Anyone use Nutrisystem (or similar "Weight loss precreated meal services")?

[tippy2k2]

So tippy2k2 is kind of a fatty

It's something I've dealt with forever and have been hitting the gym for the past few years in an attempt to change. The biggest hurdle that I have is food. Some people's vices are alcohol. Some are cigarettes. Mine is food. I'm not a good cook (and I'm single so cooking for one presents many a challenges as well) so I was considering purchasing something like Nutrisystem

http://www.nutrisystem.com/jsps_hmr/home/index.jsp

Basically, they're created meals planned out for you. You get a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner, snacks, and a desert that they provide you.

So has anyone used this (or something like it...ideally something cheaper )? It's super freaking expensive, which makes me a touch gunshy about it and that's not even accounting for taste or my own vices still getting the best of me (like, say a Mountain Dew or three). Plus it might be balanced for portions and whatnot but I do wonder how healthy this stuff is (I have to assume it's filled with preservatives and whatnot since that food has to be able to survive getting to me and other customers, although the site doesn't really go into how the food part works so maybe they provide you with fresh ingredients and instructions like Blue Apron [https://www.blueapron.com/] does).

Anyone have experience with these things that can help a fatty out?

 

[Glongpre]

Cooking is pretty easy though, just time consuming.

I eat rice, vegetables, and beans for lunch and dinner basically everyday. Nutritious, easily made in bulk, tastes good.
Breakfast is easy, piece of bread with 2 eggs and spinach.
And I spend about 20-30 dollars every 5-7 days for groceries.

What kind of stuff do you eat now?
And what exactly makes cooking difficult for you?

There is a popular saying that nutrition is 70% of being healthy. Working out is great, but what you eat matters a great deal in regards to body composition (you are what you eat).

 

[BloatedGuppy]

So tippy2k2 is kind of a fatty

It's something I've dealt with forever and have been hitting the gym for the past few years in an attempt to change. The biggest hurdle that I have is food. Some people's vices are alcohol. Some are cigarettes. Mine is food. I'm not a good cook (and I'm single so cooking for one presents many a challenges as well) so I was considering purchasing something like Nutrisystem

http://www.nutrisystem.com/jsps_hmr/home/index.jsp

Basically, they're created meals planned out for you. You get a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner, snacks, and a desert that they provide you.

So has anyone used this (or something like it...ideally something cheaper )? It's super freaking expensive, which makes me a touch gunshy about it and that's not even accounting for taste or my own vices still getting the best of me (like, say a Mountain Dew or three). Plus it might be balanced for portions and whatnot but I do wonder how healthy this stuff is (I have to assume it's filled with preservatives and whatnot since that food has to be able to survive getting to me and other customers, although the site doesn't really go into how the food part works so maybe they provide you with fresh ingredients and instructions like Blue Apron [https://www.blueapron.com/] does).

Anyone have experience with these things that can help a fatty out?

Hey Tippy. You don't need a pre-created meal system. I can appreciate that they might provide guidelines for people, but you can make dietary adjustments yourself that will likely be more beneficial and cost a lot less money. And a quick glance at some of the meals they're offering up on that site, they're unlikely to steer you in a particularly healthy direction.

If you want to talk about weight loss/nutrition just shoot me a PM and we can figure out something relatively simple for you. You don't need to be a good cook, you just gotta have some resolve.

 

[Frezzato]

I would also not recommend Nutrisystem in general because I've seen the food firsthand and it's barely palatable.

It was stuff my friend's ex didn't want and I was curious. Basically it's "survival food" in the sense that everything is either preserved or freeze dried. One of the items was a dried hamburger patty. It was cool for me because I love camping/survival stuff but I wouldn't recommend any of their products to normal people.

 

[Saltyk]

If you're trying to lose weight, you should try to cut out sugar. You'd be surprised how much weight you can lose just from not drinking soda. I had a coworker lose like 50 pounds in a few months just because he stopped drinking Cokes. Other than that, go to the gym for a hour a day, do some cardio or jump rope, and try not to eat too late. That should help out.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

If you're trying to lose weight, you should try to cut out sugar. You'd be surprised how much weight you can lose just from not drinking soda. I had a coworker lose like 50 pounds in a few months just because he stopped drinking Cokes. Other than that, go to the gym for a hour a day, do some cardio or jump rope, and try not to eat too late. That should help out.

