Diet: Considering nutrisystem, any recs welcome.

I have been contemplating once again dieting. I am 5' 9" and weigh about 220 lbs. Ideally I would like to get to 175 but would settle for 185.

I'm looking for advice on the Nutrisystem diet plan. Currently they are running a - buy 4 weeks get the 5th free. My concern is that they won't taste any better than the crap I can buy in the frozen food isle at the local grocery. They say their system keys on glycemic index so I would assume if I bought some of the South Beach frozen foods I'd be getting the same.

Much to my amazement, I think the government did a great job with their website on nutrition and exercise, www.mypyramid.gov. Totally free (except to the taxpayers) it has great customizable charts and interactive features that allow you make your own program for diet and exercise.

I found the advice to be based on current science and presented in a practical way. For example, 30 minutes most days of exercise to maintain health, sixty to prevent getting fat as you age, sixty to ninety for weight loss. For food, basically make sure you get all needed nutrients from different food groups while taking in 500 calories a day less than you burn.

Not really what you asked about, but I thought you might find it helpful.

Forgot to mention that the Nutrisystem food is actually pretty good, but I am hungry a lot. They have a pancake mix that makes two large pancakes and they are really delicious -- I use sugarfree syrup. Just be warned that "dessert" is a loosely used term -- some of their desserts are chips -- sort of like flavored rice cakes -- better than rice cakes, but, if you're expecting chocolate everday like the television ad suggests, you have to specify that's what you want.

I'm with you. Atkins works. Just don't eat bread, potatos, rice and pasta....you'll be amazed how much fat you begin to burn just sitting around doing nothing. I lost 50lbs and my doctor could not believe the improvement in my blood work.

It was also mentioned that packaged foods were another culprit...so true. Full of sugar, fillers, and nothing nutritious. Eat fresh foods! If you like sweat....exercise. If not, on Atkins you'll still lose anyway....in spite of yourself.

I've lost 47 lbs by eating between 1200-1500 calories a day, with restricted carbs (seldom more than 100 cals of a carby food at a time, except at dinner time, and then about 200), with lean meats, lots of veggies, salmon at least twice a week, non-fat yogurt, at least 1 cup's worth every day, small amounts of walnuts, a good bit of soy. Journal everything down, see what foods might trigger the munchies, and avoid them. Be honest. It's a lot like the South Beach diet. I tweak it from time to time, suplement with calcium and a multivitamin and several herbal supplements. I walk a lot.

I appreciate all your advice. I posted this last night and then went to bed, didn't expect so many replies. Things I didn't include were: I am already active, run 3 to 5 miles a day but since turning 50 and have had a couple illnesses I have gained the weight. I find it comes on quickly for me when I'm not active. I'm an RN and watch what others eat and I don't find my intake or portions out of line with what I see others of all weights eating. I never up size meals and often even leave unfinished portions on my plate. Due to work I do tend to eat out daily with my wife but I don't find her (petite 5' 0" 110 lbs) eating that much less than me.

I have tried Atkins, wasn't able to stick with it. When I went on it hardcore, I found I couldn't run two blocks without feeling like I would fall over from lack of energy. I have tried weight watchers but didn't give it a serious attempt. Was wondering how good the food was on nutrisystem because part of my logic was that if I pay a lot (not too much but enough) I'll have more incentive to follow through with it. But frankly my wife and I eat out quite often and that will make it harder to use the nutrisystem because they will ship me 5 weeks of meals. Interestingly I didn't think it was too much money, they said I'd get 5 full weeks of meals, three a day, for $326.51 which makes the per meal cost $3.11. I know with all the eating out we do it costs me more than this to eat out.

Maybe I'll try Atkins again, just not as hard core, but I'm going to look at a couple of the sites recommended and maybe make some modifications to Atkins to make it more palatable. My biggest problem is my sweet tooth but I'll try to over come that.

Again, Thanks to all for your advice and I'll keep checking back to see if some new advice appears.

Well, considering all the advice, I chose to just lower my carb intake and try to keep it healthy (fewer processed foods, lower heavy fats, more chicken and fish and cut out potatoes and sugar). So far I've dropped about 10 to 12 lbs slowly and I've got my running up to where I'm able to cover 5 miles without much difficulty. I'm trying not to let the diet be the focus of everything and if I have a bad day I don't let it ruin my plans to continue in the long run. Does that sound sensible?

Thanks for asking. :)

I'm also looking into it and from a cost point of view it looks to be about what I would spend on groceries anyway. Giver or take $50. Yea they might be cardboard tasting so it would be great to get a sample entree. Being diabetic the low gycimic foods would be helpful. I have been trying to do that myself. Atkins is a little harsh on blood sugar..falls to fast. South Beach seem good.

The Nutisystems advantage seems to be it all there for you..they ship a big supply so you don't run out....Their food does not require refrigeration so it easier to store.

Also with every thing premeasured you get a fixed calorie count. (this is the secret to Jerrod and subways, he ate the same thing nearly everyday and had a mile walk to and from the shop.)

You can go to the store stock up on pre packaged South beach, Lean Cuisine, or Weight Watchers and try that. I find I have to make sure I get to the store on time to keep stocked up. If you can commit to doing that it will work. My trouble is having cravings for carbs in the late afternoon.

Tell your decision...I am on the fence too.

After asking others their opinions, I decided to try it on my own. I've been able to do okay without buying the Nutrisystem foods. I did ckeck it for price and agree that it isn't too much different than what I'd pay for food over that same period. Found it to average around $3 per meal. But, two problems for me. One is that I work near my wife and as a break from the daily work grind I like to lunch with her and that makes lunch a problem unless I want to take the meals with me. Second was that from my discussions with the operator at Nutrisystems I was going to be put on a 1500 calorie a day diet and I felt that might be too harsh and I might be prompted to suplement or just be so tired from lack of calories that I'd lose interest and drop it. One thing I checked was e-bay, they had a bunch of people selling the Nutrisystem foods there some of them with only a couple meals missing. So I decided that they may have lost interest too possibly because it was too severe.

I picked up some of the packaged frozen fish and packaged frozen chicken white meat chicken strips (both without breading) from BJs and lettuce, grape tomatoes, dressing, head lettuce and cottage cheese or crumbled blue cheese and many of my dinners are a mix of these in a salad. I skip any deserts and no snaks, just a small glass of skim milk before bed and I've been doing okay on that.

Tell your decision...I am on the fence too. If you notice the start of the post is older and so what I wrote above is what I decided to do. I'm still on the cheap side so I couldn't part with the couple hundred that the 5 weeks of Nutrisystem cost and I wasn't sure a 1500 cal a day diet would be enough to satisfy me. Good luck on what you decide.

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