Basically you just eat the foods that they send you, add in fresh fruit, dairy, or vegetables, and exercise as you see fit.   You eat three meals and two snacks / desserts per day.  The food is pretty good, but the gourmet and select line is a little better.  One thing that I find really cool about nutrisystem is that you do get to eat comfort type foods that normally aren’t allowed on diets – like pizza, tacos, ravioli, macaroni, chocolate cake, cheese puffs,  ice cream sandwiches, etc.   Many foods that are off limits on other diets are allowed here, as long as you eat their modified foods, many of which are not half bad.  They do allow you the option of hand picking your foods if you know of some foods that you like better than others.  I can’t think of any foods that are truly awful, but of course as with any diet, some are better than others.  One thing that really helps is the fact that nutrisystem allows users to rank their foods.  You can go on their menu and see how other people have liked or disliked the foods and why.  So, if you see a food with five stars, you can be relatively confident that this is a food that most people like.

You can also chose between the part time flex program and many of the full time regular programs, depending on how much weight you have to lose and how much time and money you want to spend.  Hopefully, the articles below give you enough information to evaluate if this diet is right for you, but if not, you can check out my free nutrisystem ebook here.  You can see the latest nutrisystem coupons here.

First of all, the chef’s line is technically included on the select menu on the company’s website. And, these meals ARE frozen and are inspired by celebrity chefs.  Also, unlike the previous frozen foods which have entrees in all categories (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts,) the new chef’s table entrees only feature dinner items.  Following, I will list what is new and will tell you what the current rating is for each entree.  Dieters have rated these entrees on a scale of 1 to 5.  Here is what is new: Tony Mantuano’s steak tagliata (almost 5 stars) and his ricotta crepes (4.5 stars;) Carmen González’s adobo rubbed pork (4.5 stars) and her arroz con pollo (3.5 stars;) Mark Estee’s butternut squash ravioli (4 stars;) Kent Rathbun’s citrus bar b que pork (4 stars;) and Michael Solomonov’s Moroccan chicken (4 stars.) As you can see, most of these entrees are rated very highly by users already and they haven’t even been out for that long.

If you want mostly frozen entrees and order the select line (which is currently on sale at $299,) you get the chef items included.  The basic or core package is on sale too at $259. And with that package, you get 7 free chef’s entree meals to try out.  People have been asking me which is best to order.  That really does depend upon whether you want significantly more frozen meals or if you are OK with the “soft canned” process with the regular or basic foods foods.  $299 is an aggressive price for the select line and you now get the chef’s line as well as the shakes included.  But the shakes are also included with the basic line.  So you’re looking at a difference of around $40 but you are choosing between frozen or soft canned entrees. Here is the current coupon for both. Order now and get 20% off Nutrisystem® Success™ plus get Chef’s Table™ entrees free with auto Delivery.

Additionally, Nutrisystem has  added a new exercise program called “my daily 3″ to help make fitting in exercise easier.  Plus, they have added new maintenance and transition plans.  In short, it appears that they have made all of their programs a bit more easy and inclusive.  All of the new items are already factored into the program meaning that they are free and won’t cost additional money.  So, you’re getting a lot more when you sign onto nutrisystem.  In short, I give it a thumbs up, especially the new celebrity meals and shakes.  Here’s a sample of the new creative.
Special Limited Time Introductory Pricing on Nutrisystem® Success™! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and protein shake—for about $9 a day!

I think that Janet Jackson will be a very good fit for nutrisystem.  But to me, the coolest thing about this partnership is that both the company and the celebrity have found a way to give back.  For every pound that all nutrisystem dieters lose (that’s every one – not just the spokesperson) the company will donate $1 in food to those that need it through a new venture / food bank called Nutribank.  Nutrisystem dieters lost 10 million pounds last year (wow!)  And the company  has committed to donating up to $10 million in food contributions to NutriBank in 2012.  That’s truly amazing and that’s why I love the partnership so much.   What an awesome collaboration.   This has the potential to help a lot of people.  Here’s a sample of the new creative.  I think it looks awesome!

Whether The Success Line Costs More Depends On How Many Chef’s Tables Meals You Want And Whether You Want The Frozen Or “Select” Meals:  As of this writing, the company is offering some chef’s tables meals and shakes with the core or auto delivery basic plan.  For example, the core or basic plan that is currently around $259 includes 7 days of chef’s table entrees as well as some shakes.  Beyond that, you get the soft canned foods on the basic line.  The core plan does not include the frozen meals on the select line.  However, some of my favorite meals are on the basic line including the pizza, the sloppy joes, and the pancakes.

