Chances are pretty good that you’ve heard of the Nutrisystem diet plan – their commercials can be found all over your favorite television stations, and pretty much everywhere online. From Dan Marino to Marie Osmond, their advertising campaigns and brand ambassadors have become the thing of legend over the last couple of decades.
Not too long ago I found myself needing to lose about 20 pounds, and decided that was a good time to put the Nutrisystem diet to the test.
- Does it really help you lose weight?
- Was the the food good?
- Can you maintain your results over the long term?
- Does their diet live up to the hype?
In our Nutrisystem review I’ll answer all of these questions and more so you can decide if it’s the right meal delivery diet plan to help you reach your goals.
What is Nutrisystem: A Very Quick Overview
Contents
Nutrisystem is a meal delivery diet program, meaning when you sign up they’re going to send you most of the meals and snacks you need to get through the day.
Their food is designed to help you stay within a certain calorie range to ensure that you will lose weight. So as long as you follow the program (don’t worry, they send detailed instructions for how to have success) you can expect to lose between 1 to 2 pounds per week.
Weight loos results may be even better during your first month on the program – we’ll go in to more detail in their weight loss results below.
How it Works
Nutrisystem’s weight loss program can really be broken down in to a simple four step system:
- Pick Your Plan – Several options to pick from
- They Deliver Your Food – Pretty much everything you’ll need for a month
- Eat Their Meals/Snacks and Follow the Program
- Start Losing Weight
It’s pretty much that simple.
Those who like a done-for-you program, that pretty much holds your hand every step of the way, should appreciate the Nutrisystem approach to weight loss.
They have you eat several small meals and snack throughout the day, so you can avoid wild hunger swings and keep your cravings under control:
Eat 6 Times per Day
Nutrisystem will provide you with enough food to eat 6 of their meals and snacks over the course of the day. You can decide if you want them to provide a 5 day or 7 days supply of food. If you opt for the 5-day plan, you can use the NuMi App (more info below) to help you plan your meals and snacks for your off days.
Nutrisystem’s foods are considered low-carb, high-protein. They follow the lower-glycemic approach to weight loss, which is a dietitian-designed program to help manage your blood sugar levels and control your hunger.
They have a variety of meals, shakes, hydrating fat burners, and other snacks that are pre-made and ready to help you reach your weight loss goals.
You can also mix in fresh food and snacks with your Nutrisystem meals, and NuMi can help with that as well.
Sample Menu
Here’s what a typical day might look like on Nutrisystem based around some of my favorite Nutrisystem foods:
- Breakfast: Apple Walnut Oatmeal
- Morning Snack: Chocolaty Pretzel Bar
- Lunch: Classic Hamburger
- Afternoon Snack: Sweet and Tangy Meat Stick
- Dinner: Cajun-Style Chicken and Shrimp Saute
- Evening Snack/Dessert: Chocolaty Fudge Bar
To help you stay on track and follow their diet plan correctly, Nutrisystem includes the NuMi app as your go to resource throughout your journey.
Here’s a bit more about the Numi app:
NuMi App: How Their Free App Helps You Reach Your Goals
Once you’ve joined Nutrisystem, you can sign up for your NuMi app membership. It should be an essential tool in your weight loss arsenal, and will help do all of the following:
- Track Your Nutrisystem Meals and Snacks
- Track Non-Nutrisystem Food
- Set Up Smart Alerts – Workout, Water, Meal Reminders
- Get Daily Tips, Recipe Ideas, and Articles Centered Around Your Progress
Of course, you are welcome to work your way through the Nutrisystem diet on your own – it’s pretty easy to follow as it – but we strongly encourage using the NuMi app to help you on your journey.
It’s a valuable resource, and it’s free to use as long as you’re a Nutrisystem member.
Nutrisystem Food Taste Review
As you know, if you join Nutrisystem you’re going to eating a lot of their food, so one of the biggest questions people have is how does their food taste?
That’s a fair question – you’ll be potentially eating Nutrisystem’s meal and snacks up to 6 times per day, and potentially 7 days per week. Nobody would want to join if their food tasted bad, so one would have to imagine that their meals would have to taste fairly decent if they’ve been able to stay in business since the 1970s!
I can personally attest to how the Nutrisystem food tastes, so I can offer some real customer feedback based on my experience following their diet program.
