Nutrisystem

Choosing Nutrisystem for Your Weight Loss Journey

Looking at Nutrisystem reviews and other ideas for losing weight is a great first step to leading a healthier life. Whether this is your first time considering a formal diet plan or you’ve used Nutrisystem in the past, there have been a lot of good changes happening to make it an appealing option for anyone starting a weight loss program.

What exactly is Nutrisystem?

The plan centers around delicious pre-made meals delivered to your door each week. You do get some flexibility to prep your own food some days of the week, plus you’ll receive tips and resources on how to successfully cook your own meals on days you don’t receive a pre-packaged meal. The bottom line is that Nutrisystem offers nutritious meals that are portioned controlled to meet your needs for weight loss.

Before you head to Nutrisystem to sign up, find out the details on the company, their plans, and how exactly you’ll start losing that weight.

Nutrisystem’s Background

Nutrisystem has seen many reiterations since its inception in the 1970s. They started off primarily selling weight loss shakes and while they still do, you now get a much more holistic approach to dieting and nutrition to support your habits every single day.

At one point, Nutrisystem also offered in-person weight loss centers to help give you the necessary support to stick to your plan. Now, however, you get all the resources you need at the tip of your fingers through your phone or computer instead of having to drive to an in-person meeting. These include things like tracking tools, online articles, and even community forums for an extra level of support.

In the past, Nutrisystem has offered plans like Lean 13 and Turbo 13 to advertise the amount of weight you could potentially lose in the first month. While they still say you can lose up to 13 pounds in the first four weeks, their latest branding is called FreshStart. The plan offers a well-rounded approach to your journey to wellness.

Today, Nutrisystem reviews regularly emphasize how easy it is to stick to the plan. Since meals are sent to you pre-packaged, you’ll receive the perfect proportions just for you.

How Nutrisystem Works

If you’re wondering, “does it really work,” learn more about what’s involved with Nutrisystem before you make the commitment. Here’s the premise. With Nutrisystem, you receive pre-planned meals and snacks delivered directly to your doorstep.

There are a number of different plan levels to fit your budget and lifestyle needs and portions are meant to provide you the best nutrition to help you lose weight quickly.

According to Nutrisystem, approximately 60% of your calories come from your meal plans each week. You’ll also need to go grocery shopping for some additional items such as fruit, vegetables, protein, and low-fat dairy products. These are used in conjunction with your pre-packaged meals to offer low-calorie nutrition. Think side salads, fat-free yogurt, and fresh salads.

It’s not as complicated as it sounds. Nutrisystem provides a grocery guide for you to follow so you know exactly what you need for portion control to see the best results.

Add Shakes

Nutrisystem has been known in the past for their weight loss shakes. They still offer this type of product, which can be included in your plan or purchased a la carte. You can save money by tacking on an order of FreshStart shakes to your meal plan order, resulting in a 50% discount.

Along with your first order, you’ll also get a free shaker bottle to enjoy your shakes on the go. These shakes are loaded with probiotics, vitamins, and protein to help supplement your meals. You can choose between chocolate and vanilla, or a mixture of both.

In addition to the FreshStart line, you may find limited time offers on their previous line of shakes known as TurboShakes. Whether you’re new to Nutrisystem or became accustomed to some of their earlier diet plans, there’s something for you if you like to include shakes as part of your weight loss program.

Resources and Support

If you ever have a question throughout your weight loss journey, Nutrisystem provides unlimited consultations with weight loss counselors and dieticians. They can help you figure out questions regarding your plan, or new ideas if your weight loss starts to plateau. You can even simply call for a bit of motivation.

There are also countless online resources to help you successfully lose weight, including a daily tracker to review your meals, water, and activity. You can also use their dining out guide to help you make smart choices when you go out to eat. For a truly interactive experience, sign up for Nutrisystem’s free mobile app, called NuMi.

Money Back Guarantee

Nutrisystem works for a lot of people, but for some people, it might not feel like a good fit. Because they’re so confident in the program, Nutrisystem offers a money back guarantee for new customers who sign up for a four-week plan. The return process is easy. Simply call Nutrisystem within your first two weeks on the program and send back whatever food you have left. You only have to pay for shipping and you’ll receive a full refund on your purchase.

This offer is only valid on your first order and it’s limited to one per customer. Simply call 1-800-727-8046 to start the refund process if for some reason you’re not satisfied. This gives you a back-up plan in case you’re sitting on the fence wondering if the food is good or if the Nutrisystem plan will really work. If you end up not liking it, you can simply send it back for the mere cost of shipping.

