Nutrisystem

[tiptup]

Has anybody tried nutrisystem and been successful with it? I need to lose 50 pounds and I need to learn portion control. I think this would be the nutrisystem plan would be the best for me. I do plan on eating healthy and controlling my portions after I get off the diet. I am afraid though that I will spend all that money and not lose any weight. Not even short term.

[Tony T]

Most of the people who do Nutri-System or any of the other plans which sell meal replacements gain the weight back rather quickly. Yeah, they all vow to change their ways but they never do.

 

The ONLY plan that seems to work forever is weight watchers. You'll learn portion control from DAY ONE but you'll need to eat that way for the rest of your life. In addition, you'll have to start an exercise program to be very certain you burn off the extra calories you consume later on.

 

The success of ANY diet in the universe is up to you. You have to burn more calories than you take it. Spending an ungodly amount of money on the nasty tasting food at Nutri-System or other plans is crazy when you can eat what you want from the start. You just have to consumer less calories than you burn.

 

If you don't do weight watchers, which you can do online if you like but better in a group, do another plan that let's you learn how to eat properly from the start. Don't waste your money otherwise.

[tiptup]

Thank you Tony. I would join weight watchers but they don't have a place near me. I don't know if an online program would work for me. I will look into it though.

[Enema]

The thing about losing weight is that it has to be a permanent lifestyle change.

 

If you go into it with a mentality of, "It's going to be hell for a few months, but then I'll have lost the weight and I can stop". You've already failed.

 

You know what you have to do. Eat better food, smaller portions more often and above all: exercise.

[tiptup]

Thank you enema. I do plan to make a complete lifestyle change. I want to eat healthy. I just need a point to start from. I need to train my body about what to eat, and I need to learn what is really healthy or not. I know I can eat all the fruits and veggies I want, but I can't just live on that alone. I was raised on fattening foods. Also I have looked into the Weight Watchers thing and it turns out I was wrong. There is a meeting near where I live. It is also much cheaper than nutrisystem, so I will try that first.

[PWSX3]

I have lost 55 pounds since Sept. of last year & it started with the separation diet. When the W moved out I lost some because of what was going on but then I decided to work on it since I had lost 10 pounds. :laugh:

 

I don't see that diets of anykind work, just like Tony said you have to burn more then you eat. What has helped me is use a smaller plate when you eat & I also eat 5 times a day and two of those meals are fruits & veggie snacks.

 

I haven't cut out everything I used to eat, I still have my pizza but instead of eating a small pizza I will only eat two pieces. I feel if you cut out the foods you like then it will drive you crazy.

 

I still like my hamburgers & fries but instead of eating out we will cook them at home with a better quality of meat & bake the fries in the toaster oven instead of deep frying them.

 

After six months of not eating fast food & you happen to eat some you will see it tastes pretty bad.....

 

Just do little things to start out, change the white foods to brown such as bread, rice, etc. If you eat something that you know isn't good for you, try & cut back to maybe only once a month.

 

If you have snack type foods in the house get rid of them, don't buy them. It is a lot easier when the junk is not a temptation in the house.

 

I still treat myself to ice cream once in a while because I LOVE ice cream but just do a small portion & believe me that small portion tastes better then it ever did before because now it is a treat not just something else to eat.

 

I'm still working on the what is good for you stuff as well but just cutting back has helped a lot.

[erika2610]

Thank you enema. I do plan to make a complete lifestyle change. I want to eat healthy. I just need a point to start from. I need to train my body about what to eat, and I need to learn what is really healthy or not. I know I can eat all the fruits and veggies I want, but I can't just live on that alone. I was raised on fattening foods. Also I have looked into the Weight Watchers thing and it turns out I was wrong. There is a meeting near where I live. It is also much cheaper than nutrisystem, so I will try that first.

 

 

Good luck on Weight Watchers! I need to lose around the same as you, and I have considered them. My mother was on WW, and loved it! I hear such good things. I actually have a Woman's Day mag here with Jenny McCarthy on the cover, as she did WW. She has a sample menu in there - I couldn't believe it. It didn't actually seem like a "diet diet". It's all about portion control with them. If you do go, lemme know how it goes!

[IWALH]

My mom has been doing nutri-system for a few months and has lost a significant amount of weight!! She is now weaning off of it and starting to eat "regular" food again but is still keeping the weight off. She really enjoys/enjoyed nutri-system!!

[StayClose]

My wife has done Nutrasystem a couple of times, most recently last year. She does lose wieght, but after couple of months she is sick of the food.

 

We're eating healthier now, but she still feels "entitled" to an extra meal after 9 pm, and as a result never drops below a certain weight.

[I love hot men.]

