Review: An analysis of Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem and why they work

What is it that we love about Jenny?  It's easy, it's convenient, and it takes almost no time to whip up an online order.  As Nutrisystem spokeswoman Marie Osmond says, "You just eat the food."

Online delivery services provide the two cornerstones of successful weight loss, convenience and portion control.  They work if you can afford the price, have no food sensitivities, and don't mind ordering a massive amount of food at once.  Plans are structured to discourage a la carte ordering, meaning you have to potentially take delivery on things you are not so crazy about.   Before considering either of these plans take some time to look at the plans and how they are structured as well as customer service ratings, and extra charges such as delivery fees, or a la carte ordering.  You can check them out at jennycraig.com, and nutrisystem.com

If you would like to try Nutrisystem before committing to a plan, you can do so by visiting your local Walmart.  Walmart stocks 2 five day kits along with shakes, muffins, and bars.  See my review here.

Bottom line is these food delivery services are great for weight loss, but you can't eat out of a box for ever.  You have to have a jumping off point to go back to real food and maintain your weight loss.  The expense may also be more than you can commit to.

Journal: The Value of Structure

I'm working on my third week of Nutrisystem D.I.Y.  and I've come across a couple of problems.  The first one is I'm getting really sick of what's in the Walmart 5 day kits.  The second one is I've been trying to do some freezer cooking on my own but I can't resist tasting what I'm cooking and maybe I'm tasting to much.

There is also a confidence issue here, and that is what if I'm not measuring right or I'm getting too much sodium in my food, or the mix isn't quite right.  I'm so new at this, I want to make sure I'm getting it right, and most of all I want the results.

We don't live in a static world and plans should be flexible, so here is mine.  I am going to break down and buy some a la carte food from the Nutrisystem website.  After all variety is the spice of life, and I'm going to continue to search for foods that are very similar and portion controlled to fill in the gaps.  As I said before, I'm really not into sweet breakfasts so, I will probably do a lot of  breakfasts that are nutritionally the same as the Nutrisystem breakfasts but that are locally available anytime I need to purchase them such as Jimmy Dean Delights breakfast sandwiches.

The last couple of weeks have taught me that Nutrisystem isn't just selling food, they are selling structure and along with convenience and portion control, that is a very valuable thing.

If you are busy like I am, maybe you don't have the time needed to create that kind of structure.  When you think about it, your time is valuable, so it's worth it to let Nutrisystem do the heavy lifting for you.

Going into week 3 I'm loving this diet, and learning a lot too.  I'm learning about what I need to succeed, and why other diets just haven't worked for me.  Honestly, except when I'm cooking, it's been so easy to stay on plan.

Journal - After the First Week

The first week has past, and the honeymoon is definitely not over.  My day on my own was fun, trying to duplicate Nutrisystem Tuna Salad.  I was happy with the results.  As I look in the mirror my face is noticeably thinner (I always lose it there first) and my stomach is flatter.  Most importantly I feel like I have more energy and I've only been marginally hungry a couple of times.  The good news is I lost 4 lbs.  Which
brings me to the subject of the scale.

Sometimes I feel like our lives are so controlled by numbers.  You should weigh this much, you shouldn't wear this anymore you are over 40, and the OMG it's your 50th birthday number.  Don't you hate those birthdays with zeros lol.  At the end of the day, I don't think the numbers are as important as what you are feeling and seeing.  I really don't care what the scale says but I do care if I dropped a pant size, and if I'm feeling younger and better.  Since the answer is yes to all the above I would say this week was a successful one for me.  If the scale isn't saying what you would like it to say, don't freak out.  Look for other signs of success.  If you have been on plan they should be there.  If not this week then next.

I'm looking forward to my cooking day on Saturday.  This week I'm doing pizza.  Stay tuned!

Recipe - Nutrisystem Clone - Tuna Salad

Today is my first Saturday and also my first eat Nutrisystem on my own day.  If you read my first Journey post you will remember I'm doing Nutrisystem 5 day kits from Walmart, cooking on the 6th day, then a free day on Sundays to enjoy with family and friends.