Most of my weight I put on was from drinking alcohol... I'm eager to see how much I lose just cutting that out of my diet since I really don't eat that poorly.

 

[tippy2k2]

I would also not recommend Nutrisystem in general because I've seen the food firsthand and it's barely palatable.

It was stuff my friend's ex didn't want and I was curious. Basically it's "survival food" in the sense that everything is either preserved or freeze dried. One of the items was a dried hamburger patty. It was cool for me because I love camping/survival stuff but I wouldn't recommend any of their products to normal people.

That was one of my primary concerns (especially since the site doesn't really go into detail about how to prepare the food, which made me assume it's all preservatives and frozen stuff).

What kind of stuff do you eat now?
And what exactly makes cooking difficult for you?

There is a popular saying that nutrition is 70% of being healthy. Working out is great, but what you eat matters a great deal in regards to body composition (you are what you eat).

The toughest part of cooking for myself (and a big reason I'm considering one of these prepared thingies) is a few...

1. I'm a single guy. It's surprisingly hard (or maybe I'm not looking in the right places) to cook meals for one and get all the nutritional goodness I'm supposed to. Although I may start just making the bigger recipes and having left over lunch stuff...

2. My apartment SUCKS for cooking. I have a small stove/oven (it's an actual stove/oven but it's not a full sized one) and I don't have counter space or anywhere convenient for chopping/mixing/anythinging really. I live in a studio apartment so while the rent is nice, nothing else is...

3. I just plain don't like to cook. I'm not sure why since one of the benefits of a studio is that I can see my TV and everything from my kitchen so you'd figure I'd have no problems with boredom or whatnot but I just get bored cooking and don't like to do it.

I have a sister-in-law who is a health teacher for high school and she's always said that Nutrition is how you lose weight and Exercise is how you become lean. Your "70% of being healthy" sounds like it falls pretty well in line with that train of thought.

If you want to talk about weight loss/nutrition just shoot me a PM and we can figure out something relatively simple for you. You don't need to be a good cook, you just gotta have some resolve.

Resolve? Crap, I'm out. I have the willpower of a toddler in a candy store

Although if you have some suggestions that help with the above issues I run into with cooking, that would be appreciated. I mean hell, a website recommendation for easy recipes would be phenomenal (most sites I have found have all kinds of weird ass foods and ingredients in them or have you cook enough food to feed a platoon of soldiers).

If you're trying to lose weight, you should try to cut out sugar. You'd be surprised how much weight you can lose just from not drinking soda. I had a coworker lose like 50 pounds in a few months just because he stopped drinking Cokes. Other than that, go to the gym for a hour a day, do some cardio or jump rope, and try not to eat too late. That should help out.

I lost a ton of weight previously (mostly) killing pop from my diet. I'm trying (again for the five thousandth time) to kill pop completely from my diet but it's surprisingly difficult

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

If you want to eat healthy it's really quite easy.

1. Go to the store, buy some chicken breast, bake it in your oven.
2. Buy rice, cook rice.
3. Add whatever fruits or vegetables you want on the side.

You can make a large portion over the weekend and just eat it all week.

If you want to get slightly more advanced, get chicken breast and vegetables, stir fry, eat it over rice.

This was about 70% of my meals in college. It's cheap, it's easy to make, and it's quite healthy. I'm six feet tall, 165lbs, around 10% body fat.

Now obviously you're going to get bored of this food, but you can sub in any lean protein for the chicken breast and it's still healthy, plus it's a good starting point for learning to cook.

Finally, why do you find cooking boring? It's all knives and fire and manly stuff.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

1. I'm a single guy. It's surprisingly hard (or maybe I'm not looking in the right places) to cook meals for one and get all the nutritional goodness I'm supposed to. Although I may start just making the bigger recipes and having left over lunch stuff...

