First, the basics. For those of you that have been living under a rock, Nutrisystem is a diet system of prepackaged meals that are sent to your house. They are delivered FedEx to your door, and the delivery cost is included.
You eat 6 times a day. Breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, late snack.
With lunch and dinner, you are providing vegetables that you go out and buy yourself to go along with the meal. Two servings per meal.
Once a week, you have something called a “
There’s even an Eating Out Guide that lists good ideas for flex meals at various
It’s pretty easy to follow. Outside of the prepackaged meals, they give you examples of some proteins (Power Fuels) and carbs (Smart Carbs) that are the makeup of, for example, that one snack that you’re supposed to put together for yourself each day (for examples, see my sample meals below).
The meals are decent tasting, and super convenient. Some of the meals are downright delicious. But you may be missing out on them if you’re on one of the cheaper plans.
See, it has different systems or plans:
Basic – they tell you exactly what to eat, so the only freedom you’ll have is on veggies and your self-prepared snack
Core – you choose from over 100 foods and have access to their support online, which apparently is pretty helpful
Uniquely Yours – you choose from over 160 foods, have online support access, and can enjoy “total menu freedom”, which just means you can pick whatever you want every month. Even if it’s all frozen foods (which the other plans limit or completely exclude… and I gotta say, the frozen foods are where it’s at!)
Uniquely Yours Plus – this was what I had, and it has everything Uniquely Yours has plus shakes – it also says “experience ultimate variety”, which I’m not sure if that’s an actual menu change from Uniquely Yours, or if you’re just paying $1.50 a day for a probiotic shake (which is probably the case, but they’re supposed to be great for your digestion!)
They also have a Vegetarian plan, which is basically Uniquely Yours with any of the foods that have meat in them omitted from your choices. So you could do a vegetarian or almost vegetarian diet on the Uniquely Yours or Uniquely Yours Plus plan yourself by choosing the vegetarian meals.
They also have plans specific for diabetes, which must control the amount of added sugars that they have in the meals. And there’s a men’s plan, which is very similar but has more calories.
Here’s a sample day for both men and women as of right now:
Turkey Sausage & Egg Muffin (NS Breakfast)
blueberry greek yogurt (1 Power Fuel)
probiotic shake OR mixed nuts (1 Power Fuel)
Steak & Cheese Melt (NS Lunch)
arugula & spinach salad with broccoli, cherry tomatoes, & fat free dressing (2 Veg. and 1 Extra)
cottage cheese & 2 medium peaches (1 Power Fuel & 1 Smart Carb)
Margherita Pizza (NS Dinner)
sauteed mushrooms & green beans (2 Veg.)
Chocolate Brownie Sundae (NS Snack)
Buttermilk Pancakes & sugar-free maple syrup (NS Breakfast & 1 Extra)
hard boiled egg (1 Power Fuel)
Cheese Puffs (NS Snack)
Hamburger w/ lettuce, onion slices, a tomato, & sugar free ketchup (NS Lunch & 1 Extra)
baby carrots (1 Veg.)
sugar snap peas (1 Veg.)
2 tbsp almonds (1 Power Fuel)
1 packet tuna fish on 1 slice whole wheat bread (1 Power Fuel & 1 Smart Carb)
Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo (NS Dinner)
vegetable stir fry (2 Veg.)
1 slice low-fat string cheese (1 Power Fuel)
Popcorn (NS Snack)
Both of these also get three servings of “Extras” (things like coffee creamer and salad dressing) and all of the “Free Foods” (really really low cal stuff like spices, sugar-free sweeteners, etc.) that you want.
Does it work?
Absolutely. If you follow it, you’ll lose weight. I lost about 20 pounds and my husband lost about 15. This was in a month and a half.
Pros
- I never thought I’d be interested in having someone tell me exactly what to eat. But when we first started Nutrisystem, we did the small, 1 week boxes that you can find in Walmart. They were a very set meal plan. Turns out, I liked the lack of leniency. It didn’t give me any wiggle room to cheat. So I followed it to the letter. In other words, the strictness of their meal plan is a good thing.