The first kit I had contained a Tuna Salad lunch.  I expected it to be pretty awful but it was in fact quite good, and reminded me of times past when I used to enjoy tuna salad more often. When I was at the grocery store yesterday I noticed that they had the little pouches of tuna on sale for $1.20 each, hmmmmm,
that would be perfect for my first clone recipe.  Here is a link to the tuna salad sold on Nutrisystem.  It is available from Nutrisystem as an a la carte item for $2.99.

If you have 10 minutes on your day off, or 10 minutes to spare the night before you go to work, then I have an easy and inexpensive clone recipe for you.  The tuna was $1.20, and the water chestnuts $1.00.  The rest of the ingredients are things you most likely have in your pantry.  There are enough water chestnuts for 3 servings of the tuna or for use in another recipe.  If you want to save even more money simply use onions or pickles instead, but to mimic theirs you need the water chestnuts.

Here is our target to make the perfect clone.  Our tuna salad should have 130 calories, 6.5g fat, 280mg of
sodium, 3g of carb, and 13g of protein.  The two basic ingredients here are tuna and mayo.  Neither has much in the way of carbs, the tuna having all the protein, and the mayo all the fat.

For this recipe you will need:

1 Starkist Low Sodium Tuna in the pouch 2.6 oz.
1/2T of mayonnaise or 1T light mayonnaise (50 cal. per tablespoon)
8 - 10 slices of water chestnuts roughly chopped
Fresh onion or onion powder to taste (optional)
Pickle relish to taste (optional)

1.  Chop chestnuts, and onions if using them.

2.  Empty tuna into bowl and add chopped chestnuts

3.  Measure out mayo or light mayo.  Break up chunks of tuna into smaller pieces and mix well with fork.

4.  Enjoy or pack for later use.  I served mine over bagged lettuce, accented with grape tomatoes, and baby      carrots.  Nutrisystem serving instructions say to add a small dinner roll which I did.

Ok, now for the math.  Our pouch of tuna contained 70 calories, 140mg of sodium, and 17g of protein.
The mayo if using full fat contains 45 calories with about 5g of fat, and about 40mg of sodium.  Then we have a few misc. calories/carbs from the water chestnuts, and onions or pickle relish, but not many.  With a target of 130 calories, we are where we need to be, with 17g protein for ours vs. 13g for theirs, and 5.5g of fat vs. 6.5g fat.  We came out great on the sodium too with just under 180mg.

Conclusion

I'm very happy with this Tuna salad clone.  By comparison, theirs was a bit creamier than mine.  If you like your tuna a bit sloppier and less meaty, then I would use the light mayo and go for a full tablespoon.  All and all it turned out great and made a full 2/3 cup serving.  That combined with the lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots as well as a roll made a very filling and satisfying lunch.

Review: Jimmy Dean Delights Breakfast Sandwich

If you have read my previous posts then you know I'm doing Nutrisystem on my own.  After starting my second 5 day kit, I'm really glad I didn't order 28 days directly from Nutrisystem.  I have always hated breakfast cereals, in fact so much, that my Mom had to feed me soup for breakfast instead of cereal even as a baby.  I'm not really crazy about some of their muffins either.

After going to the Nutrisystem site and viewing some similar items, I decided to find something that closely matched the nutritional profile of the Nutrisystem Turkey Sausage and Egg Muffin.  I chose Jimmy Dean Delights Canadian bacon, egg white, and cheese muffin.  The nutritional profile was very similar (in fact varied less than other Nutrisystem breakfasts), so I knew it was not off plan.  However, and this is a big however, it had nearly double the sodium of the Nutrisystem counterpart.

What I Liked

I liked the fact that it was portable and easy, and the flavor was quite good.  It's also not messy to eat and perfect for dashboard dining if you are headed out to work, or didn't allow enough time for breakfast at home.  I also love the price.  Just $4.98 for a box of 4 at Walmart.  This price may vary depending on the part of the country you live.