2. My apartment SUCKS for cooking. I have a small stove/oven (it's an actual stove/oven but it's not a full sized one) and I don't have counter space or anywhere convenient for chopping/mixing/anythinging really. I live in a studio apartment so while the rent is nice, nothing else is...

Buy a slow cooker/crock pot. Look up some easy to make/low effort meals online. Throw your shit into the crockpot, make enough food for several days. You're done. I hate the effort of cooking too. You still need to make SOME effort.

I have a sister-in-law who is a health teacher for high school and she's always said that Nutrition is how you lose weight and Exercise is how you become lean. Your "70% of being healthy" sounds like it falls pretty well in line with that train of thought.

She is correct, and nutrition is probably 90% of weight loss. Exercise is fantastic for general health but if you cannot get your diet in order you'll never lose weight.

I'm not sure how old you are, but if you're over 20 I'd start taking nutrition and weight loss seriously *now*, not 5 years from now, not 10 years from now. The process of atherosclerosis starts in your childhood years/teens. The breakdowns that lead to fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome/type 2 diabetes can be well under way into your 20's. The "magic threshold" you step over to actually get a diagnosis is when disease states tend to become irreversible and tremendous systemic damage has already been done. Then it's a lot of crying and hand wringing and "if only I'd acted sooner".

Weight loss isn't rocket science, but it does take some diligence and willingness to change habits.

1. Figure out your basal/sedentary metabolic rate, and then the basal/metabolic rate for the weight you WANT to be. Set the latter as your caloric intake ceiling.
2. Stop eating fast and processed food. Cut out all sugary snacks and beverages. The damage fructose does to your arteries and liver is staggering. Eat wholesome foods, and make sure you're eating lots of plants. Macronutrient ratio should generally take care of itself if you're following this, but don't be afraid of (healthy) fats.
3. Treat fruits as dessert. They are not a replacement for vegetables.
4. If you follow two, you will naturally eliminate a lot or most all simple/refined carbohydrates from your diet. This will (hopefully) bring your insulin levels down, reduce blood sugar, and restore normal hunger. Do try and keep bread to a dull roar, especially during weight loss. If you must have some carbs, stick to starchy vegetables or healthier rices.
5. Drink lots of water.
6. Get lots of sleep.
7. Reduce stress. Cortisol also jacks up your blood sugar. You can diet and exercise until the cows come home but if you cannot control your stress you'll have a fucker of a time losing weight.
8. Exercise but do NOT eat back the calories. It's okay to be a little hungry. Weight loss is gonna feel like hungry sometimes. That's alright.

I mean hell, a website recommendation for easy recipes would be phenomenal (most sites I have found have all kinds of weird ass foods and ingredients in them or have you cook enough food to feed a platoon of soldiers).

A crock pot is your friend. Look into one. Make simple stews, soups and roasts. There literally could not be less effort involved. Sometimes the initial cost can be annoying because you'll be buying spices and seasonings you likely presently have none of, but once that's taken care of it's actually cheaper than eating processed food, and significantly healthier.

I lost a ton of weight previously (mostly) killing pop from my diet. I'm trying (again for the five thousandth time) to kill pop completely from my diet but it's surprisingly difficult

Ya gotta get rid of the pop, Tipster. That shit is literally killing you. Juice is really no better.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

While cooking is the best way, I admit it is damn intimidating at first, especially if you don't have the perceived time or facilities to do so. A less intimating way to start is by trading up less healthy stuff for alternatives.

Do you like fruits and vegetables? Carry those around with you to work or wherever you need and munch on them when you feel hungry. You can also do this with nuts and seeds (preferably unsalted). Measure out a serving and put them in a baggy. If you have a local smoothie shop, go there and find a fruit based flavor you enjoy.

Publix has some of their own pre-packaged meals in the produce section, they usually have some hummus, rice crackers, hard boiled eggs, vegetables and other such things in them. While a little pricey, they're cheaper than Nutrisystem, healthier and fresher.

 

[Baffle]

Eat cereal. Chewing gum is a good appetite killer for me.