- It’s very portable, so if you’re going out of town for a while or going to work, just bring some of the non-frozen meals with you and you’ll be good to go.
- Most of the frozen foods are pretty yummy, and if you get one of the higher-priced plans, you can choose your meals. So you’re not forced to eat things you don’t like, and you’re still following their plan.
- Extremely flexible when it comes to choosing your
meals , if you get the Uniquely Yours or Uniquely Yours Plus plan. - They want you to eat a decent amount of vegetables. It’s not the 10 servings a day that is recommended, but it’s still a lot more than most Americans get, so that’s good.
- The Numi app has great articles, incentives to follow your diet (think discounts on food), and a very easy-to-use food tracking diary.
Cons
- Many of the non-frozen meals are just not great. So if you want portability AND yummy-tasting foods, you’re going to be harder pressed to find them.
- The cost that you’re getting quoted for your monthly meals doesn’t cover the one snack a day that you’re getting for yourself, random Power Fuels, or your veggies, which brings the cost of the plan up to higher than you may have originally calculated.
- These foods are all highly processed and many of them have sugars added to them to make them taste good. So while you will lose weight on Nutrisystem, you won’t be eating foods that are as healthy as they could be.
- I was hungry most of the time. Sometimes I felt satiated after lunch or dinner, but not for very long.
Bottom Line
I started Nutrisystem when we were living out of a hotel room. It was really great for that. We couldn’t cook very easily and so their prepackaged meals were perfect. The strictness of the diet made it very easy for me to stick to it… for about 3-4 months.
Then something happened. Maybe it was me getting bored of their foods. I should’ve probably started mixing up what I was getting a bit more. Maybe I was getting sick of all the processed foods and it was me getting excited about eating fresh foods again. Maybe it was this blog and me deciding that processed foods aren’t the way I want to go anymore.
Regardless of the reason, I feel in my gut that it’s not a very sustainable solution for long periods of time.
So my suggestion is to stick to it and stick to it well for 3-6 months, lose a bunch of weight, and then when you start getting sick of it, use the ideas for portion control that it’s taught you to start eating fresher foods.
You’re going to lose weight, but you’re not going to be eating terribly healthy foods (except for the veggies and snack that you’re providing). Pre-packaged foods that are made to last until the apocalypse comes are NOT very healthy, even if they are low in calories. So don’t try to make this a long term solution.
Nutrisystem even states it’s not a long term solution, and the whole point of their flex meals are to get you ready for life after Nutrisystem. They give you an idea of portion control and how you should be eating, which you can then apply to fresher foods.
So I’m breaking down my rating for Nutrisystem, because YES, it will help you lose weight. But NO, the meals that they’re providing are not extremely healthy.
Weight Loss Rating: 5/5 Stars
Healthy Food Rating: 3.5/5 Stars (and it would be much lower if it wasn’t for all those fresh veggies they want you to eat)
Free Stuff
I’m giving away 5 (sealed!) containers of the Nutrisystem Fresh Fit Probiotic shakes. Chocolate flavored. ($90 value!) So if you’re interested in winning:
1. comment either here on my blog (below), on the YouTube
2. make sure you’re following me either through my newsletter here or you’re subscribed to me on YouTube or Instagram, too!
U.S. residents only, please.
5 Winners will be chosen randomly on August 31st, 2019 @ 11:59 pm, so leave your comment today!
44 Comments
I love your honest review and would love to try it. Thank you
Awesome, good luck, Beth!
I’m glad to hear you say it’s an effective way to lose weight, but I’m so glad you point out how unhealthy it is! I’ve always thought that and never tried any of the “meal systems “ for that reason. I bet the shakes are yummy though!
They’re quite good, for sure! And they mix with the water well, which was always a concern for me… I’m not a fan of clumpy shakes. 🙂
Thanks, Ashley!
Thanks for your review! I have been wanting to try Nutri System for the longest.
Sure thing, Darlene! Good luck, and if you decide to try it let me know if you have any questions I didn’t cover. Would be happy to help. 🙂
great plan
Thanks, Rajee – good luck!
I like your brutal honesty.
