Nutrisystem

No health, diet and weight maintenance website would be complete without a look at one of America's most popular diet food delivery companies, Nutrisystem.

The very name is synonymous with convenience dieting in a package that leaves very little to the dieter to do apart from eat and lose weight.

But that is not the whole story and this article will take a closer look at what this diet program consists of and how it works as well as it does.

What Nutrisystem Is

What this diet program is, or more correctly what its main attraction brings to mind can be summed up in a short phrase: "Convenient dieting made simple." It is the perfect diet for busy people who have scant free time to devote to a more conventional way of dieting and also appeals to those who can't or won't cook or who simply don't have the will to work on anything more complicated.

It is a home delivery diet that comes in a box, delivered to the home of the dieter which they unpack, store the individual meal packs and then get started eating them one by one as per the instructions that come with the package. There is no cooking or meal preparation necessary and it's the closest thing to the utopian dream of a "just add water" diet for losing weight.

The main meal of the day comes with a small sweet dessert to satisfy the sugar cravings of most people in the situation where they need to lose weight and in need of this solution. There are two additional snack bars that can be eaten between meals to help stave off any hunger pangs or to overcome the need to snack on something, which is a habit of many overweight people.

There is also a protein shake that can be had anytime and is also good for eliminating any feelings of hunger between meals while also helping to increase metabolism with the increase in proteins.

Meals are balanced nutritionally between proteins, carbohydrates, fats and dietary fiber, are low in calories and are relatively healthy in nature, although there is added salt and other additives to meals to improve the taste and texture (a common trait of many processed foods in general).

What Nutrisystem Is Not

What this diet program is not is a "collection of gourmet meals for lazy people." The meals are varied and in most cases very tasty and interesting, but they are also predominantly processed meals with some freeze dried packet meals and better quality fresh frozen meals in the mix.

For anyone who is used to eating home cooked meals made from fresh ingredients, in keeping with the "mama used to make" adage, then this diet will stretch them gastronomically. Many people in this situation do not like the taste or texture of processed meals in general and they will similarly not much like the meals provided by Nutrisystem.

It is also not a quick fix or a magic bullet for losing weight. Most dieters experience a gradual reduction in body weight over time. But the large amounts of weight loss experienced by the people who are often used to help advertise and promote the product are not the norm and often achieved over long periods of several months.

To lose an appreciable amount of weight with this diet, it must be done in the full knowledge that around only one to two pounds per week of weight lost should be expected. To lose weight faster is not generally recommended by experts in any case, but to bring that about, additional work must be done in the form of daily exercise.

The more exercise and the harder the workout each day, the more weight can be lost. But even in this instance, weight loss will not be as rapid as some may believe. That's because tough workouts result in muscle growth and while this is highly desirable as a way of burning more energy (calories), muscle tissue weighs more than fat tissue by volume.

So while exercise will tone up the body and create a slimmer appearance, it will reduce the rate of body weight loss. The loss of fat will increase while the growth muscle similarly increases cancelling each other out effectively from a weight-in-pounds perspective. But the benefits of being able to wear smaller size and often more fashionable clothes more than makes up for this slight setback!

The Cost

On a brighter note, the cost of dieting with Nutrisystem can actually work out no more expensive than eating a bad diet of food that is responsible for the weight gain. This is because the diet provides all the food that a dieter will need, negating the need to buy any additional food from the store (although Nutrisystem do recommend the addition of some vegetables and low fat proteins for those who feel the meals are too small).

For more information on all aspects of this popular, convenient diet program, please visit this excellent external resource all about Nutrisystem Stuff and how it might help you to lose weight and improve your health.