Now, if you want more than 7 days of the new chef’s line and you want gourmet or frozen meals included in your order, then the select plan is just a little more at around $299.  With this premium, you get 10 days of the chef’s table as well, the new protein shakes, and your other foods will include frozen or “select” foods.   I have to admit that many of the frozen foods are quite good including the glazed turkey and the french toast.  So to answer the question, you are looking at around $40 more to get more of the chef inspired food and frozen food options instead of just the soft canned meals.

When I explain this, many people ask me if it is worth it to pay more.  I suppose that depends on your budget and how satisfied you are with the basic line.  I think that most people can find plenty to like on both plans.   However, the company often offers such deep discounts on the select line, that it ends up not being such a huge premium.  In this case, it’s not much more than an additional dollar or so per day.  I would say that this is worth it to me, but your opinion could certainly differ.  I think that if you ask this question to many different people on the diet, you might get several different answers.  But it might make you feel a little better to know that even if you chose the cheapest option (the basic,) you will still have access to the new chef’s line and to the new shakes.  But if you also want additional frozen meals, that will cost a little more.   Here is the latest offer for the new success line. Special Limited Time Introductory Pricing on Nutrisystem® Success™! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and protein shake—for about $9 a day!

It may make you feel better to know that the chef’s table meals are in line with the other meals on all plans, including the core or the select lines.  All of the meals are pretty low in calories and pretty high in protein.   For example, the steak tagliata has 260 calories, 22 grams of protein, 2 grams of fibers, and 18 of carbohydrates.   The whole wheat ricotta crepes have only 210 calories and 12 grams of protein, with 3 of fiber and 12 of protein.  The bar b que glazed pork is very high in protein at 19 grams.  And this entree only has 240 calories.  The arroz con pollo is also high in protein at 22 grams and only 270 calories.   Here’s one final example.  The Moroccan inspired chicken also has 22 grams of protein and it has 270 calories.

If you average the calories and protein of all of these meals, then you have an average of 250 calories and an average of 19.5 grams of protein.  Nutrisystem is designed for you to take in approximately 1200 calories on the women’s plan and about 1500 of the men’s plan.  So having an average of 250 calories at dinner gives you a lot of room for breakfast and lunch, as well as the healthy sides that you are supposed to add in at each meal. So long as you are reasonably careful about what you add in for your sides, you should not have any trouble reaching your daily caloric goals.  Also, it might help to remember that the folks at nutrisystem want you to succeed.  If you didn’t, then you wouldn’t keep buying the food.  Their whole goal is to make this diet simple so that you don’t have to worry about keeping track of what you are taking in.  Essentially, it is designed so that you can chose any of the entrees and be well within compliance.  It’s in their best interest to keep this diet easy, and I think they do a pretty good job of that.

If you have any questions about any of the foods on the nutrisystem diet or how the plan works, feel free to check out my nutrisystem celebrity review website.  There’s a lot of tips and tricks as well as the free ebook “Getting The Most Out Of Nutrisystem. For a free copy, (no information required) click here or you can visit http://celebrity-diet-review.com/

While it’s impossible for me to see into the future or to definitively answer this question without knowing what this person was going to be eating on her three days off, I do have some thoughts on this, which I will share now.

Nutrisystem Does Have A 2 Day Off Program That Still Offer Weight Loss If Followed Correctly:  The person who wrote to me didn’t realize this, but nutrisystem already has a plan for people who want to take some times off each week.  It’s called the flex plan and it allows you to take off two days each week.  Most people take advantage of this on weekends, but you can theoretically take any two days.  I’ve heard of pretty good results with this plan as long as you stay within the guidelines on your off days.  In other words, you can’t just eat whatever you want in any quantity that you want.  You can’t and shouldn’t just eat junk food.  Because if you do, then you could jeopardize the work that you have done all week.

When you are on this diet, you lose weight in two ways.  First, you are eating more protein and less carbs so your body burns more fat.  But you are also taking in less calories than you are burning.  However, if you take in many more calories than you are burning on your three off days, then, you are compromising those five other days.  Let’s look at it another way.  With the women’s plan, you take in around 1200 calories per day.  This is an estimate depending on which meals and snacks you chose.  This is a pretty decent daily calorie deficit for most women.  How many calories you burn depends on your activity level. However, if you are reasonably active, you should be taking in a good deal less than you are burning.  The question of weight loss with taking three days off depends on if you take in enough calorie excess on those three days to counteract the calorie deficit you have already created.

It appears that taking 2 days off is definitely possible as many are doing just that on the flex program.  But your success with taking 3 days off would likely depend on what you ate during those 3 days and your activity level.  I have vacationed while dieting and have still lost weight because I stayed pretty active and still ate reasonably healthfully.  Of course, I lost less weight during that week than I would have if I had been in compliance for all seven days.  But it’s my opinion that you can still lose at least some weight taking 3 days off if you are careful with your choices and remain active.  It likely wouldn’t be as much weight as you would lose during seven days of compliance, but many consider taking some time off to be a fair trade off for losing a little bit less weight, especially if they don’t have aggressive goals and only want to lose reasonable or gradual amounts of weight.

If you’d like more help getting started on nutrisystem no matter which plan you chose or if you are opting for full or part time, feel free to check out the free ebook “Getting The Most Out Of Nutrisystem,” which includes detailed tips and tricks, coupons, and motivation.  For a free copy, (no information required) click here or you can visit http://celebrity-diet-review.com/

For example if you take a look at the desserts that are included in the women’s core or basic plan, you’ll see that they’ve included 20 servings of various desserts and 10 servings of snacks.  So this gives you more dessert options than snack options and enough desserts for twenty days.  Also, keep in mind that many of the breakfast items could also be used as a dessert. Examples are the apple strudel, the chocolate donuts, and the cinnamon rolls to name only a few.  So even if you went with the favorites menu rather than customizing your own, you could probably still tweak the menu enough to come up with enough options to have a dessert every day.  Or, if you’d prefer, you can customize your choices and hand pick a dessert for each day.

But to answer the question posed, yes, you could theoretically have a dessert every day if you chose to have sweets instead of snacks. The diet is set up so that you can have a snack or a dessert each and every day (and this is on top of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.)  I thought that I would be one of the people who wanted sweets on a regular basis.  But once I tried some of the snacks, I found that it was nice to have the option of something salty or crunchy sometimes also.  Everyone is different, but I find that there are so many sweet options for breakfast, that sometimes it is nice to opt for a snack occasionally to have a change of pace. Here’s a link to the latest promotion, which an aggressive one, at 40 percent off.  Start Nutrisystem® Success™ today and get 40% off during our 40th Anniversary Sales Event!

There are breads suggested within the “smart carb” category, but they are specific types of bread like multigrain, oatmeal, pumpernickel, sourdough, pita, and whole wheat.  All of these choices have one thing in common.  They are not filled with white flour, sugar, or carbohydrates.  So while it probably wouldn’t be highly compliant to eat pure, processed white bread, you are going to be fine having a slice of sourdough toast or a dinner roll (as long as it’s whole wheat or another low carbohydrate option.)

Also, keep in mind that many of the prepackaged meals provided to you include bread items.  For example, for breakfast, you have the option of bagels, pancakes, french toast, scones, muffins, and biscuits.  For lunch, the burritos, wraps, melts, and quesadillas all include bread with the entree. For dinner, the fajita and enchiladas are also fair game. Desserts also include brownies and cakes, which might also meet this need.

So to answer the question posed, nutrisystem is not like a lot of diets that exclude any desserts, breads or carbs.  While they do encourage add ins that contain fiber, prootein, and are low on the glycemic scale, they don’t really exclude many foods.   It’s my perception that they really do want you to learn how to make your own smart choices, which is why they ask you to add in foods with each of their prepackaged meals.  Because think about it.  If all you ever did was just eat the food that they provided to you, then you’d never really learn how to make good choices at the grocery store.  Making good choices and learning to chose the right category of foods does become important once you loose the weight and go off of the diet.  Because this skill will allow you to keep the weight off for the long term so that you change your lifestyle rather than continuing to be on any diet.

Need more support on starting nutrisystem?  The Nutrisystem Review Website features videos, tips, coupons ($100 off or weeks of food for free), comparisons to other popular diets, information on the counseling, and FAQs related to success on this diet. She also offers a free ebook (“Getting The Most Out Of Nutrisystem”) to help you get started. You can visit her at http://celebrity-diet-review.com/.