Drink water, and when you get bored of that, drink tea. Don't drink coffee, it makes you stink.

Do more pull-ups. Then try some put-downs.

Edit: on the pop front, I was amazed at how few diet drinks you have in the States. And at the size of the cans your non-diet drinks come in! But mostly I was amazed by Four Loko. That stuff is awesome.

 

[Thaluikhain]

There's no remotely easy way to lose weight, that's why there's a zillion dollar industry for it. The amount of people that lose significant amounts of weight and keep it off for 5 years is in single digits percentage.

In my experience, "weight loss" meals are normal meals except tasting like cardboard and more expensive. I'd expect to find something just as good, more palatable and cheaper without a weight loss company's label. However, that's from my experience in New South Wales, not the US.

 

[TheMajesticSpaceDuck]

A crock pot is your friend. Look into one. Make simple stews, soups and roasts. There literally could not be less effort involved. Sometimes the initial cost can be annoying because you'll be buying spices and seasonings you likely presently have none of, but once that's taken care of it's actually cheaper than eating processed food, and significantly healthier.

Plus the cost of those spices and seasonings can be mitigated by just buying them over time. I had built up a huge collection before moving house purely by trying new recipes every week. I maybe spent 5 euro a week on seasoning stuff just by planning ahead. Buy them as you use a recipe that requires them rather than get them all up front. Because that's the best advice I can give, everything in baby steps. You change everything at once and go all gung-ho if you're like me your willpower will fail you. But for instance, I cut out soda, then once my routine had adjusted and I was just used to not having soda I quit smoking. All while making small steps towards a consistently healthy diet. Also yeah as someone who also cooks for one get a crock pot/slow cooker. I can make 3-4 days dinners for like 10-15 quid. And if you're used to fries or something as a side try and replace them with baked vegetables. It's just a matter of seasoning and throwing in the oven. But this is just the advice of a guy who went from total slob to "behaves like a person", I am no expert, just offering what helped me.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

There's no remotely easy way to lose weight, that's why there's a zillion dollar industry for it. The amount of people that lose significant amounts of weight and keep it off for 5 years is in single digits percentage.

I'm not sure that's entirely true. It's not incredibly difficult to lose weight. It's not even incredibly difficult to keep it off. It IS incredibly difficult...almost impossible, really...to lose weight and keep it off if one partakes of the Standard American Diet (might as well be the standard "first world" diet at this point). So called "lifestyle diseases" are now the #1 leading cause of death in the developed world. 50-75 years ago this wasn't the case and we didn't have an obesity crisis. What changed? Biology doesn't change that fast. People are marginally more sedentary now, but exercise is not the key driver in weight loss.

It's the fucking food.

 

[Vanilla ISIS]

I'm really into being fit and healthy (some people say that I'm obsessed but this is something that's worth being obsessed with).
My diet looks like this:

Spoiler: A good diet

Spoiler: My average meal #1

Spoiler: My average meal #2

As you can see, it's mostly raw fruits and vegetables, no cooking necessary (I eat them raw because some nutritional value is lost during cooking but that's just part of my obsession
My cooking (even though I can cook pretty well) is very basic - it's mostly chicken breast cooked on water, rice cooked on water and fish (usually salmon due to high natural creatine content) wrapped in tin foil and cooked in the oven.
I also use vitamin supplements (I recommend Centrum).

This diet is very cheap (around 60 Pounds per week).

It's low on fat and high on nutrients which, combined with regular exercises, make me look like this:

Spoiler: Hard work pays off

The most important thing you need to remember is that once you change your diet and lifestyle, you need to stick with it.
Once you'll go back to your old way of eating and living, your body will go back to it's old shape as well.

 

[Silvanus]

I lost a ton of weight previously (mostly) killing pop from my diet. I'm trying (again for the five thousandth time) to kill pop completely from my diet but it's surprisingly difficult

My recommendation for this: get some squash (cordial, like Robinsons or Ribena), and use carbonated/ fizzy water instead of still tap water.

