For someone who has plenty of available free time and reasonable skills in the kitchen department, working on a regular diet should not be a problem and a reasonable level of success can be expected as long as it is adhered to.
However, for people who work long hours and have little spare time to give over to that kind of a regular diet, alternatives exist in home delivered diets.
In this article, we take a closer look at one such convenient diet provider, Nutrisystem.
Nutrisystem advertise themselves as being America's number one diet food delivery program and they certainly have a long established base to backup that claim.
Originally started up in the 1970s with read stores where you could go and buy their diet meals, they moved to mail order and then to their current Internet base for ordering, planning and obtaining support and professional diet counselling.
They have developed several specific diet menus tailored to certain target groups which makes them very popular. They also have a relatively high success rate, which further adds to their good reputation.
What is Nutrisystem?
The popular meal replacement diet delivery company provides its customers with ready made meals that are nutritionally balanced, low in calories and replace your three main meals of the day.
The diet also ships with two small snacks that you can eat between your meals to stave off hunger and to help you stick to the plan without feeling the need to reach for the high calorie snacks.
The idea behind it is that you do not need to go to the store to buy food if you don't want to, although there are some recommendations that Nutrisystem make of foods that you can buy to add bulk to their meals without adding any appreciable load of calories. The additional food is not mandatory, so it's up to the customer to choose whether they get them or not.
There is no cooking involved with the meals, so you don't need any special knowledge of how to cook to use this diet. In fact, there is very little you need to do apart from know how to use your microwave to heat up the hot meals, and how to use a knife and fork to eat it with!
The whole system is designed to make dieting as simple as possible while taking up as little of your free time as possible. You can take the lunches to work with you, or of you work shifts, the main meals are easily heated in any microwave if you have access to one at your workplace.
So what is the catch?
Reviewing the Diet Program (Pros and Cons)
Well, there is no actual catch to this diet, although there are a few minus as well as plus points that prospective customers should be aware of.
There are many external websites that take a look at Nutrisystem that omit to tell you about some of this stuff, so we think it is important to include as much as possible so you get a balanced, unbiased report, such as you can find in this review article of Nutrisystem here.
Be aware that while the company often advertises some very attractive offers of money off or weeks of free food, these offers are on the premise that you opt for the auto delivery. That means after your first month is up, a second month of food will be delivered and you will be billed for it.
If you cancel, you will be liable to be billed for shipping as free shipping is also dependent on you opting for auto renewal. For most people, this is not a problem because it is normal to extend your diet for two or three months or even longer with the emphasis on losing weight at a measured pace.
What Does Nutrisystem Cost?
The cost is sometimes seen as a minus point, since you have to pay for a whole month supply of meals at once. Of course this can be offset by using a credit card and spreading the cost over time. Prices start from as little as under $9 per day for the basic plans, rising to around $12 a day for the top plan (Select).
However, when you work it out after deducting what you would normally spend on all your food for a month, you end up with a fairly cheap diet. Some people find they actually spend more on the junk food that made them fat in the first place than what the diet meals end up costing them!
What Are the Meals Like?
The meals are fairly small in size, which surprises some people when they set them down in front of them at the table. This is by design, because you have to remember that you are on a diet to lose weight, not to eat yourself into oblivion!
Meals are varied (breakfast, lunch and dinner that includes a dessert) and it's best to visit the official Nutrisystem website to see the menus for yourself. You need to train your body to get used to eating smaller meals so that when you complete the diet, you don't go and put back all the weight you lost by returning to old, bad eating habits.
What Else?
Some people report elevated levels of flatulence in the first weeks of the diet. This is usually down to your body getting used to the change in diet, although if symptoms persist, you might want to check with your doctor.
Other than that, the food is of reasonable quality, although do not expect gourmet meals. Some meals are processed, some freeze dried and some (in the Select Plan) are fresh frozen.
Be prepared for some meals not looking as good they do in the glossy ads. Most food producers advertise great looking meals in their poster pictures, but when you get them they never look as great. This is no different!
Lastly and of great importance to bear in mind: the onus to lose weight by sticking to the diet is on you, the dieter and not the company. Remember that.
Only you can lose the weight that you put on in the first place. So it's up to you to make sure you stick with the diet and not cheat. Finally, have a good diet and be successful, because you really can with this diet!