So it’s time. After six years of steadily gaining weight I have to do something about it. I can’t blame it on the baby anymore - especially since my weight gain started before our son was born.  I’ve tried every diet in the book and it’s time to get serious. I started on the Nutrisystem Women’s Advanced Plan last week in hopes of losing 50 to 60 pounds.

I know, I know, it’s kind of drastic, but I think it’s what I need at this point. I’m really bad about measuring and portions and Nutrisystem takes care of that for me. More important, I’m learning about portion control and proper nutrition.

Here’s a typical day on the Nutrisystem plan, which allows me about 1200 calories a day:

Breakfast:

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree (cereal, eggs, oatmeal or breakfast bar)
• Dairy or protein serving (low or nonfat yogurt, skim milk, fat free or low fat cheese, egg, fish meat - serving sizes provided in the back of the Nutrisystem journal) I usually have Light & Fit Yogurt or 8 ounces of skim milk.
• Fruit

Lunch:

• Nustrisystem Lunch Entree (Anything from soup, to pasta, to potatoes to a lunch bar)
• Salad serving
• Fat free dressing
• Dairy or protein serving

Afternoon snack:

• Dairy or protein (I usually have a small yogurt, glass of milk or slice of cheese)
• Fruit

Dinner:

• Nustrisystem Dinner Entree (pizza, tacos, pasta, stews, lots of options here)
• Vegetable serving (I usually make green beans or broccoli and put it in my entree)
• Salad or fruit serving
• Fat serving (4 olives in my salad)

Dessert

• Nustrisystem Dessert Entree (Chocolates, bars, cookies, cake) (On the weekend I skipped dessert and had a glass of wine at 100 calories)

Some thoughts:

• The Nustrisystem plan does allow 3 servings of some “free” foods like sugar free Jell-o and a couple of teaspoons of fat free whipped topping. These foods are 20 calories or less per serving. Plus the Nutrisystem forum offer recipes for the different  foods - and I was surprised to learn I can have items like vegetarian sausage or turkey bacon as my protein as long as I follow proper serving recomendations and keep my calorie count to about 1200 each day.

• I’m not starving with this plan because (as you can see above) I eat all day. The first few days were an adjustment but now I’m starting to feel more energetic and I’m not as hungry or thinking about food all the time. My biggest food issue is how I was always hungry and nibbling throughout the day. I’m learning it’s ok to eat, just do it the right way.

• The Nutrisystem plan follows the Low Glycemic Index. It weeds out the bad carbs and gives you the good carbs.

• Some of the food makes me gassy - I’m not into that but I’m finding beano takes care of that problem.

Other than that, I really have no beef with the Nutrisystem plan so far. Now, this is an expensive plan, probably about $300 per month - plus you have to buy your add ins. Thinking back to my single days, this is probably what I spent on food each month anyway - but with a family that’s a big expense. If you have the money to spend, people are using the Nutrisystem plan with very good results. The food really isn’t bad, some of it is quite tasty. Nustrisystem does allow you to switch out the foods you don’t like with something better so you can enjoy what you eat. Plus, included in the cost of food is free weight loss counseling whenever you need it and community support. Trust me, this makes a big difference because you can share stories with others at the forum and your counselor offers suggestions and advice for making the most of your plan.

Weight Loss

Well… I think I lost about 4 pounds so far. My Wii Fit is reporting a steady increase in weight but I know that’s not right. Both my home scales are off but both appear to be reporting a weight loss of about 4 pounds. This makes me very happy. I did take a “before” picture but I am not showing you until I have an after picture, it’s too embarrassing.

See you next week!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 5:18 pm and is filed under Nustrisysem, Weightloss Wednesday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.