I’ll admit that when I began researching this diet, I was intrigued by the thought of being able to eat comfort foods like burgers, pizza, and tacos and still emerge looking like Jillian Barberie in her bikini or Marie Osmond in a tiny Dancing With The Stars get up. OK, so I knew that this wasn’t entirely realistic. I’m a mom with responsibilities and two small kids. I didn’t have a trainer or a chef, but I would’ve been happy to settle for looking nice in a pair of jeans or not being mortified to go to the beach this summer. I guess in a nutshell, what I wanted to know was does nutrisystem really work, and if so, how? What was life going to be like on this diet? Was the food edible? Would I be starving all of the time? What would it take on my part to be successful? I’ll answer these questions in the following article.
How Nutrisystem Works: The basis of this diet is to get the right glycemic combination so that your body goes into ketosis (the fat burning state.) It’s really as simple as that. The foods are designed to be low in carbs and on the low end of the glycemic scale. But, the company has done, at least in my opinion, a pretty nice job of providing foods that adequately hide this fact from you. You don’t feel like you’re on a high protein diet because you’re allowed to eat the diet’s fudge brownies, chips, cereals, cake, etc. – all things which would typically be off limits on most low carbohydrate diets.
You are asked to eat five times per day – three meals and two snacks / desserts. For each of the meals, you’ll eat one of the company’s foods. Some are the type that you assemble and some are frozen. Most all are very convenient. They don’t require a lot of preparation, but you’re also asked to add in healthy sides. The company helps you with this though. Each food will include a side suggestion. For example, the nutrisystem pancakes, suggest strawberries as your fresh addition. The taste of most of the foods is surprisingly good and eating often helps you feel as though you are not starving.
You order the foods online and they send them to your door in a big box. It costs about $299 a month for the whole month, but there are usually coupons that can help with this. There is also free counseling and support. I didn’t want to use this at first, but found it be a life saver. I value this feature a lot because I know I would pay a lot for it were it not included for free with your order.
So, Does Nutrisystem Really Work: How To Ensure That It Works For You: I spent a lot of time lurking on the message boards trying to determine this answer before I actually started the diet. I found that most people do have decent results. But, a few things separate those who have exceptional results between those who just have so – so results.
To really lose a ton of weight, you’ll need to be diligent about your sides. You want to make you that you are keeping it on the low glycemic side. The whole key to your success is ketosis, so you don’t want to put anything in your mouth that is going to keep you from this. So, if you’re eating the plan’s pizza and you add in a side of fries, you’re not going to be as happy when you step on the scale as you may have been had you added in celery and peanut butter. You can get strips in the diabetic section of your grocery store that will tell if you if you have reached ketosis.
Now, everyone cheats. That’s just being a human being. But, don’t allow one indiscretion to get you off track. It only takes two days to get back in ketosis, but you will delay this if you don’t jump right back on the diet when you fall off. Also, just power walking has dramatically increased my results. It’s all about burning many more calories and carbs than you’re taking in. Just a tiny bit of exercise can help greatly with this. You don’t have to go nuts. Just take more steps than you normally would and you’re ahead of the game.
