True Facts about NutriSystem Part 1 (Fundamental Lessons Learned)

Disclaimer:  I'm not a nutritional expert.  I am not a representative of NutriSystem and have not been compensated by them in any way.  I have had success with a this particular program and people have asked me about it and my journey so I figured I'd share a few things.  

True Facts about NutriSystem.  Part 1:  Fundamental Lessons Learned

   4000 words into writing about my journey, I reckoned that it might be better if I broke it into chunks, for easier consumption.  This will serve as a bit of an appetizer, addressing, at a high level, the things I have gleaned from the experience.  For folks who are also interested in the personal journey side of the story, that will be covered in Part 2.  

Almost seven months into this journey and an annoying ½ pound away from my goal of losing 50 pounds, what have I learned about NutriSystem? 

• ·        The program works.  Adherence to the program is key.  There are no “cheat” days.  The program’s success is mathematic.  The packages foods and guides for snacks and flex meals (lunches or dinners made on your own with very specific portions and guidelines) provide enough calories to function in a healthy way but less than a normal body typically uses per day.  Ultimately, all weight loss is about math.  Burn more calories than you take in.  It’s a simple formula.  You don’t have to add work out but you cannot be completely sedentary.  This is a good program to combine with fitbit goals or other step/activity trackers. 
• ·        The food is not great.  Some of it isn’t bad and a there are a few things that are pretty good and I actually really like to eat.  As a foodie (one of the perks of life on the road is you do get a chance to eat some really great food, plus my husband is an excellent chef), it is a difficult sacrifice to eat mediocre food.  The good news is the portions are small so you don’t have to eat a lot of it.  Don't let one nasty tasting option keep you from trying others.  I’ll provide a review of the ones I always order but you pretty much have to figure out what you like or can at least tolerate.  
• ·        Getting the recommended 5 servings of veggies in throughout the day is a saving grace of the program.  You can actually pretty much eat as many non-starchy veggies as you want.  I love vegetables, so this really works for me.  When I am home, I always have celery, carrots, cucumbers, baby peppers and/or cherry tomatoes to snack on throughout the day or add to my official morning or afternoon snacks.  I’m not super inclined to do food prepping but with a mandolin slicer I can slice up 4 large cucumbers in a 5 minutes.  Celery just needs washing and a few chops and it’s ready.  And to be frank, I can get lazy about celery and will buy the already prepped packages at the grocery store.  I’m not proud of this but it keeps me on program.  I also buy the “baby” carrots—all peeled and cut and ready to eat.  I’m not going to chop carrots.  I needed easy.  These are ways to keep it easy.  We also buy a lot of good frozen veggies and steam them for family dinners.  I will use them to supplement NutriSystem dinners and with “flex meals”.   The freedom with veggies is helpful when I’m on the road and have to eat out with clients.  Big salads, no dressing, little or no cheese are my go to meals when I have to eat out on the road. 
• ·        Snacks are essential to your success.  With them, you eat six times a day and you rarely feel deprived or hungry.  Don’t skip the snacks to speed up the weight loss.  You will just get hungry, then hangry and then are more likely to struggle sticking with the program.  For your morning snack, it is recommended that you have what they call a power fuel.  Power fuels are things like their TurboShake, a serving of fat-free yogurt or cottage cheese, a stick of fat-free string cheese, a boiled egg, or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter or guacamole or hummus, or two tablespoons of almonds, pecans and other tree nuts.  When I travel I make snack bags of almonds and pecans.  In a pinch, it’s not too hard to find snack sized bags of nuts at convenience stores or in airports, though sometimes you have to save half the bag for later.  At home I usually combine a power fuel like peanut butter, guacamole, hummus, or cottage cheese with celery, carrots, cucumbers and/or peppers.  They make very satisfying snacks.  Afternoon snacks are supposed to be made up of a power fuel and a smart carb.  Fruits fall into the smart carb category, as well as some grains and breads.  On the road, I don’t always get my smart carb, but the power fuel of nuts carries me through until dinner.  At home, I like to combine a TurboShake with fresh or frozen fruit.  It’s really yummy and almost feels like something as decadent as a milkshake.   Almost.
• ·        Portions are important.  This process was a huge reminder to me as to what healthy portions look like.  We all know nuts are supposed to be healthy but learning what two tablespoons looks like and sticking to that is an important lesson.  It has been an important refresher to my thought about healthy foods.  Just because something is good for you, it does not mean you can eat as much as you want of it or that it counters less healthy choices.  I’m looking at you guacamole and hummus.  I love them but a serving of guac is 2 tablespoons, not 2 cups and all the chips you can use to accompany it.  I still eat guacamole, but in proper portions and pair it with celery, carrots or cucumbers.  It’s a great power fuel.  One day I’ll eat chips again, but only enough to get through 2 tablespoons of guac, and not until the bowl is empty.  The other significant place portions come into play is with proteins in general.  I love steak, and my husband, a devout meatatarian, loves to make it.  His steaks are the best in town, possibly the state.  So for my flex meals, I will have some of his wonderfully prepared steaks, cut in half, because a real portion is only 3 ounces not 6 or 8, and I save the other half to put in a salad for lunch or dinner the next day.  When I’m on the road and order a salad with chicken or steak, I only eat 3 ounces of it and leave the rest.  It’s not easy, especially when it’s delicious but it’s been important to me in retraining myself to pay attention to what a real portion looks like.
• ·        Alcohol is not recommended with the program.  However, I looked at the ingredients in all of the sweet NutriSystem packaged snacks intended for your evening snacks and the calories, total carbs (and net carbs), sugars and other ingredients showed nothing that suggested they were better for you than a glass of wine or beer (or cider, in my case).  I’m not saying imbibe to heart’s content, but occasional substituting your program snack with one normal glass of wine or a beer isn’t going to wreck you or your diet plan.  I don’t recommend having both the snack or the wine, unless you’ve been burning a heck of a lot of extra calories that day. 
• ·        You can cut yourself some slack and enjoy special occasions when they arise.  However, don’t lose your mind.  Make smart choices.  Take smaller portions, enough to get a taste of deliciousness but without blowing all your hard work. 
• ·        The NutriSystem program offers online tools and apps and even hardcopy journals for tracking intake and choices.  I didn’t use them except to occasionally report my weight and measurements.  They are good tools, and could be very helpful to someone who is motivated by that sort of information.  I have been pretty religious about sticking to program and didn’t want one more task to obsess about. 
• ·        This is not a fast fix.  You drop a bit quickly in the beginning because the change in diet can be dramatic, and water and whatnot is lost early.  But your body level sets and that’s okay.  The slow and steady process makes it possible to reset your head as well as your body.  You have time to get used to making different, healthier choices.  You have time to learn what portions look like.  You have time to appreciate the little and big changes in your body.  You have time to learn new ways of preparing favorites and how to eat at a buffet.  You have time to get rid of the clothes you shrink out of so that you are more motivated to keep progressing and maintain your weight once you reach your goals.