Nutrisystem

Okay, so what is the deal with Nutrisystem? The way it works is you order 28 days worth of food for about $300. This is a breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. Those are the four things you are suppose to eat every day that you get directly from Nutrisystem. In addition to those items you eat what are called "add-ons" which you buy on your own at the grocery store. So a full menu looks like this:

Breakfast - 1 nutrisystem entree, 1 dairy or protein serving, 1 fruit serving
Lunch - 1 nutrisystem entree, 2 vegetable servings, 1 dairy or protein serving
Afternoon Snack - 1 dairy or protein serving, 1 fruit serving
Dinner - 1 nutrisystem entree, 2 vegetable servings, 1 fat serving
Dessert - 1 nutristem entree

As you can see, it can actually add up to a lot of stuff. Nutrisystem gives you a grocery list to follow so you know all the options for each type of food as well as recommended serving sizes.

So for me...this is just too much. I can't get to the grocery store every few days and I don't feel like spending all the extra money. Plus, it's just a hassle to keep that much track of when and what and where and all that. I do my best when I am not constantly monitoring my day in anticipation of the next meal. I found the first month or so I was constantly figuring out what I was going to eat and then counting down the minutes until I could. My new mantra - Eat to Train, Not Train to Eat. This simply means that I want to view food as fuel for my workouts, not my workouts as an excuse to eat. But I digress...

Right now I am using Nutrisystem both to save money and to keep life as convenient as possible. I get a shipment of food once a month and it sits in the corner of my room. I make a point to drink at least 12 oz of water and a breakfast entree when I first get up. Other than that, I eat when I need to. If I get hungry and it is mid-day I have a lunch entree. If that isn't enough I wait 15 minutes or so and have a piece of cheese toast. Sometime between lunch and dinner and I grab a salad or frozen grapes. Dinnertime...you get the picture. There are a few "tricks" as dad calls them, that I play on myself. One is, I separate my dinner and dessert by at least an hour. Since I eat dinner in front of the TV, without being mindful I would just stuff myself into oblivion. If I am hungry after dessert I wait a bit, then get into my nuts. I have a ton of nuts, broken into baggies. Each baggie should lasts two sittings. Knowing this, I am a little careful how much I eat of them. They are a mix of a bunch of different nuts. And lastly, once eating is finished for the day - I brush my teeth and take my vitamins. It's like putting a mental "closed" sign on my mouth, lol! This is time for bed, a couple hours in front of the tube and hopefully I am off to laa laa land.

The Nutrisystem entrees constitute only 700-850 calories a day. They are broken into a low glycemic carb 55%; protein 25% and fat 20%. The sodium content is less than 1800mg/day which is below the suggested daily intake. Pretty nice for all packaged stuff. Plus, the sugar is less than 20g/day and there is no trans fat.

All of this allows me a lot of breathing room for what I want to supplement. I just have to be mindful that I need veggies and fruits during the day.

Anywho, this is how I use Nutrisystem and how it seems to work for me. Of course, it isn't for everyone ;)

"Strong people are harder to kill then weak people, and are more useful in general"

- Mark Rippetoe