If you can afford it, I would try it. I lost 22 pounds last fall and went from a size 10 to a size 6 and have kept it off. I did my own eating and exercise program, however. I love it when people tell me how great I look and many even tell me I need to put on a few pounds. LOL

I think in your case 50 pounds is a significant amount of weight to lose and a structured program like nutrisystem would work well because you're spending all the money for the food, so you'll be more motivated to stay on the program.

I have been watching the Jenny Craig commercials and Valerie Bertinelli has lost 22 pounds in a few weeks, also.

Good luck, I'd go for it if I were you. Once you have lost the weight, the feeling of being at the size you want to be at is motivating to keep up eating healthily and exercising and keeping the weight off. When I started losing 3 pounds a week, that was really motivating for me to keep going.

[JamesM]

My wife also did Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, and Jenny Craig. All of them worked, but none of them worked. She has lost weight and looked great many, many times in her life. She could tell you the pluses and minuses of almost every diet. But none have been permanently successful because none have stuck as a natural life change.

 

It comes down to what Tony said. Any diet like that will work temporarily because you are changing your diet. But as most people do, when you lose the weight, the tendency is that you feel "safe" in returning to your old ways.

 

Personally, I have lost 30# in three months using weight watcher meals, carrots for snacks, and all sorts of healthy snacks and shakes. I also exercised faithfully. But after I lost the weight, I assumed I had lost it forever. Yeah right. I gained it back and more. Another time, I also did a radical diet change...with the same results.

 

In January of this year, I simply looked at every part of what I ate, and slowly made changes. First, I have had Protein shakes for breakfast a long time now. This is good for me. I do have cookies with coffee though...that stays. And my lunch is whatever, but the big thing was to drop my midnight snack...three cookies and milk. ( I now have a small protein shake or some cheese...I find that protein in small portions fills much better than carbs and sugars in larger portions. Less food, less calories). Rather than change everything I eat, I simply look at everything and decide if this is good or not. When I choose what to eat for my meals, I choose mainly proteins. I stay away from pastas. I have now lost 20# in six months. Yes, less has been lost, but I have no feeling like I am missing anything or making any big changes that I can't handle. Now I am rejoining the health club since time now permits. But I am going month by month so that I do not feel pressured, but I know that it is up to me every month to decide...do I enjoy this? If it does not fit my schedule, I will drop it...knowing that I can begin again with no money lost.

 

Although 50# is more than 30# or 20#, I think after watching my wife and I diet, the biggest reason people fail is that they choose a diet because it will make them lose weight, but they do not choose a diet that tastes good for life. Choosing radical diets that sound good and give a lot of hope may be motivating in the short term, but in the long term when the weight is lost and the diet gets boring...the tendency is to begin slowly reverting back to the usual diet (one cookie won't hurt). But making gradual changes that produce slower results will have a much greater chance of surviving for life. Then the habits are changed, and it does not feel like we had to give up anything.

 

Anything you choose...ask yourself: do I enjoy eating this? If the answer is no, then this diet will not be successful in the long term. So, maybe going to Weight Watchers will motivate you, but the success depends on if you ENJOY your diet.

 

And one last thing...why do you eat? Crazy as this sounds, to me food is food and nothing more. I eat because I am hungry. And truthfully, if I never got hungry, I probably would not eat. Some people eat because food fills a void...emotional mainly. My wife loves food. She likes the taste and it fills some void...so she says. She is the kind that likes her food described to her...you know, "the steak was browned or sauteed or whatever they tell you and topped with such and such a sauce dipped in garlic...blah, blah." Me...just give it to me, I am hungry. So, my motive to eat is nothing more than to fill my stomach. One exception is my coffee time with cookies....for some reason that and a magazine is relaxing.

 

Success will result from gradual change that can last and answering why you eat so that you can fill that void with some other activity. Radically changing your diet to fruits and vegetables because it is "right" will not last unless you love this diet more than your usual diet. Adding some fruits and vegetables to replace an unhealthy snack will work if it then becomes your usual.

 

Good "luck!" You can do it...if you change for life.

[Vintage106]

Hi there,

 

I was going to do N.S. but it is wayyyy to expensive. I've been on a 1200 calorie a day diet for 3 weeks now and I've lost 10lbs. What I've been doing for portion control is eating frozen dinners. You don't have to do it forever, just long enough to shrink your stomach. I'm starting to eat regular, home made food again, but I have been getting fuller a lot faster. So that's good. I love eating Lean Cuisine's panini sandwiches! They're very tastey and they fill you up. If you like fruits and veggies, I would suggest filling up on those, too!

 

If you want to eat out, go to http://www.calorieking.com and type in where you are eating and it will give you a list of the menu items and the calories. It's been such a life saver for me! I also do this 10 minute workout that gets my heart pumping. I have really bad feet and this work out has made them TONS stronger! I am able to walk longer now. You can email me ([email protected]) and I will tell you what to do. It's a little too long to explain on here. lol. It's super easy, though!