I’m on week, uhmmm, eight with Nutrisystem and now I’m in a rhythm and don’t pay much attention to the program. I get up, prepare one of their breakfasts, supplement with a PowerFuel, grab something for my 10am snack (a PowerFuel and a SmartCarb, I like combos like a yogurt and apple, or cheese stick and banana, though sometimes I’ll plan ahead and allocate “milk” as a SmartCarb and then have it in my morning coffee).
There are diets that revolve around preparing complex foods and balancing amino acids, aiming for spice levels based on blood type and other approaches that, quite frankly, are a lotta work. Nutrisystem is great for people like me, however, busy folk who already have more on their plate than they can handle some days. The last thing I want to do is wake up early to start cooking up my stew for the day or similar. Instead, the NS approach is boxes and conveniently portioned foods.
This morning, for example, I grabbed a Canadian-style Turkey Bacon, Egg and Cheese breakfast sandwich and a handful of blueberries for breakfast:
Doesn’t that look tasty? It’s not huge, but honestly, I think that an Egg McMuffin from McDonald’s is the same size. The difference is that the NS version is healthy and has 150 calories. The McMuffin has almost 300 calories. Cutting down calories from the get-go is the smart way to go through the day if you’re seeking to become slimmer, of course, and 150 calories is a lot, particularly when you get to lunch and dinner items.
Did you realize that a McDonald’s Big Mac has 540 calories, and that the large fries you grab with it adds another 510 calories? Boom, over 1000 calories and you haven’t even had a drink yet.
What might surprise you is that a lot of the Nutrisystem foods are quite tasty. In fact, last night I had the Nutrisystem Chicken Enchiladas for dinner, once of my favorites, and boy, they really get everything right with this one. It’s delicious, has a perfect texture and consistency, and is a wonderfully modest 250 calories. Way tastier than a Big Mac and half the calories.
Because it turns out that losing weight is all about math. Figure out how many calories you burn in a typical day and… eat less! You still need a base amount for your metabolism to work well (and for you to avoid being perpetually starving) but as an adult male, the US FDA figures I need 2500 calories/day or so. The Nutrisystem program has my target at 1500 calories, so I’m consistently losing 1-2 pounds/week. And it’s not starvation: I eat breakfast at 8am, a big snack at 10am, lunch at 12, a second snack at 3pm, dinner and then a late night snack at 8-9pm.
A snack like a bowl of butter popcorn while catching up on my latest TV obsession:
Perhaps after one of my other favorites, Chicken Alfredo with a few tweaks to make it more interesting: Sriracha Sauce (because everything’s better with hot sauce) and some steamed broccoli:
Week eight and I’m down from a starting weight of 288 to 273 as of this morning. Getting there. My goal by week 12: 263. We’ll see if I make it, but it’s all going pretty darn well at this point and I’m definitely in this for the long haul…
Disclosure: I have received all of my products from Nutrisystem for review purposes and that my opinions are 100% my own. As is always the case.
It’s always a look out game of the foods that you will eat.