I am on the Nutrisystem Program and Loving it!

I am blogging my experiences on Nutrisystem on my personal blog, Carolyn in Carolina, but thought I would share it here as well. I partnered with Nutrisystem to slim down and get fit. They are providing me the food free of cost so I can lose weight and I want to thank them for it. I started in the beginning of August and after about 3 weeks, I have lost 5 pounds. The food is fantastic especially their new line of frozen foods. They are quick and easy to fix and except for a few items, I am enjoying the food a lot. I am learning about portion control and what types of foods I should be eating and not. I am not feeling hungry and I eat at least 6 times a day. I even cheated once or twice and still lost weight. My cheating just meant eating out but eating a little and not a lot. So I wanted to share my experiences so far here on this blog. I have copied 2 of my blog entries here for you to read. You can follow my progress every Monday on Carolyn in Carolina


It's Time to Get Fit Folks!
Let's face it, it's time I got serious about my weight loss. If you know me and/or read my blog, you know I am no skinny minny. Now I have never been a skinny minny either. But I have been skinnier than I am now. I am probably at my heaviest at this moment. Why? Let's be honest. I love eating and I hate exercising. That's the truth. I want to say stress has something to do with it but I am not that stressed anymore. I think both of us gained a lot of weight last year when we moved to North Carolina. We actually had about 4 months where we were eating out every day because we were selling our house, moving and then when we moved to Sylva we moved into a temporary house that had a caca kitchen so we continued eating out. I love eating out but it is deadly for a diet!

Plus, as you have seen, I LOVE cooking and I am not talking about cooking light healthy meals. I am like Paula Deen who thinks butter should be in every meal including salad. Then I am lazier than sin. People who know me, know this to be true. So being lazy and eating a lot = Fatty McFatty. Plain and simple, no excuses.

Well, I am going to lose weight now. Not because I want to be a skinny model type. I realized a long time ago I would never be really skinny unless I got some horrible disease or won the lottery and went to Beverly Hills and got the fat sucked out of me. Otherwise, it ain't gonna happen. But that's okay. I also learned a long time ago that I am very comfortable in my skin. I like myself and who I am. My weight only becomes an issue when my health is involved. And I am not at a healthy weight. I could stand to lose 70 pounds and be really skinny or I could lose 30 and be perfectly fine. I am opting for 30.

How am I doing this, you ask. I am going on the Nutrisystem program. Now I have been on the program before and it has worked for me. But if you don't change your lifestyle, you don't change your habits and you get nowhere. But I knew I needed help to get started. A good start has been the Wii. As evil as it is, it motivates me to do something at least everyday. Even if it's just a few stretching exercises, running for 30 minutes or even just playing tennis, it gets me moving and that's important.

I like the Nutrisystem program because it's easy. I don't have to do a thing except make sure I follow the plan. They provide breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. I provide the the filler meaning side salads, dairy or protein servings, veggies and fruits. Basically the food and the extras equal anywhere from 1,200 to 1,500 (depending on the extras and what you decide to eat that day) calories per day. That's a good range to lose one to 2 pounds a week. What I like about the program is that I don't have to think about weighing food, measuring stuff or cooking. I am on the Advanced program as well as the New Select program that includes frozen meals. I am not going into details because if you are really interested visit Nutrisystem and read all about it. The food is measured and color coded so I know what I am eating every day. Easy peasy, lemon squeesy. That's what I need because it makes me follow a plan. Otherwise, left to my own devices, I am so willy-nilly about what I eat.

Since I have been on the program before, I know most of the food is pretty good. Now to be honest they have some food that is not so good but it all depends on what you like. I had a friend who loved one entree while I hated it. It is a matter of taste. I actually like most of the food. There are very few things I wouldn't eat again. But overall the programs have some tasty meals. You can have cereal, scones, pancakes, french toast for breakfast. Lunches include pasta and chicken, pizza, soups and my favorite: rice and beans. For dinner you can eat meatloaf, ravioli, shrimp alfredo (I had this today and it was delish), pot roast and burgers. The best thing are the snacks/desserts that include chocolates, pound cake, ice cream and cheese puffs.

Now Tom is not on the program but that doesn't mean he won't be eating because I will still cook for him. He will be getting the usual stuff but I will be adding more salads and veggies to his meals. It's harder that he is not on the program but then again it's all about willpower and wanting to succeed. I have a choice whether to eat a salad or a sundae. Okay sure I usually pick the damn sundae but hopefully now I will go for the salad.

The program comes out to about $11 a day or about $330 per month not including the fillers like salad and fruit. It's pricey but it's a good way to learn how to eat better and about portion size. There is also a whole online community on the site if you need to find others to support you. Full disclosure here folks, Nutrisystem is providing complimentary food to me. I am blogging about my experience, good, bad or indifferent. I will be perfectly honest about the food and the program. But the results will speak for themselves. If I lose weight, then that's the best testament to the Nutrisystem program. If I don't, then it's not the right program for me but that doesn't mean it's not a good program. I have tried a lot of diets and I find this one to be one that has worked for me in the past. I want to thank Nutrisystem for helping me get fit.

Also, me being on the program doesn't mean you will hear about this every time I post, you won't. But it is part of what I am doing so you will occasionally get an update. You will see pictures of the food or me like you see pictures of my garden and veggies. Frankly, I can't wait. Damn, I have some clothes that I haven't worn since last year because they are a little too tight and I want to put them on again.

So we will have to see if I can do this and lose weight. I am not setting deadlines or going to push myself because one thing I learned is that you have to just do what you can.

I have before pictures that I might post soon but they are frightening so I might wait until I have a better picture if I lose weight. And don't be asking me my weight because I am not telling.