What I Didn't Like

The amount of sodium was a bit too high, which means I will have to limit my use of this product and keep a closer watch on my selections for that day to keep my sodium in line.  The other thing I didn't like was the English Muffin can get a bit rubbery so be careful not to overheat in your microwave.

Conclusion

The taste was quite good for a frozen microwavable item, but the sodium was a bit high.  In spite of this I will buy this product again, but limit my use of it due to the high sodium count.  It's a great value for the money and perfect for those like me who prefer more savory items for breakfast.

Journal: My Journey Begins

4 days ago I went to Walmart and purchased a Nutrisystem 5 Day Kit.  Today  I'm on my 4th day, so I went back to Walmart and bought a second kit, as I want to be prepared to continue with the diet.  In the past I've found that not being prepared is death to any diet, which is also one of the strong points of Nutrisystem, always having a portable, portion controlled meal, ready when you need it.

I've learned a lot in these 4 short days.  I have never been a sweets eater for breakfast.  I've always preferred savory dishes such as omelets or a bagel with ham or smoked salmon.  These home kits are heavy on the cereal and muffins.  The only breakfast item in the kit I liked was the bagel, but I'm not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, because there was a lot I did like.

Can you say Jimmy Dean Delights?  Yes, it's an extra purchase, but at $2.25 per meal for the kit items, I think I can afford it.  My Jimmy Dean Delights cost me $4.97 for 4 sandwiches.  That is actually  a buck cheaper per item than the breakfast items in the kit (taking an average price based on number of items divided by the price of the kit).  In a couple of weeks I plan on packaging up all the items I didn't like and selling them as a lot on Ebay.  I should recover enough to come out even with my extra purchases.

To make sure I didn't stray too far from the diet I did a side by side comparison with a similar item from the Nutrasystem website.  I compared the Nutrisystem Turkey Sausage and Egg Muffin with the Jimmy Dean DeLight Canadian Bacon, Eggwhite and Cheese Muffin.   Both are on a whole grain muffin with Jimmy Dean stating theirs had 10g of whole grains.  Calories were almost the same 200 for Nutrisytem and 210 for Jimmy Dean.  Jimmy Dean had a little more protein and a little less fat, but unfortunately, had nearly double the sodium. I guess that is something I won't eat every day because of the extra sodium.

With that in mind I decided to round out my breakfasts with Lender's Little Bagels.  2 of these minis have 130 calories vs. Nutrisystem's Honey Wheat Bagel with 170 calories, with the protein and sodium nearly the same.  The Nutrisystem had 9 more grams of carbs.  Here is the ta da thing, Lender's gave me 5 breakfast servings for $1.98 vs. $2.25 for just one Nutrasystem bagel.

For now, my go to source for Nutrisystem food is Walmart.  Later I may explore what Ebay has to offer or even look at purchasing some things from the Nutrasystem site a la carte.  I plan to take the things I don't like from the kit and sell them as a lot on Ebay.

So here is my plan.  5 days a week I will eat from the Nutrisystem kits I purchase at Walmart.  Day number 6 will be my learning to eat Nutrisystem on my own day.  I plan on cloning my favorite Nutrisystem dishes using supermarket foods and build a quick and easy collection of portion controlled easy to make recipes.


Day number 7 will be a free day to enjoy meals with family and friends.  I don't plan on going hog wild, but there may be some restaurant food involved.  A cheat day is good for the soul and also the metabolism, as it let's the body know it's not starving.

My next post will be my first clone dish.  Stay tuned!!

This is the program I'm following. I like it because if I want a dinner roll I can split my afternoon snack and eat only a power fuel and add the smartcarb (dinner roll) to my evening meal (see Day 5 dinner).  Since Nutrisystem has come out with some new shakes the new 5 day meal plan will not show this option.

Review: Nutrisystem 5 Day Diet Kits sold at Walmart

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.