A lot of you have written in and asked us to do a review on Nutrisystem. There are a lot of commercials about Nutrisystem, you see commercials for it it on everything from football games to music shows, but what exactly IS Nutrisystem?

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NutriSystem diets are designed for men, women, vegetarians, and elderly. There is no shopping, no planning, and no cooking. The plan offers dieters hundreds of entrees and desserts to choose from. These meals are selected out of a catalog for 28 days at a time.

What is Nutrisystem?

Once the food is selected, everything is delivered to your door in microwaveable pouches. For most meals all you have to do is add water and pop it in the microwave and you are ready to go.

The system ships out with 28 breakfasts, 28 lunches, 28 dinners, and 28 desserts. Dieters are encouraged to supplement the shipments with fresh fruit and vegetables from their local supermarket, but are discouraged to replace meals, and drink alcohol.

The program also comes with a planner that helps you track what you eat and also gives tips and advice on what to eat while dining at a restaurant.

How Does Nutrisystem Work?

The way the diet works is that the dieter is encouraged to eat five meals a day, which is said to help control hunger. These meals are pre-proportioned so the dieter becomes accustomed to proper portion sizes.

The schedule calls for breakfast in the morning, with examples of the foods offered for breakfast being apple cinnamon oatmeal, blueberry pancakes, and ham and cheese omelets.

For lunch an example of what is offered to eat are chicken quesadillas, a meatball and parmesan melt, and chicken noodle soup.

Snacks available are butter flavored popcorn and oatmeal and raisin cookies.

Dinner portions available are glazed chicken tenders, meat loaf and mashed potatoes, and thick crust pizza.

Desserts include a caramel swirl sundae, butterscotch pudding, and carrot cake. The menu is not limited to the foods listed; this is just an example of the variety of foods available to eat while on the NutriSystem program.

Is Nutrisystem Effective?

Many dieters experience success with NutriSystem because you not only receive healthy food in proper portions, but also because of the many extras that come with the system. The NutriSystem program comes with a 12 week, self guided “Mindset Makeover” behavioral guide that was written by a Temple University obesity expert.

Also, with the purchase of the meals you receive free, over the phone counseling from health advisors. NutriSystem also understands that exercise should be a part of any diet so a demonstrational exercise CD is included. NutriSystem is a complete program to help in your dietary needs.

The next in our series on diet reviews is the South Beach Diet. Developed by a cardiologist in search of a diet to improve heart function and blood flow, the South Beach Diet has become an overnight sensation in the weight loss community with its fast weight loss results.

The South Beach Diet assumes that the body does not know how to properly break down sugars and carbohydrates and they are the cause of most weight gain. South Beach consists of two phases, first a low carbohydrate “cleansing” phase that follows many of the principles of the Atkins Diet, and phase two allows you to re-introduce “good carbs” to your diet, and allows for more flexibility.

During phase one you are required to eliminate sugars and starches such as bread, cereal, sweets and fruits, replacing them with high protein foods like eggs, lean meats, fish, nuts high fiber vegetables and cheeses. Unlike the Atkins Diet, it is not recommended that you go overboard with high saturated fats as they contribute to heart disease. Phase one of the South Beach Diet lasts 14 days and will help you lose weight fast.

For those of us who crave sweets the South Beach Diet book recommends a number of cheesecake like deserts made custom for the diet! When you are completed with phase one, you will have broken your addiction to sugar and will be ready to re-introduce them to your body.

Phase two of the South Beach Diet allows you to re-introduce carbohydrates in to your diet, slowly. After the low carb phase, you can’t have all the sugars you want right away without ruining some of the effects, so start with a piece of fruit, or a slice of bread and gradually increase every day. No two people will have the same effects so it is important to monitor the effects of the carbs on your weight loss. Phase two continues until you reach your desired weight loss.

During this phase it is important to limit “bad carbs” like candy, sweets and ice cream. Notice however that you need to limit, not eliminate bad carbs so you are allowed an occasional treat, but just don’t go overboard. To get your carbohydrate fix, it is recommended that you eat fruits and high fiber products like old-fashioned oatmeal (not instant oatmeal), high fiber cereal and whole grain bread.

Much like the Atkins Diet, Medifast and Weight Watchers Diet, the South Beach Diet has inspired an entire industry of South Beach Diet products , which can act as meal replacements of snacks for busy people who are always on the go.

The South Beach diet combines a lot of promising diet principles, most notably that foods high in sugars and starches are the leading cause of weight gain, and can help dieters lose weight quickly. Unlike the Atkins Diet, which eliminates carbohydrates entirely, and is almost impossible to follow long term, South Beach teaches you to make good healthy dieting choices for the rest of your life. Don’t forget to check out the rest of our diet reviews to see how the other diets stack up.

The next in our series of diet reviews is the Body for Life diet. The Body for Life diet focuses on a book written by Bill Phillips. It encompasses many easy to follow principles found in many other diets, but promises fantastic results as quickly but aggressive exercise routines.

The Body for Life diet encourages dieters to eat six small meals a day on the plan. These meals consist of a portion of protein, a portion of carbohydrates and at least two servings of vegetables a day. As a point of reference, Phillips refers to a portion as the size of your fist… no more, no less. The logic behind the six meals a day is twofold. First, eating smaller meals grants the body to process food more efficiently, and doesn’t encourage the body to store excess food as fat. Essentially it is like giving a vehicle just enough gas to get to the next gas station. Second, eating more often will prevent you from being hungry and snacking in between Bigger meals.

