Russ Smith

A few weeks back I went to my gastro doc and he weighed me at 196 and told me I'd gained 16 pounds since he first saw me 3 years ago(treating me for acid reflux). After an illness that really sapped my appetite, I was down to 187 pounds(about 3 weeks). He had suggested I needed to go on a diet to lose about 15 pounds and then go on the low cholesterol diet he put me on 3 years ago(which I clearly didn't follow).

he recommended Nutrisystems as the best "pre packaged" diet, said the portions and the relative nutrition of the diet were the best (assuming you eat the amount of fruits and vegetables on your own that they recommend).

So I sent away for 4 weeks of food(get a 5th week free) and started Monday.
This morning I weigh 184.5 so I've lost 2.5 pounds in the first 4 days. It's pretty obvious to me why you lose weight, the portions are VERY small. but I have to admit I'm not nearly as hungry as I would think I would be considering the portions. I've been drinking all the recommended water too and I'm sure that helps. I expect I'm still losing the "easy weight" that I'd gained in the last few years and my rate of loss will slow pretty soon(11.5 pounds in about a month since I saw the doc), but so far so good.

So far so good, they tout this "glycemic index" in all their commercials and I have no idea what that is supposed to be but I'm convinced the whole secret to them is portion size.

I'm restarting my workout program this weekend(now that I'm healthy) so I'm curious how that's going to work with the diet, will the exercise make me hungrier, typically it does, we'll see the impact now. My doctor wanted me to get back to about 180, my goal was 175, but considering my early success I'm now thinking it would be nice to get back to 170. I was 170 10 years ago when I had my first knee surgery, and I haven't been below 180 consistently since then.

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“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

marathon_mom

Good luck Russ!

Keep is posted on your progress. I've seen the commercials they have on now with the MEN that have lost weight on the program. 5 guys total & 2 or 3 mention how great their sex life is now. So, even if you're a fat slob, you should be gettin some action on this program.

No need to keep us posted on that part.

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Diets STILL suck!

Russ Smith

Quick update, 4 pounds lost in the first 7 days. I worked out the last 4 days and with the 4 pounds plus the 9 I lost before I started this diet, I can definitely feel the difference. If I wasn't having a minor heel problem that is preventing me from running right now it'd be really interesting to feel how the weight loss helps me running. But I'm just doing elliptical and bike right now until the heel gets a bit better.

My only real concern on this diet is I got 5 weeks of food delivered all at once and I've been pulling out all the stuff that looks "good" and eating that first. So ultimately I'm going to be left with boxes of food that didn't look "good" to me, and be forced to eat them. But I will say so far the only thing I ate that I didn't like was the eggs, they are essentially powdered eggs, not horrible but not tasty to be sure.

4 more pounds would put me at 179 which according to the BMI index is my ideal weight, personally my realistic goal is 175, and my ultimate goal is 170.

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“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

thirty-two

How much did this 5 week supply of whatever you are doing, cost you?

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Russ Smith

Roughly $330. That's for 4 weeks and they give you the 5th week "free", I'm sure it's really built into the cost but if you do that math on 3 meals a day(and desserts) for 5 weeks it seems like a pretty good deal. You do still have to buy fruits and vegetables on your own .

They have plans for men, women, diabetics, vegetarians etc. It's the only pre packaged diet plan I've ever tried so I have nothing to compare it to, but so far it seems to be helping me.

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“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

Linderbee

Bump....so, it's a month later; what is your opinion now....????

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Russ Smith

Funny you ask. I finished the 5 weeks of food 2 days ago. I started on it at 187 pounds having already lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks while sick. I finished 5 weeks later at 177 so I lost 10 pounds, roughly 2 a week.

I was on sabbatical for 4 weeks during that 5 so I was working out at 9am pretty regularly and I'm sure that helped. About 3 weeks in I was convinved I'd plateaued and wasn't going to lose anymore. But I'd lost enough weight that I was able to run more and do more on the elliptical(longer time and faster) and the weight started to drop again.

It's not perfect and to me the secret is still the portion size not the so called glycemic index, but I'm thrilled with the results. In basically 2 months I've lost 19 pounds, 10 of it on Nutrisystems.

I am fairly convinced that had I not lost that 9 pounds while sick I would have lost more than 10 pounds on Nutrisystems. The 9 pounds i lost was a lot of the "easy" weight that you can lose quickly on a diet.

A friend of mine has been on it for 10 weeks and lost about 25 pounds now, she's on the vegetarian version.


Now we'll see if I can control my eating on my own, and since I am back at work workouts are tougher to do regularly.

Very happy though, I haven't been under 180 since I think 98 when I had my 2nd knee surgery!

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“Your expectations always exceed outside expectations. I feel like you just can’t stop working, can’t stop getting better, because I’ll be a failure in my eyes before I’m a failure in someone else’s eyes.” -- Arron Afflalo

Linderbee

Well, congratulations, then!! I'm happy for you--I hope you can keep at it!!

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dreamcastrocks--My Hero!!

DeAnna

The glycemic index has a lot to do with it, as well as portion control. Since keeping your blood sugar levels stable will keep cravings and hunger pangs at bay, you can eat the smaller portions without feeling so deprived. So they do work in tandem.

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