Here are a few key takeaways that I can share about how the Nutrisystem food tastes:
- Meals are generally pretty good, so I would rate as excellent
- You’ll have some meals you’ll love, while others may be at the bottom of your list – their customizable meal plan will come in handy once you’ve figured out what you love and what you hate
- Sign up with the right expectations in mind – Nutrisystem meals are going to be more comparable to what you’ll find in the frozen food aisle of your grocery store, not your favorite local restaurant. That doesn’t mean they taste bad, but they’re not going to comparable to your favorite 5-star cuisine.
- Opt for their frozen food menu: If you want the best tasting Nutrisystem food, then you’ll want access to their frozen food menu. This is where you can select from their Hearty Inspirations meals, which I found to be their best meals. This requires for enrolling in Uniquely Yours or a higher-tier plan.
To summarize, Nutrisystem food tastes good but keep your expectations in check. If you go in to it with the right mindset then you should enjoy their meals and snacks.
Main Nutrisystem Plans
When it comes time to join Nutrisystem, you’ll have several plans to pick from. Each one offers a different pricing point and comes with different features and perks, but they all basically work the same way.
Here’s Nutrisystem’s current plans at the time of publication:
- Basic: 100+ Menu Choices, Nutrisystem’s Cheapest Option
- Uniquely Yours: 150+ Menu Choices, Access to Their Top-Rated Frozen Food Menu
- Uniquely Yours max+: Largest Menu, Access to Premium Meals, and MyFit+ Home Fitness Hub
- Partner Plan: Team up and lose weight with a partner
Plans for Special Diets
Nutrisystem has a couple of plans for people with special diets. These include:
- Nutrisystem Diabetes Plans
- Nutrisystem Vegetarian Plans
Diabetes Plans
The Nutrisystem Diabetes Plan is designed to help you lose weight, while managing your type 2 diabetes. They also claim that it can help lower your A1C, which is an important metric for folks with Type 2 Diabetes.
In addition to helping you lose weight, Nutrisystem says their diabetes program can help lower your risk of Type 2 Diabetes by 58% [1] if you lose just 7% of your body weight when following their program.
Vegetarian Plans
Nutrisystem’s Vegetarian plan is a great option for people who are looking for a meat-free weight loss option. They have over 90 meals and snacks that qualify as vegetarian, including some tasty options from their frozen menu.
Learn more about Nutrisytem’s special diet plans at their website.
Will Nutrisystem Work Without Exercise?
Yes, you can lose weight on Nutrisystem without getting much exercise. That said, assuming you’ve talked to your doctor and are healthy enough, a moderate amount of exercise is going to be encouraged as part of an active and healthy lifestyle plan. NuMi can offer help with this, as well as Nutrisytem’s new MyFit+ Home Fitness Hub…
What is the MyFit+ Home Fitness Hub?
Nutrisystem recently launched their new MyFit+ Home Fitness Hub for members of their Uniquely Yours max+ program. Here’s how it works:
- Live and recorded online fitness classes
- You can join live group workouts, or stream from a large library of recorded classes
- Classes for people of all fitness levels
- Professional fitness coaching from world-class instructors
The MyFit+ program normally runs about $20 per month, but is included for free if you join the Uniquely Yours max+ plan.
How Much Weight Can You Lose?
Weight loss results will probably be different for everyone, but according to the Nutrisystem website [2] most customers can expect to lose about 1-2 pounds per week when they’re following the program.
Results may be even better during your first month on the program, especially during your first 7 days.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what Nutrisystem says customers can expect, if they follow their weight loss plan correctly:
- Women: Expect to lose up to to 13 pounds and 7 inches in first month. 1-2 pounds per week thereafter.
- Men: Expect to lose up to 15 pounds and 7 inches overall in month one. 1-2 per week thereafter.
The 1 to 2 pound per week benchmark is one that has pretty much drawn universal agreement as being a safe and healthy number to shoot for.
Is the Weight Loss Sustainable?
Ultimately this will be up to you. Nutrisystem offers a plan that can help you lose weight over a period of weeks or months, depending how much weight you need to lose and how long it takes you to reach your goals.
Once you’ve reached your target weight loss number, there is going to come a time when you no longer need to be on the full Nutrisystem delivery program. You either don’t need to lose any more weight, or you’re ready to forge your own path by following a healthy lifestyle plan that includes making your own meals and snacks.
Either way, if you hope to maintain your Nutrisytem weight loss results over the long term you’ll have to commit to maintaining the new habits you’ve developed while following their program.
