Nutrisystem Jumpstart Final Results

Saturday was the final day of the Nutrisystem Jumpstart 5 day program. I have to apologize because I did not keep the containers and wrappers which have the nutritional value information on the final meals. Well, I did put them to the side, but someone threw them out, me, when cleaning the table. Diet brain I guess. Anyhow, for breakfast I had the Peanut Butter Granola Bar.

It was very tasty and as I've said in the past, their bars and desserts seem to be the best "meals" they offer.

For lunch I had the Loaded Baked Potato.

As you can see it comes in a cup. I don't know what it was loaded with other than sodium, potato flakes, and two bits of "bacon." The "bacon" bits were so hard I thought I cracked my filling. If you like boxed fake potatoes you'll like this...me, not so much.

I was supposed to have the Italian Herb Flatbread Pizza for dinner. Looking at the picture on the box I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I figured it had the same "bread" as the chicken pot pie did and that was inedible. I was not a fan of the tomato sauce either macaroni dish had and I can't imagine this one would have been different. At 270 calories with 580mg of Sodium and 21% of my daily value saturated fat allowance, I passed on it. Instead I went to Wasabi's and had a spicy tuna sashimi appetizer and shared half of a Sumo Roll. It was delicious! I also had two bottles of hot sake which was the first time I had alcohol in 5 days. Usually I could drink at least three small sakes, and couple of glasses of wine when I get home, but just the two sent me for a loop! Guess it was the lack of calories or something. I didn't even eat last night's dessert when I got home. I was so full from the sashimi, which usually never happens.

So what is the result of this 5-day diet? Well, I did lose six pounds, so Nutrisystem did make good on its five pound promise. Will I join the program and continue? No, I will not. The food is just not "healthy" enough in my eyes due to the high sodium and fat content of too many of its meals. If I was able to buy some of their products singularly such as the breakfast bars and desserts, I would go that way, but I have not seen them sold anywhere. I've also not seen any of their shakes that I keep seeing the commercials for on store shelves either. If anyone has, please drop me a line in the comment section or email me.

Would I recommend this 5-Day Jumpstart program? Yes, I would. By losing 6 pounds it has motivated me to lose way more. It has taught me to monitor better exactly what I am eating, the portion size, and ingredients. I have decided to continue dieting and am going back to one that helped me lose weight in the past...The Sonoma Diet. There are no pre-packaged foods...everything is made from scratch. I have to go with a list each day, or every other day, and buy exactly what I need so it is fresh. The preparation takes time so it's not an "easy" or "cheap" diet either. Frankly, I was a little turned off by Nutrisystem's meals since they did not have to be refrigerated or frozen. It's like eating astronaut food. The Sonoma Diet has a ten day plan to "jumpstart" the body as well. If I deviate from any of the meal choices I probably could substitute it with a Lean Cuisine after checking the nutritional values of a meal. They taste much better than the Nutrisystem ones, but I don't want to make my life all about eating pre-packaged foods. My husband has decided to join me on the Sonoma Diet which means my son will also, as I am not making three different meals a night, especially as these meals cost a pretty penny. The three of us need to lose weight. What about the girl? Well, that's a post for another day...let's just say gaining weight is not one of her problems.

I'll let you know how it goes, but not on a daily basis. I figure I'll weigh myself once a week to see if progress is being made. I started with the Sonoma Diet yesterday and stepping on the scale this morning reveals I did lose another two pounds, which brings the total to 8 pounds in one week. I wish I could lose 8 pounds every week, but I know that's not going to happen. If anyone has had success with any other diet plans, let me know. And good luck to all those who struggle with weight. It's a tough road, but the hardest part is taking that first step. And if you cheat once in a while, so be it...just work out extra hard that day...that's what I plan on doing!

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."--Thomas A. Edison