One has to ask, about the motive behind the new 5 Day Diet Kits now available at mega retailer Walmart. Is the intention to provide a sample kit of sorts, or will Nutrisystem products soon be as close as your local Walmart store. Each kit contains 20 meals and snacks, a meal planner and grocery guide. The meal planner is eye catching, well designed and easy to understand with simple suggestions for grocery items that you need to complete your meal.
Each kit contains a bagel, muffin, cereal, bars, soup, cookies, pizza, and other entree dinners. The cost of the kit is $44.98 making the meals average about $2.25 each. This is quite reasonable and a lot less expensive than Nutrisystem meals found on the website or even ebay. Most of the things I tried were at least palatable, and some were to my surprise, actually good. The big magic trick in the box were snacks and desserts that contained good levels of protein, something that is hard to find off the grocery store shelf. They were also pretty tasty.
Portion size is really what is being sold here. Case in point are the bagels. The honey bagel was good and contained about 160 calories. The average bagel found in bakeries and on bread isles are more like 250 calories plus. If you are middle aged like I am you probably remember a time when Lender's Frozen Bagels were all you could find in the average grocery store. Guess how big they were? You guessed it, the same size and calories as the Nutrisystem bagel. They still sell them and they are exactly the same as I remember them as a kid. It just goes to show that our growing waistlines are probably related to the growing portion sizes now being offered. By the way, if you want a good deal on a bagel that is equivalent to the Nutrisystem bagel, although hard to find, you can still buy Lender's Frozen Bagels for about 3 bucks for a bag of 6. Average cost per bagel $.50.
What I liked
I loved the convenience and discipline these pre-packaged, pre-portioned foods had to offer, and it is a great opportunity to try a good cross section of the products before you commit. I liked not counting and not thinking about what I was eating. The kit was all color coded and laid out for perfect portions at the perfect time. If you eat just the entrees I promise you, you will be hungry. Be sure and fill in your meals with the suggested grocery store foods and you will probably be somewhat full depending on your appetite. I would say I have an average appetite, and I was satisfied until my next meal or snack.
What I didn't like
It was good for what it was and it compared favorably with grocery store frozen diet meals. In some cases the shelf stable meals were actually tastier. But it is what it is, and that is packaged convenience meals, just in smaller portions, however, for many people even eating these meals is healthier because you are forced to add a great deal of fresh veggies, fruits, and salads to feel full and satisfied.
I have always been a believer in eating fresh, whole natural foods, but the trade off for me is this, I'm 50 lbs. overweight and that isn't healthy either.
The best plan, in my opinion is use these kits to learn what a healthy portion is, then transition to healthy portion controlled meals that you create.
Conclusion
There are many, many testimonials from people who have lost a lot of weight, lost it fast and with ease. If you have a little or a lot of weight to lose, this is certainly worth a try. Some of us need to be educated about what a real portion looks like, and we need the structure too. This diet is a winner in both cases.
The best plan, in my opinion is use these kits to learn what a healthy portion is, then transition to healthy portion controlled meals that you create.
Conclusion
There are many, many testimonials from people who have lost a lot of weight, lost it fast and with ease. If you have a little or a lot of weight to lose, this is certainly worth a try. Some of us need to be educated about what a real portion looks like, and we need the structure too. This diet is a winner in both cases.