Plan Options

Nutrisystem offers multiple plan options for you to choose from. Pick how much food you want delivered and what types of food you’d like to choose from to get started. You can even get certain plans catered to specific dietary restrictions.

Here’s a break down of each option so you can select the best one.

Basic

This plan comes with the lowest Nutrisystem cost and offers you the flexibility to make your own dinners. You can order in four-week increments with deliveries each week. Here’s what’s included for each day:

• Breakfast
• Snacks
• Lunch

Women on this plan receive one daily snack while men receive two daily snacks since they need more calories. You can choose to either pick your meals or receive the chef’s choice, which is recommended for first-time orders. Plus, it will save you time and learn your favorite meals available through the program.

Core

The Core plan is the most popular option among Nutrisystem clients, providing the majority of your meals and snacks while still offering some flexibility to cook on your own or go out to eat. The first week is called FreshStart and helps to jumpstart losing weight. For each day of the first week, you’ll receive a ready-to-go breakfast, lunch, dinner, shake, and snack.

For the next three weeks, women receive breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack for five days. Men receive an additional snack each day. You then get to choose two times each week to prepare your own meals in each category.  

Uniquely Yours

Nutrisystem’s top-rated program, Uniquely Yours closely resembles the Core plan in terms of how much food you receive, but the difference is that you get to choose between both ready-to-go meals and frozen meals. This options also comes with a much wider selection of meals to choose from, making it a favorite among many Nutrisystem users.

The FreshStart week comes with pre-planned meals and snacks for each day of that first week. Then you’ll receive five days of Nutrisystem meals, allowing you to integrate your Flex meals at your choosing. Like the other plans, male customers receive one additional daily snack than women do in order to meet their caloric needs.

Uniquely Yours Plus

Nutrisystem’s newest option, Uniquely Yours Plus is a bit more expensive than the standard Uniquely Yours program. That’s because you get FreshStart probiotic shakes included with your plan. These are in addition to the meals and snacks you would already receive with the regular Uniquely Yours plan.

You can use your FreshStart shakes either as snacks to fill in for those you’d normally buy yourself from the grocery store, or in addition to your current diet plan. Plus, many people use one of these shakes as a tasty treat that’s actually good for you.

Specialized Meal Plans

Nutrisystem is sensitive to the fact that many individuals seeking to lose weight also have some dietary restrictions. With that in mind, they’ve created quite a few specialty plans that you can pick from if you have certain food needs. If you’re vegetarian or diabetic, here’s what to expect when you go on a Nutrisystem diet.

Vegetarian Plan

You don’t have to give into a meat diet in order to lose weight with Nutrisystem. There are over 90 vegetarian meals you can choose from. Plus, they’re all approved by dieticians to make sure you’re getting all the nutrition you need each day. Example meals include pancakes for breakfast, an egg white spinach crepe for lunch, and stuffed shells with sautéed spinach for dinner. For dessert, you could opt to enjoy a chocolate brownie bar. With such a wide variety, you definitely won’t get bored eating vegetarian meals with Nutrisystem.

Plans for Diabetics

Even people struggling with diabetes can successfully (and healthfully) lose weight with Nutrisystem. You actually have a large amount of flexibility in your selections, with diabetic options for the Basic, Core, and Uniquely Yours plans.

Nutrisystem helps you to manage your Type 2 diabetes and can even decrease your A1C by 1.02%. The meals on these plans are low-glycemic, helping you to avoid sugar spikes throughout the day.

Some samples of meals to expect with Nutrisystem-D include apple cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast, cheese tortellini with sliced vegetables for lunch, rotini and meatballs with a side salad for dinner, and even a peanut butter cookie for dessert. Take comfort in knowing you can eat delicious food while actually working towards a more healthful lifestyle.

Examples Meal-by-Meal

If you’re looking for Nutrisystem reviews telling you exactly what you’ll eat while on the Nutrisystem diet plan, you can find out some general choices here. Remember, you can either opt for the chef’s choice to be surprised each week, or pick and choose your favorites.

Here are sample meals you can expect to enjoy through Nutrisystem.

