Last week we discussed in detail the Cal Nutrisciences (CNI) Core4 family of products for weight loss and weight management. To briefly review, the CNI Core4 system comprises 4 items to help you lose and then maintain your healthy weight: Accelerate, Lean, Flush and the flagship product, Cheat. If you want more detailed information regarding these products, please see last week’s blog or go to www.weightrenegade.com. The advantage I have found with the Core4 products is that you do not have to modify what you eat, you take these products in conjunction with what you are eating.
This week I would like to review the NutriSystem plan and compare it with the Core4 system. I have not personally tried NutriSystem, but did seriously look at it to help me lose weight. I did not try NutriSystem because I liked what Core4 had to offer. This is what I found, hopefully it is helpful to those of you who are looking for a weight loss / weight management system.
The NutriSystem program works by having you purchase their foods from them in 28 day increments. Basically, you eat their foods, and supplement their foods with some recommended foods that can be found in your local grocery store. The food you order from NutriSystem is delivered directly to your door.
For people who are extremely busy and live alone, this can be a very good plan. You don’t have to go to the grocery to purchase various meal items, you don’t have to plan your meals, so you could save some money because you are not purchasing perishable items that you may not eat. If you are not living alone, this system can be a hinderance since your other family members may not be able to or want to get involved in the diet plan. Then you may have to make two sets of meals, one for yourself and one for the rest of your family. Also, this system can limit the times you go out to eat.
Price wise, if you live alone, this could save you money since you are no longer having to purchase breakfast, lunch and dinner from the store. It saves you time, you don’t have to go grocery shopping nearly as often. A 28 day supply of NutriSystem can run from $333.28 + $18.95 shipping (as of November 8, 2009) if you only order monthly and don’t go on automatic shipments, down to $299.95 with free shipping (if you go on automatic shipments). If you continue to automatically receive food, the discount goes from 10% to 15% after 3 months of continuous orders.
The problem I personally see with this system is that since all the foods are prepared in advance, the sodium content seems to be consistently high (like it is with TV Dinners). NutriSystem does not appear at this point in time to offer low sodium alternatives, and for those of us with a low tolerance to Sodium, the foods will do us more harm than good. For instance, their Chicken Salad for lunch contains 420 mg of sodium, their Fettuccine Alfredo contains 500 mg of Sodium. For dinner even their Grilled Chicken breast has 250 mg of Sodium, Chicken Pasta Parmesan has 590 mg of Sodium; even their Vegetarian Chili has 650 mg of Sodium. Granted, they advertise deserts, but did you know you get one cookie for desert? I don’t know about you, but if I only get one cookie, I will want more cookies… it seems to me it would be almost better to have no cookies at all. Their chocolate cake looks enticing until you see that it has 250 mg of Sodium again…
Another thing to watch for, not just with NutriSystem, is if you look at some of the people who have posted claims that they lost weight, in little print it states that the results are NOT typical and (I find this very interesting) the individuals are remunerated.
I do not want to say that NutriSystem is a bad system, but you need to be aware of what is out there and if the claims are noted as not typical. NutriSystem does offer some very useful tools for you to help monitor and track your progress, some of these tools I wish CNI offered, like the Weight & Measurement log and Progress Tracker. I have been tracking my weight, but never got around to measuring myself. If I had an actual log to complete, I would have most likely remembered to measure myself and then kept track. To date, I have yet to measure myself (my bad..) except that I know my current clothes are continuing to get loser. The cool thing about the NutriSystem tools is that you can join free to use them. Something to consider.
In summary, the CNI Core4 system does not require you to change what you eat or how you eat, you just take the Core4 products along with the foods you do currently eat. The cost for a full month of Core4 products will be no more than $149.00 a month, and can be less. If you use one CNI product less than some others, you can order what you need monthly and do not have to order a full monthly kit each time. Also, if you get others involved in the Core4 system, you can get paid, which would also defray the cost of losing weight.
NutriSystem offers full meal plans (breakfast, lunch, dinner and desert) and to lose weight you need to eat their foods. If you are single, or just don’t have time to prepare any foods, then the NutriSystem plan may work well for you. If you have a family, or are not the only person in the household, or if you are salt intolerant, NutriSystem may not work for you. And lastly, if you get others to use NutriSystem based on your results, you will not get paid like you can with the Core4 System.
Next week, I will continue to research other weight loss systems for comparisons.
If you have any questions regarding the CNI Core4 system, please feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail me at hawgwash1@yahoo.com, or check out our website at www.weightrenegade.com.
