all of my meals for the rest of my life.
I had a target number for my weight loss when I first signed up, and that was 100 pounds. I wanted to be able to accomplish that in about six months, which is lofty, I know, but heck I had seen enough episodes of the Biggest Loser to know that it was more than possible!
I reached my goal in about 12 months, and this was largely due to their meal plans, but also a huge increase in the amount of exercise I was getting. You don’t have to get a ton of exercise to lose weight on the NS program, but I knew I wanted to become a more healthy person overall, not just lose weight. I made it a point to get a workout in at least 5 days a week, and this included cardio and weightlifting. I started out by running as long as I could without stopping. I think this was only something like 8 minutes the first day I hopped on the treadmill, but I didn’t give up. Each day I was able to run longer and farther, and now I can run an hour or more without stopping, but my usual cardio routine is between 30 and 40 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of some type of weightlifting routine (this involves a lot of body weight routines as well – planks, body squats, etc.).
Once I reached my weight loss goal, I had established a routine for how much I should eat each day, so I was comfortable with stepping back from the full NS program, and decided it was time to enter “maintenance” mode. I really enjoy their snacks and shakes, so I incorporated them into my diet, but the bulk of my meals came from the grocery store once I had reached my final goal.
*This content is sponsored by Nutrisystem.
**The review is based on customer feedback and my extensive research in other weight loss products.
