Nutrisystem Stories: Success or Failure? (overweight, doctors, stomach, diabetic)

[gr8doglove]

Originally Posted by dogpaw

I too am one of those people that wasted their money on nutrisystem. A couple of dishes were so so, most were pretty bad, there were some that even my dog wouldn't eat. I've heard a lot of good things about weight watchers, at least you can eat real food with them.

A friend of mine was on it years ago and he lost the weight then gained it all back. Unless your going to do nutrisystem for the rest of your life, which I doubt, then you need to learn how to do portion control with real food that taste good.

Good luck!

I've never done Nutrisystem because I don't want to eat frozen meals that come out of cardboard box. It isn't a realistic way to live. Besides, those Marie Osmond commercials make me sick....lol

I like the Weight Watchers program. With WW, you learn how to eat (both at home and in resturaunts), portion control and you get lots and lots of moral support. There is a lot of psychology that goes into the booklets they give you. If you work the program, it will work for you! (That sounds so AAish) LOL...but it's true.

[nailahamid]

just place my order today and will be getting in a few days, i need to l00s3 20 pounds and am really excited about it, I ready many stories about people being happy and unhappy with this plan, but I know I will do fine, these days I am on Atkins, and have not seen any change in my body yet, but hope full that I will loose some, I need to loose 20 pounds in 2 months for my wedding
wish me luch

[Luckyd609]

Originally Posted by nailahamid

just place my order today and will be getting in a few days, i need to l00s3 20 pounds and am really excited about it, I ready many stories about people being happy and unhappy with this plan, but I know I will do fine, these days I am on Atkins, and have not seen any change in my body yet, but hope full that I will loose some, I need to loose 20 pounds in 2 months for my wedding
wish me luch

20 pounds in 2 months is unrealistic. You have just set yourself up for a giant failure. You did not gain it that fast, it is not going to come off that fast. Well it might if you want to starve yourself and be really unhealthy and then watch it come back and bring friends.
You can expect to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week if you want to be healthy. Some weeks you may lose a little more and some weeks you may lose a little less. Be sure you exercise that will definitely help. And be happy about how wonderful your wedding day is going to be regardless of how much you weigh.

[McBain II]

I wouldn't say it's unrealistic, but it would not be easy. That's only 2.5 pounds a week, which can be done if exercise is included.

[tigerlillydownunder]

No Nutrisystem suuccess story from me. I did it, 3 times (I am obviously a glutton for punishment). The first time was the "normal" program, the second the vegetarian, and the third the normal again. I knew a few people who were on it and doing well (at the time.....they ALL regained what they lost and more, one guy is now about 70lbs heavier--maybe more--than when he started out.) and I of course grabbed onto their "success" and went into it head first. Even the second and third attempt I convinced myself I just wasn't trying hard enough, I just wasn't doing it right. It wasn't until my mom tried to get me to do it a fourth time that I told her 'it just doesn't do it for me' ( as in, it's just not my thing). Then I had an 'aha! moment' and realized that of course, it never had been. I do not personally know anyone who has been long term successful, and although I'm sure there are probably some out there who swear by it, I myself cannot endorse this program. I feel weight watchers is far superior, if youre into that mass appeal approach.

The NS food was mostly dreadful, IMO, and the few things that were palatable weren't really all that satisfying. I think it's not unlike programs that revolve around shakes and meal replacements in that it doesn't teach you a dang thing about nutrition, portion sizes, quality over quantity, how your body reacts to certain foods, listening to your natural internal cues etc. It's just, here tear this open and eat it!

I feel the same about Jenny Craig (which I've done previously), Light n Easy (sort of an Australian version of NutriSystem, also done previously).

[springfieldva]

As others have mentioned, you could probably go to the frozen food aisle at the grocery store and create your own NS type plan. Just make sure the frozen dinners you pick are low on the glycemic index and maybe pick up a box of low sugar protein bars and a box of low sugar/high fiber cereal and/or Quaker oats and measure your portions....

Plans like NS are nice because the meal planning/prep/portion control is done for you.

Personally, I prefer eating as fresh as possible - lots of veggies. Ex: Tonight I'm having baked eggplant with a homemade tomato basil sauce. Yum.

[old_cold]

It works great for my brother......every time he goes on it.....which is about every 4 years.
Then he reverts back to his usual way of eating until he's fat enough to do it again.
I asked him why he didn't just make his own diet meals, since he is,by now, quite familiar with them and he admitted he was too lazy, would cheat on the content or sizes.
Yes, he keeps two wardrobes.

[jade408]

I don't understand these plans at all. Because there is no contingency plan when you stop getting the pre-made food. I am a firm believer of making your own food, and learning how to make good choices, so you have a sustainable lifestyle.

[tigerlillydownunder]

Originally Posted by jade408

I don't understand these plans at all. Because there is no contingency plan when you stop getting the pre-made food. I am a firm believer of making your own food, and learning how to make good choices, so you have a sustainable lifestyle.

Well that's part of the problem--in our race to create the easiest most efficient ways to do EVERYTHNG we've begun to remove common sense and reasonable thought processes. Now, if you can't just grab it and eat it on the go, it's "too hard, too time consuming". If you can't just stick it in the microwave, it's "too inconvenient". Basically were advancing ourselves right back to square one, if you think about it.

Don't get me wrong, I still partake of 'convenience' type food-stuffs, although rarely because I can't really find convenience foods that cater to my seriously restricted dietary situationm but thats a different discussion, so um......oh yeah, they can be very handy, but they're only meant to be an occasional stop gap, not a way of life.

I shudder to think of how a lot of people will survive if/when we no longer have any gas or electricity to power cooktops, microwaveS and ovens, or worse, all the pre-packaged foods run out and there is no way to make more. . Me and my family will be fine, because we know how to live off the land, but a lot of people are going to lose their Collective sheet when it's every man for themselves! Don't come crying to me when you're out of NutriSystem/Jenny Craig crap, because all I'm gonna do is hand you some sort of hunting/fishing paraphernalia and tell you to stay down wind if you want dinner. Hahaha

[jade408]

I try to opt out of the industrial food system as much as possible. But I would be sol if I needed to "live of the land"