Thanks, Julie! 🙂
Thanks for the invite. Lost 30# on low carbs. But will listen what have to say.
I think low carbs and lots of veggies is a great way to go. Much better than Nutrisystem when it comes to health. 🙂
I would like to try Nutrisystem. I have been losing weight and I am half way to my goal, so this would help.
Awesome, congrats on your progress!! That’s amazing. 🙂
Good luck on the rest of your weight loss and good luck in the contest!
Finally, someone to tell the truth about the pre packaged diet meals. I want to lose the weight so I think I will do the 3 to 6 months you suggest. But since I am low income, I won’t be able to buy very much. I would love to win this to get me on my way.
Thanks, Catherine! I plan on trying out all kinds of other diets out there, like Paleo, Vegan, Keto, etc. and giving my reviews on how those work for me, as well. So maybe some of those can help, too! And easier on a low income, probably. That’s a drawback to Nutrisystem… but then eating healthy is just more expensive in general, which is stupid crazy. 🙁
Anyway, glad you liked it. Good luck with the giveaway!! 🙂
I just went through a double by-pass. I weight 319 Doc says I need to loss a bunch of weight. Maybe this will be a start.
Yikes, a double by-pass! Well, hopefully you recover quickly and I wish you the absolute best of luck with your weight. Feel free to follow me here (or Instagram/YouTube/etc) and maybe some of the things I learn about weight loss on my journey can help you. 🙂
Best of luck with the giveaway!
It looks like a good program to start with to get a better idea of portions and then use that moving forward .
Definitely! It helped me, for sure.
I would love this to kick start a healthier me.
Good luck!! 🙂
wow-what a great plan
Thank you for such an honest review. Something to definitely look into as an option- I like how you said- as a way to teach yourself portion control and then branch out on your own. Thanks for the giveaway!
I think that teaching portion control is really one of it’s strong points, for sure! Good luck! 🙂
great selection
I need to lose weight. I put on over 55 lbs. followed you on IG
Well hopefully some of my articles and reviews can help you out. I know that researching them is helping me. Best of luck on your wellness journey and on the giveaway! 🙂
Looking forward to trying out the plan
Great! Let me know if you have any other questions about how it works! 🙂
My hubby and I started the boxes from Walmart this past week. In 5 days, I’ve lost 4 lbs! There is no wiggle room, like you said, but we are determined to lose weight AND this gives us a good starting point. I am following your newsletter and following you on instagram!
Awesome!! Congrats on that loss, that’s amazing. 🙂 Best of luck to you on your weight loss and the giveaway!
Those boxes work really well, but we got sick of the same things over and over really quick lol! Do you plan on trying a full plan?
great
I’ve been with Nurtisystem for a little while now and I like most (not all) of their food choices. I do like their shakes. I have to say that’s probably my favorite aside from the egg white spinach crepe!
I’m pretty happy with their shakes, too! Thanks, Dawn, and good luck!
I really love your honesty review and how you let us know the pros and cons. I want to lose weight so badly and I have tried so many ways to do it. Your review has given me hope and I appreciate so much.
Well, hopefully we can figure out what works together! I’ve tried a bunch of stuff, too, and I’m just tired of trying and giving up. So that’s what this blog is about.. hopefully it can help others like you out there, too! Good luck and if you ever need someone to have your back and tell you that you’ve got this, I’ll be here. 🙂
This is a really nice site and giveaway thank you for the opportunity.
Thanks, and good luck! 🙂
I’ve been wanting to try Nutrisystem for so very long I’m still not sure about it that’s why I haven’t yet. I did enjoy reading your post! Congrats to you and your husband!
If you have any other questions about anything specific I didn’t cover, fire away. I’d be glad to help. 🙂 Good luck!!
I have been wanting to try their shakes . Thanks for the chance.
Good luck!! 🙂
The winners have been chosen! Notifications will go out tomorrow. Mostly just because I can’t really IM people at midnight. 🙂
I’ll announce the winners here as well (https://www.getwellwithme.com/nutrisystem-fresh-fit-shakes-giveaway-official-rules/)