Cheaper than bottles of fizzy drinks/ pop, much healthier, and (I think) pretty much just as satisfying. I hardly ever drink Coke or Fanta or anything any more. Plus, it's more refreshing due to high water content and lacking the elements of Cola that make you thirstier.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Cooking, like working, gets better when you apply music or podcasts. Recipes for basic cooking never get that hard to follow and you can use the time to knock out a podcast episode or something else like an audiobook.

As for weight loss system meals, I shared one with a friend of mine who is large and I immediately got why he hated dieting. Shits not good. :/

 

[Glongpre]

snippzy

BloatedGuppy has good advice, I would listen to him for the most part.

Don't be afraid of fats or fruit, but don't overeat them. The key to healthy eating is balance. Your body absolutely needs fats, they aren't bad for you (and I am not talking processed fats like fast food), and fruits are a good source of both a)energy b)nutrients.
But keep in mind, like one or two fruit servings is good, and using butter/coconut oil to cook stuff and beef aren't gonna kill ya. Though keep in mind! Balance; having beef with every meal is obviously no good!

I mean, shit, there are a lot of variables with nutrition! It is an incomplete, barely researched science really. Half the shit you read online is complete bullshit. At one time, eggs were considered a bad food. Like wtf.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

In the UK, there's a similar thing called DietChef that delivers preset meals to the door. My experience with them is second hand, not first, but I would chime in.

There is obviously a lot to dieting and one's weight, but in the broadest terms, losing weight is the "simple matter"(tm) of consuming fewer calories than one expends. In simpler terms, you have calories in and calories out. If in is higher than out, one gains weight and vice versa. Going to the gym increases calories out while dieting reduces calories in. Excepting for the body's tendency to try and maintain a healthy, individual status quo by managing fat reserves and waste, the above is the most basic rule for weight gain/loss.

Some people try to lose weight fast by massively altering the in or out part of the equation. Too much disparity is unhealthy however. Another important factor is how the body uses food and energy. Carbs are the main source of energy with fat stored in the body, like Camels humps, as "backup" energy sources. So to lose weight stored as fat one must both consume fewer calories than one expends as well as ensure that some of the energy comes from the fat reserves of the body.

Trying to lose weight fast might grant faster results but usually come with consequences. Changing diet healthily and losing weight over time is by far the healthier option, but does mean a lifestyle change. The idea behind these meals is that they create a meal that is (hopefully) nutritionally balanced. They should contain the nutrients, vitamins and whatnot one needs to remain healthy, whilst hopefully remaining filling and tasty. I cannot speak personally on these points, but this is the thinking behind them. By providing meals that are nutritionally sound but with a focus on calories and balance of carbs to fats/proteins, the idea is then that your calories out stays the same but your calories in goes down. Changing the calories in/out to lose weight should be a slow process, lose a little each day and over weeks and months, it will add up without any nasty side effects from shortcuts.

My personal opinion from my second hand knowledge of them is that they *can* maybe work but may not be the right solution. Firstly, I believe that it requires commitment throughout the day to stay within the calorie limits and it's an expensive commitment. Secondly, though it may not be an issue to many, is how fresh is the food? How varied? How does it actually taste? I expect that it's preparation is simple enough and fits into a working persons lifestyle, single or otherwise. Does it have leeway for eating out/ordering in occasionally? How long does the food last?

The same results can be achieved without the brand products and prepackaging. That however requires learning what are good, healthy and balanced meals and having the time to prepare them. I expect these products appeal specifically because they remove the guesswork, preparation and time needed to DIY. As such, it's something worth considering if one is genuinely prepared to commit to dieting long term and the costs thereof. Personally, I would consider as an alternative thinking of all the foods you like, finding healthy, calorie controlled ingredients and ways to prepare them yourself and buy those ingredients to stock your kitchen with. It offers more flexibility, preparing to taste and is cheaper, but involves more work and learning than a diet programme and controlling portion sizes is harder.

Don't try to take shortcuts, diet healthily to reduce calories in and exercise a little more to increase calories out. Get the balance in favour of weight loss and it *will* go down, slowly, but healthily.