So peeps wish me luck on my journey. And if you see posts that are particularly snarky, bitchy or mean, it's the hunger talking. It's not me. (hee hee) And I can't wait until I can post a picture of a skinnier me. And I can't wait to see this stupid stuffed tamale Mii slim down as well.



____________________________________________________
Dear Carolyn. . .
I have been asked about the Nutrisystem program I am on. So I wanted to give some answers. I think I might update you weekly, probably on Mondays. I will just give you an account of weight lost and/or any interesting facts. People have asked me what I eat and how the program works so here goes. I have actually lost 2 pounds since I started last week. Yay!

Basically, I am eating all day. I was hit or miss on breakfast before but now I eat breakfast every day. I eat a Nutrisystem meal, coffee and a piece of fruit. If I eat cereal, I add skim milk. If I eat French Toast or Pancakes, I add sugar free syrup. I had French Toast, which is one of the new frozen foods, with fresh raspberries the other day. It was pretty good. The portions are small folks so that's why it is important to follow the meal plan. So I can have a fruit serving and dairy or protein with breakfast. A note about dairy and protein servings. You can have yogurt, a hard boiled egg, some lean meat, low fat or fat free cheese, milk, beans etc. You get to choose.

Then for lunch it's basically the same thing. A Nutrisystem meal, a salad, dressing and I can have a protein or dairy product. For lunch this particular day I had another of the frozen foods, a ham and cheese sandwich. I also had a salad and some cheese. Okay, the sandwich is really like one of those hot pocket things but it was good. There was something about the dough used that made me think of the empanadas I have had in Costa Rica. I loved it.

In the afternoon, I can have a fruit serving or dairy or protein serving. Sometimes I take those servings and transfer them like adding cheese to dinner or something like that. I try not to be too strict with myself but still try and follow the plan.

For dinner, again a Nutrisystem meal. I get two veggie servings which I usually toss into my salad since I can also have a salad. I also get a fat serving. That could be avocado, dressing etc. Mainly I am doing either a veggie or a salad. It depends what I am eating and how I feel. Again, I am having big salads so I feel like I am eating a lot. I would rather lose weight slower than to feel like I am not eating enough. This night I had the Nutrisystem Salisbury steak with Mac & Cheese. Then I sauteed up some of my squash as a side. The meal was quite good. It is also one of the new frozen foods. And I have to say that I LOVE the frozen foods. They are tastier than the non-frozen food. Although today for lunch I had some Vegetable Beef Soup and it was very tasty. But the frozen foods are so good and I am glad I get to try them. They make the program so much easier to follow!! Good going Nutrisystem.

Then I get a Nutrisystem dessert. This night I had pound cake with fresh strawberries and a dollop of Cool Whip. Cool Whip is my new best friend. I have to say I love their desserts. I had cheese puffs the other day and Nutrisystem now has ice cream! YUMMO!

Do I get hungry? I actually only get hungry late at night. I think it's because I stay up way too late sometimes. If I went to bed earlier maybe that wouldn't happen. But again, it depends what time I eat and what time I eat. If I get hungry in between meals, I go to the handy dandy meal plan and see if I missed anything. Like I can have a fruit with breakfast but sometimes I don't so I can have that when I get hungry. I also found that a piece of cheese, a few olives or a handful of almonds will take away any of the munchies I get.

For the most part, I am liking their food. I did have a cereal the other day and frankly, it didn't have much flavor and it was like eating rice cakes. I don't like rice cakes. Thank goodness I mixed it with a banana. But I will not order that product again. I find that some of the dry non-frozen food is hard to cook. Like the Rice and Beans I had the other day. I added boiling water to the bowl it comes in and let it sit but some beans were still a little tough. I finally put it in the microwave and it worked out.

I am exercising with the evil Wii and now just having fun dancing around the house for an hour or so. Yeah, it's a little weird but all people should just dance around the house every once in a while. I hurt my foot (and it still is sore and I have no idea what is wrong with it), so I stopped the Wii running. I am hoping I can get back to that. And I need to do more cardio because that burns the fat. Overall, the program is pretty easy to follow. I like most of the food especially the new frozen foods. I have lost weight. You can't tell yet but I know because usually the first place that I lose weight are the girls. And the girls are definitely down. I had to start using the regular scale to track weight loss. The evil Wii is so wonky on weight. Like I had said before the Wii fluctuates like crazy. I could be down 2 pounds one day and then up 4 the next day. I have no idea why. I think the scale will be a better tool to track the weight.

So I hope that answers some of the questions people had. I am sure some of you are like who cares but the blog is the place to detail my life so you will be hearing more.



_______________________________________________________

Short Post on Nutrisystem Progress
Hi all, just a short post to let you know I am down 2 more pounds because of the Nutrisystem program! YAY! I lost weight even though I cheated on Thursday for Tom's birthday. I am starting to see that the program is making me think twice about what I eat and really how much I eat. I think as long as I can keep the portion sizes smaller and fill up on the good stuff, I can cheat every once in a while.

I can't really write today since I am in mega prep mode for tonight's party. Let me tell you that is has been hard looking at all the yummy appetizers I have been making and preparing and not being able to shove them down my throat. I have been so good. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't have a meatball or two or three or four. Or maybe just one deviled egg. And I can have cheese and maybe not crackers but I might have a little teeny tiny taste.

But wanted to keep the updates going since I decided to do them every Monday! I am still loving the Nutrisystem frozen foods. I had some really great pizza the other day and I had some Nutrisystem chocolates, which I loved! I can't believe I can have chocolate!

Well gotta run and prepare for the party. I am all alone today and have to do so much!! Will post some pictures this week from the party if I don't forget to take pictures and if people allow me to post their picture on my blog! These are Tom's peeps so they might not be too savvy on blogs and such. But I will post pictures of FOOD!! Yummo.