An example of a typical day’s meal plan could be as follows:
• Breakfast – Egg Whites and Wheat Toast
• Mid Morning – Low Fat Cottage Cheese, Strawberries
• Lunch – Chicken Breast, Side Salad, Steamed Rice
• Mid Afternoon – Lean Sliced Ham, Apple Slices
• Dinner – Top Round Sirloin Steak, Baked Potato, Broccoli
• Late Evening – Tall Glass of Milk, Orange

Most dieter’s favorite part of the Body for Life diet is that one day a week is considered a “cheat day” where you can eat whatever you want. That’s right, pizza, burgers, cookies, etc. are all on the menu. Not only CAN you eat what you want, but Phillips actually encourages you to eat whatever you want. The reasoning behind the cheat day is to keep the dieter happy and preventing the body from getting too used to the diet and minimizing results. By eating high calorie foods one day a week you “shock” your body out of the diet for a short time, thereby maximizing the following week’s results.

Phillips references many EAS products in his book as good meal replacements for dieters too busy to prepare six meals a day. I have used EAS products such as Myoplex with great results and while they are not required by the Body for Life the diet, they are very swift and easy meal replacements.

The exercise portion of the Body for Life diet is quick, but high intensity which produces good results in a short period of time. The exercise portion follows the same six day schedule that the diet does (you get a cheat day in the exercise portion as well). You alternate days between 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise and 45 minutes of weight training. The training schedule is laid out in the book and is explained very well.

I found the Body for Life diet to be very effective, and most importantly, easy to stick with. My wife and I followed the diet together and we found that the cheat day really kept us motivated by giving us something to look forward to. At first preparing six meals is a pain, but when your clothes start to fit a Little more loosely, you will feel a lot more inspired. If you still don’t want to prepare as many meals, or don’t have time to prepare them the EAS supplement products are a good choice, but again they do get a Little pricy. Despite the cost, I did think they tasted good for a diet supplement so if you can afford to spend the money it is worth it if you’re on a tight schedule.

One tip for success… Since you are eating six meals a day, foods can become routine very quickly. It is very important to vary your meal schedule.

In summary, the Body for Life diet is fairly easy to follow, yet equally effective. As with most diets you are restricted on eating high fat foods all the time, the cheat day helps. Unlike the Atkins Diet, Body for Life isn’t an “all or nothing” style diet, so if you fall off the wagon all isn’t lost. Just pick up where you left off, and make up for it next time. Body for life is a great way to get the body you want through fat loss and cellulite prevention Most importantly, the Body for Life instructs you good nutrition and exercises lessons that are easily sustainable long after you are done dieting. you’ll most likely find yourself following these tips even if you don’t realize you’re doing it.

Our series on diet reviews continues with the Atkins Diet. Although its popularity has diminished in the past few years, the Atkins Diet it is still one of the most popular diets going. Developed by Dr. Robert Atkins and based on the book “Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution”, the Atkins Diet is a popular option amongst people looking to lose a lot of weight quickly.

Essentially the theory behind Atkins is that carbohydrates (mostly sugars and starches) are what cause people to gain weight. The diet focuses on cutting out carbohydrates by eliminating foods like bread, cereal and fruits, and focusing instead on high protein foods like chicken and lean beef and large amounts of “good fats” found in fish, nuts and certain oils like olive oil.

Normally your body burns carbohydrates for energy but when they are eliminated from the diet for a long period of time, the body goes through a process known as Ketosis where it transforms fat and fatty acids into energy and burns that instead. Since the body does not normally function in ketosis, it takes a few days

for a no carb diet to kick in, and a low energy period during that time should be expected.

It is important for Atkins dieters not to “cheat” with carbs during the diet, as this will return the body to its normal carbohydrate burning processes, and you will essentially need to start over with the ketosis process.

Essentially the Atkins diet is an “all or nothing” diet, even a small amount of sugar or starch can negate the effects of a few days of dieting. The diet has become so popular over the past few years that it spawned an entire industry of low carb products such as low carb bars, powders and mixes to help you maintain the diet, while having a treat.

The common criticism of the Atkins diet comes for its high fat content, and that a diet high in fat content can contribute heart disease and artery blockage. While this is a valid concern, the diet – when done properly – focuses on low saturated fats, however many people veer off course and instead eat foods high in saturated fats like beef and cheese. While dieters can see fast weight loss results by eating these foods, the risk of other problems down the line becomes a major concern.

Some people have a good deal of success with Atkins, often losing a significant percentage of weight in as little as a month. I have tried it, and had a decent amount of success initially but in my opinion, the Atkins diet is very difficult to follow. Unfortunately weight loss is even more difficult to maintain over a long period of time when carbohydrates are re-introduced back in to your diet and starting the ketosis process again takes a strong willed person which I am not.

I also found that the Atkins diet really sapped my energy levels to the point where I was not able to work out for more than a short period of time. To be fair everyone’s body responds differently to diets and I do know a few people who were able to exercise regularly on Atkins, but in my experience I had very low energy throughout the process.

In summary, the Atkins diet can produce great results in a short period of time but all or nothing diets can be very difficult, especially if you are not used to dieting. A more sustainable diet such as the Body For Life, Medifast or Weight Watchers Points would much easier for a dieting newbie to follow, and is certainly more sustainable over the long term.