Nutrisystem offers a la carte meals and snacks that can be a great addition to your week meal planning efforts, and you can continue using the NuMi app to help track your meals, count your calories, and stay on track with your target weight goals.
Pros & Cons
Most diet programs come with aspects that you’ll love, and some that you won’t like, and Nutrisystem is no different. Let’s take a quick look at the positives and negatives, so you know what to expect before joining.
Pros
- Easy diet to follow
- Meal delivery makes it very convenient
- Pretty affordable in the grand scheme of things
- Food is above average
- Can lose a substantial amount of weight during first month
- NuMi app makes tracking and coaching easy
- Can easily incorporate fitness with their live and on demand workout classes
- Programs allows for making your own meals or going to out to eat
- Get control of your hunger cravings and learn healthy habits to keep the weight off
Cons
- Pretty significant up front investment
- Microwave meals aren’t for everyone
- Can be hard to juggle with real life at times
- Have to stay committed to lose weight and keep it off for good
Pricing Options
Nutrisystem’s monthly meal plans start at about $9.99 per day. Prices will vary dending on the plan and features you want. The Men’s program is a bit more expensive than the women’s, as the men’s program allows for a bit more food each day.
We go in to much more detail about their full pricing structure below:
- RELATED READING: Nutrisystem Cost: Is it Worth the Price in 2022?
Honest Nutrisystem Reviews: What Are Real Customers Saying?
Nutrisystem has been helping people lose weight since the 1970s, so they literally have thousands and thousands of reviews from real, verified customers.
Many of they are good, but there are some complaints as well.
Here were a few highlights from some of the positive reviews via ConsumerAffairs:
I have been using Nutrisystem for almost 5 years and I am very pleased with the food and the results. Most of my food tastes great. I go on the Nutrisystem plan every January and February and lose about 20 pounds. The food is convenient and the guides and journal helped me create a routine.
Weight loss is possible on this program if you stick to the suggested foods. I lost weight and then gained it back during the pandemic. Nutrisystem has gotten more expensive. You need to experiment to find out which meals you like.
This system is amazing!! It’s not only easy to use and fun but it works! Just look up the details. It’s got amazing qualities that will really make a difference! I am a great example and lost 50 pounds!
Very helpful with gauging correct portion sizes, timing of meals. Contacting monthly regarding changes in the 4 weeks shipment. Payment for the plan is automatic from the chosen bank account. Meals are preplanned for you, however you can make changes wash month. I did not find a need to alter the suggested plan.
Nutrisystem Bad Reviews
While there are plenty of happy customers, there are fair number of complaints about Nutrisystem as well. Many of them we read center on the cancelation policy (be sure to read the terms before joining), the shipping, and the quality of the food.
Here were a few Nutrisystem complaints via ConsumerAffairs we figured we’d share here:
The diet has helped me lose weight and learn to eat better without being hungry. BUT, understand what you are signing up for. Some of the food is way overpriced for what you get and IT COST $125 TO CANCEL THE PLAN. To my surprise, I got an email about my NEXT order. When I went in to cancel it, I found out there is no way to cancel it online. I had to go through chat and hear all the sales pitches only to find out it will cost me to cancel.
I order Nutrisystem 28 day meal plan. My intent was a one time order. Before the 28 days were up Nutrisystem sent me another order. I call them to explain my intention. They basically said I am stuck.
Just did not like the program not for me. I thought it was too expensive. I spent too much time working the program. I did not enjoy the food. It was tasteless and bland. It just was not for me. What works for some people might work for someone else.
There are plenty more reviews out there for you to read – both good and bad – and we encourage to check them out if you’re looking for more info about the program.
Summary
In my opinion, the bottom line on Nutrisystem is this – it works well for weight los if you follow the program. The food is pretty good for the most part if you sign up with the right mindset.
Keep in mind, this isn’t food you’ll be eating forever – it’s a temporary solution to help you reach your weight loss goal and learn the healthy habits you’ll need to keep the weight off over the long run.
For many people, they’re only on Nutrisystem for a couple of months.
When you sign up, remember that you’ll have to be on Nutrisystem for at least two months to lock in the auto-delivery discount and avoid an early cancellation fee – this seems to be a factor people miss based on some of the negative reviews I read.
Beyond that, the diet is a convenient and easy way to reach your weight loss goals and if that’s something you think you would benefit from, you can lock in some great deals at their website – get the full details below:
