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Did you #PledgeToLose This Year? Then Get Ready to WIN!!

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Did you make a resolution to improve your health this year? I did, and I’m down 4 pounds and more importantly, working out 6 days a week, on average. I’ve also majorly increased my water intake.

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photo credit: blacklerphotos via photopin cc

Did I do these things because I’m amazing and have incredible willpower and discipline? Oh heck no! In fact, my lack of discipline is what got me into the situation where I needed to shed some weight! But let me tell you what IS helping: being part of a group of like-minded people who are also working on their goals. Having a place I can go to talk about my goals, my challenges and to share ideas and offer encouragement with other people who will do the same thing has made all the difference between me succeeding (I did 3 miles on the treadmill just last night!) and giving up by the second week in January like I do every other year.

Contest Alert

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One great resource for people looking for a system and for support is Nutrisystem. And right now they are hosting the Nutrisystem Pledge To Lose Contest. I just entered and it took me all of 30 seconds. You simply need to provide your name, email and the reason why you pledge to lose this year. You are then entered to win a 3 month membership to Nutrisystem. The accountability group I’m in actually ends in mid-February, so I’m gonna be real here: I REALLY want to win! But I also want you to win, and fortunately, they are giving away several great prizes, so I’m spreading the word so that anyone with interest can have a shot at a great prize.

If you want to get an advanced peek at the great resources and support Nutrisystem offers, do what I just did and Join Nutrisystem on Facebook. I’m impressed with the great content they are posting there, and I love seeing all the support and encouragement they are so quick to offer to folks leaving comments!

You can also check out the Nutrisystem Diet Plans to see just how much variety is available. I’m impressed by what they have to offer, and you just might be, too! Take a look and leave me a comment about your health-related goals. I’d love to hear about them and cheer you on!

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And the Crowd Goes Wild: Nutrisystem Frozen Desserts

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So far I’ve told you all about my experience trying out Nutrisystem’s frozen breakfasts, lunches and dinners. I have saved the best for last, because today I’m telling you about their desserts.

During my 10 day challenge, I tried the following items:

  • Caramel Swirl Sundae
  • Fudge Swirl Sundae
  • Ice Cream Sandwich
  • Orange Creme Bar
  • Creamy Fudge Bar

In my previous posts, I gave every item a star rating. There’s just no need to do that in this post because EVERY. SINGLE. DESSERT. WAS. AWESOME!!!!

Each dessert on the list above tasted indulgent, sweet, creamy and just great. AND…they all hover right around 100 calories! Nutrisystem, you have totally outdone yourself with the desserts. I just can’t recommend them highly enough for anyone out there with a sweet tooth but who wants to watch their calorie intake.

So in conclusion, here are some of my basic thoughts about Nutrisystem after trying it out for 10 days.
1. It was SO nice to not have to cook! Nutrisystem certainly offers a very convenient approach to making healthy eating choices, since there’s no real cooking involved for you, and once you place your order, the food is even delivered to your house. When you are pressed for time (and who out there isn’t?) that is a plus.

2. With that said, some thought needs to go into what other items you will have on hand to add to your meals, as the Nutrisystem food by itself doesn’t provide you with enough fuel to get you through the day. I didn’t have a good plan in place for this, and as a result, I didn’t actually lose weight.

3. Going along with that point, it is always important to remember that diet alone is not the key to achieving a healthier lifestyle. Exercise and in many cases doing a bit of deep digging into your personal thoughts and feelings are all necessary components for lasting change. I like that Nutrisystem has created an extensive online community to help out in all those areas.

4. I only tried a sampling of the food that Nutrisystem has available. I would be very curious to try out some of their non-frozen options, as well. While not everything I tried was a winner, many things were quite tasty, so I would be willing to try out more of their food in the future! And the desserts have an open invitation to come live in my freezer!

Disclosure: I participated in a 10 day challenge with Nutrisystem and received complimentary products in exchange for my honest opinion.

Dinner with Nutrisystem: Part 3 of my 10 Day Challenge

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Be sure to check out parts 1 and 2 of my 10 Day Challenge with Nutrisystem to get the scoop of breakfast and lunch offerings (and my honest opinions about what is and isn’t worth eating!).

Now we turn our attention to dinner. I have to say, overall, the dinners surprised me in a positive way. For the most part, all the dishes I tried had the look of traditional tv dinners…which I typically do not like at all. So I was seriously nervous about eating these, fearing that they would all be awful. Here’s what I thought about each of the dishes I tried (and remember, Nutrisystem’s dinner offerings are far more extensive than what I’ve listed here!).

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Shells: Honestly? My review is “ick.” I give this 1.5 out of 5 stars. I found the shells to be chewy, the sauce to be too acidic and the meal to just leave me feeling totally unsatisfied.

Ravioli Formaggio: 2 out of 5 stars. This is just a slightly better version of the dish above.

Glazed Chicken Tenders: 2.5 out of 5 stars. The chicken was boring, but the side of green beans with almonds was surprisingly delicious. If you like chicken and green beans, I think this one is worth trying.

Salisbury Steak with Macaroni and Cheese: 3 out of 5 stars. The macaroni was super bland. I’ll be honest: I added salt to it to try to improve the flavor, and that only helped marginally. I gave the mac and cheese to my toddler, who liked it just fine. The steak, on the other hand, was very flavorful and quite tasty. I would definitely eat the steak again!

Roast Turkey Medallions: 3.5 out of 5 stars. I wouldn’t call this dish especially memorable, but I liked it just fine. I thought the flavor was good and the mixed veggies tasted pretty good. I’d recommend trying this one out!

Asian Style Beef: 3.5 out of 5 stars. I feel the same way about this dish as I do the Roast Turkey Medallions. Everything tasted good. Not excellent, but definitely not bad. I would order it again. It’s a great choice for when you are craving Chinese food!

Turkey Pepperoni Pizza: 4 out of 5 stars. As noted in my lunch posts, I think the Nutrisystem pizzas are quite good. This one was no exception. The crust and the flavor were both excellent. This one is a definite winner.

Chicken Alfredo: 4.5 out of 5 stars. This one took me by surprise. Chicken Alfredo, in general, is a dish I only like “ok” and I always think of it as exceptionally heavy. I was very curious about how Nutrisystem was going to approach this dish and make it healthy while still having it even resemble its inspiration. Wow, they NAILED it! It wasn’t that gross kind of heavy, but I’m telling you, it definitely tasted indulgent. I actually went back and re-read the nutrition information, because I was so sure that it was going to be loaded with calories. Nope! It’s 260 calories, but tastes like 600.

I’ve got one more post coming up for you, and it is all about the desserts. I have many, MANY wonderful things to say about the Nutrisystem desserts, so stay tuned!

Disclosure: I participated in a 10 day challenge from Nutrisystem and received complimentary products in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Skinny on Nutrisystem Food: Lunches

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If you missed my first post on Nutrisystem, be sure to check it out here (I give you my opinion about their frozen breakfast offerings!).

The frozen lunches I tried on my 10 Day Challenge were a mixed bag. Some were absolutely fantastic, and others were, well….not so much. See what I thought about each meal below!

Chicken Quesadilla (1.5 out of 5 stars). This was the greatest disappointment in the bunch. I assumed that it would be one of my very favorites, but I found the filling to be just a strange, mushy mess. I didn’t even finish it! Definitely leave this one on the Schwan’s truck if you place an order.

Steak and Cheese Melt (3 out of 5 stars). This was definitely not bad, but the filling was just a bit too brothy for my personal tastes. It isn’t something I would order again.

Toasted Ham and Cheese (3.5 out of 5 stars). Really my only complaint about these hot pocket alternatives is that they were a bit on the dry side. Otherwise, I found them to have good flavor and to crisp nicely in the toaster oven. I’d say that these are worth a try.

Meatball Parmesan Melt (3.5 out of 5 stars). This was another dish that tasted a little bit too brothy, but even with that said, I found it to be tasty, and was genuinely surprised that this was a low calorie dish. If you like Meatballs, try this one out, for sure.

Roasted Veggie Pizza (4 out of 5 stars). The crust on this pizza is delicious. I don’t care for many of the vegetables on this pizza, but the crust was so good, I ate them, anyway. I think that is saying something!

Margherita Pizza (4 out of 5 stars). The pizza tasted fabulous. I will say that the amount of sauce on the pizza was almost laughable (see how it is just dotted on in the picture?). But, the taste was great, so maybe the lesson here is that you really don’t need very much sauce to achieve a great flavor.

Chicken Fajita Melt (5 out of 5 stars). This was definitely my favorite. The chicken pieces in the dish were wonderful. This really and truly reminded me of a hot pocket. It tasted downright indulgent. I would very strongly recommend this to anyone, dieting or not! It’s just that good!

Are you wondering how you go about ordering Nutrisystem food? There are several options! Check out Nutrisystem.com for several different plans they offer for men and women. Note that the prices they are offering for getting started with the program are the lowest they have been since 2003…8 years ago! If you’d prefer to just shop a la carte and give a few of their dishes a try, that is also an option; just click here. Food is typically delivered through Schwan’s.

In a few days, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on dinners from Nutrisystem. Yes, there were a few bombs, but there were also quite a few OUTSTANDING choices. Stay tuned! 🙂

Disclosure: I participated in a 10 day challenge with Nutrisystem and was provided with complimentary products in exchange for my honest opinions.

Nutrisystem 10 Day Challenge: My Thoughts

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I recently applied for a very cool blogging program put out by Nutrisystem to join their program for four months. You see, I’ve been about 20 pounds overweight….for FOREVER. It just seems to be where my body likes to hang out (no, I don’t think it is all genetics…it most definitely has to do with my eating and exercise habits, or lack thereof). You can imagine that the response they got when they made the call for bloggers was overwhelming, and yours truly wasn’t selected for the campaign. However, they did offer to let me do a 10 day challenge with them and tell you all about my experience. I thought it sounded like an awesome opportunity, so I jumped on it!

Please watch my video (just 3 minutes) where I give you the skinny (tee hee) on the program and an EXCELLENT free tool from Nutrisystem!

The app I mentioned in the vlog is wonderful and wonderfully free! You can download it here.

Ok, so now it is time for me to give you the scoop on the breakfast foods I tried from Nutrisystem. Please note that what I tried is not even close to their full breakfast menu, and I can only speak for what I have sampled.

My overall thought is that if I were to use Nutrisystem to help me lose weight, long term, I would probably skip most of their frozen breakfast offerings. No, I would NOT skip breakfast (this is a terrible idea, dieting or not!). I’m just more of a cereal gal, and many of the meals I tried were egg-based, which just isn’t my thing. If it is your thing, then they do have several good choices! I would also try their oatmeal, as I personally find oatmeal to be really filling.

Here’s what I did try:

  • Garden Vegetable Omelet (2.5 out of 5 stars…I really don’t like red and green bell peppers, which are in this dish)
  • Golden French Toast (2 out of 5 stars…tasted fine, but really, it was just a piece of lightly sweetened frozen bread)
  • Breakfast Burrito (3 out of 5 stars, though I suspect folks who like eggs will find this one to be a winner, as it is quite filling)
  • Ham and Cheese Omelet (3 out of 5 stars)
  • Homestyle Pancakes (4 out of 5 stars…the portion size is disappointing, but I guess what I’m realizing is that I eat much larger portions than I really need. The pancakes heat up nicely and are rockin’ with a serving of fresh fruit on top)

I’ll be back in a few days to tell you all about lunch with Nutrisystem!

In the mean time, I’d love to hear what you eat for breakfast! Any tips for getting a good morning energy boost without loading up on too many calories?

Disclosure: I participated in a 10 day challenge with Nutrisystem and was provided with complimentary products in exchange for my honest opinions.