For Breakfast:

• Double chocolate muffin and almonds
• Cherry cheese roll with low-fat milk
• Canadian bacon and egg muffin with cottage cheese
• Turkey ham and cheese omelet with fruit and plain yogurt
• Homestyle pancakes with latte

For Snacks:

• Plain yogurt
• Apple slices and peanut butter
• Pistachios
• Low-fat cheese and grapefruit (or whole-grain crackers)
• Almond butter and celery sticks

For Lunch:

• Grille chicken sandwich with mixed greens
• Hamburger and celery sticks
• Four cheese melt and cucumber slices
• Chicken fajita melt and bell pepper slices
• White cheddar mac and cheese with sugar snap peas

For Dinner:

• Pork tenderloin with roasted sweet potato and green beans
• Margherita pizza and carrot sticks
• BBQ seasoned chick with roll and mashed cauliflower
• Creamy chicken broccoli pasta with sautéed veggies
• Four cheese manicotti and sautéed spinach
• Bean Bolognese and mixed greens

For Dessert:

• Stuffed apple pie
• Lemon zest cake
• White cheddar popcorn
• Chocolate chip cookies

Track Your Progress

Nutrisystem’s NuMi app lets you track your meals plus get free recipes and tips to inspire you throughout your weight loss journey. One of the biggest perks of using the app is an entrée database that allows you to scan items to log them into your account. You can log things such as:

• Food
• Drinks
• Weight
• Activity

In addition to being able to search for fitness recommendations that are customized just for your skill level, you can also make it even easier to track by syncing your NuMi app with devices like Fitbit, Apple Health, and Jawbone.

When you sign up with NuMi, it pairs with your Nutrisystem plan to make recommendations tailored to your weight loss goals. You’ll see how many calories you have left for the day compared to your goal. It also shows how many calories you’ve consumed through food and how many you’ve lost through activity.

If you’re eating out for one of your flex meals, you can quickly search the menus of more than 300 restaurants across the country to easily track your calories. You can also review your progress throughout your weight loss journey, with helpful graphs depicting your starting weight, current weight, and goal weight.

As a NuMi user, you’ll get exclusive access to contests, prizes, and other special offers. You’ll even receive a free gift just for downloading the app. Nutrisystem reviews for the NuMi app are quite positive, plus it’s free with your membership so it’s worth downloading as part of your weight loss plan.

Finally, one of the best perks of NuMi is that you can earn discounts to the Nutrisystem cost of your next order by consistently logging your details. This can equate to major savings, especially if you like to order a la carte options from Nutrisystem. NuMi is available for download both in Google Play and the App Store.

Physical Activity

Wondering if you need to exercise as part of your diet program? Nutrisystem does recommend incorporating physical activity into your weight loss plan. Not only does it help shed the pounds faster, it’s also better for your overall health and well-being. Their recommendation is 150 minutes each week of activity that’s considered “moderately intense.”

Nutrisystem membership comes with the My Daily 3 plan. This guide helps you reach a goal of 30 minutes each day and focuses on your metabolic burn to really get your weight loss in motion. You can choose to do all 30 minutes at once or break up your working into 10 to 15-minute increments throughout the day. Start off with My Daily 3’s 2-week activity agenda for inspiration if you don’t already have an exercise program in place.

After that, you can start the 2-week plan over again or move on to a different workout plan of your own choosing. The goal is to find something you enjoy so you truly stick with it in the long-term. Paired with healthy eating, you’ll be well positioned for lasting weight loss success.

How Much Does Nutrisystem FreshStart Cost?

You’ll get the best price on your Nutrisystem cost if you sign up for auto deliver in four-week increments. With this option selected, women can expect to spend between $240 and $340 a month, while men can expect to spend between $275 and $380 each month.

Without enrolling in auto-delivery, you could pay as much as 35% more than these ranges. Price also varies by plan, since each one comes with different menu options and amounts of food.

That may seem like a lot of money, but Nutrisystem really takes the guesswork out of eating well to lose weight. For even more savings, on your Nutrisystem meal plan, Dieting.org offers an exclusive $100 off coupon for your first order.

Between that deal and the money back guarantee, there’s little risk involved to try the program out. It’s simply a matter of reviewing the plan options and finding the one that looks the most enticing.

Is Nutrisystem Right for You?

Nutrisystem is definitely designed for people who truly want to lose weight. While the cost of Nutrisystem may seem high, it may actually end up being budget-friendly if you frequently opt to eat out because you don’t know what to cook. Plus, you can stop worrying about whether or not you’re eating too many calories each day since all the hard work is done for you.

Because Nutrisystem now also offers plans for vegetarians and diabetics, you can lose weight while still addressing your dietary restrictions. If you’re gluten-free or vegan, you may have more difficulty finding meals that work for you.

For most people, though, Nutrisystem provides a safe, healthy way to learn how to portion your meals in a way that is effective, convenient, and delicious.

Frequently Asked Questions