Do It Youself Meal Plans Are Cheaper

As we move into the Spring people think about dropping a few winter pounds, and I understand why some of them turn to meal programs like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem. (The latter is the least expensive of the two.) There's no guesswork. Every bite you eat is packaged for you. The cooking and cleanup are light. It's convenient and nutritionally balanced, and if you follow it, you'll drop the weight. Years ago (around 2009), I tried Nutrisystem for 30 days. I wasn't hungry on the diet and remember dropping down to 118 pounds. As a younger woman, my loftier standard of my ''ideal weight'' was much lower. I was a size 6 - 8 for many years (without starving!). Today I'd love to step on the scale at the weight that I started with before dropping down to 118 pounds. THAT number + 20 pounds would be my ideal weight today!:)

At the same time, we also don't want to gain 10 additional pounds each and every year so our weight becomes unhealthy. Unfortunately, even without stringently high (or should I say low?) standards, you can't let yourself go! No, no, never, never, uh, uh, uh.

Today I'm going to discuss the well-known Nutrisystem meal plans. If you were to buy similar food independently and are disciplined not to cheat, but follow the plan, including its portion sizes, you could reduce the cost of the diet significantly. Moreover, I remember not liking all of the Nutrisystem meals, yet ate them because of the expense and my commitment to losing weight.

Breakfasts were a combination of protein shakes, dehydrated scrambled eggs (add water and microwave), protein muffins, and protein bars.

Here's what I think you could substitute:

* 1 dozen fresh eggs

* You're favorite high protein, low sugar meal bars - Clean and Pure Protein bars are examples. Look for at least 15 grams - 20 grams of protein with low sugar per bar.

* Protein shakes - Look for 25 grams - 30 grams per serving with low sugar and minerals. Consider buying protein powder (over liquid shakes) and adding it to skim milk for savings. Also try different brands like Premier Protein, Aldi or Trader Joe's house brands for greater savings.

Lunches consisted of canned soups and you could eat fruit or vegetable sticks that you furnish.

THE SAVVY SHOPPER has recipes for a variety of homemade soups, but this post is about convenience.

So you could buy the healthy choice varieties of any number of soups at your supermarket. Read the labels carefully focusing on low calories, salt, and at least 20 grams (30 grams if you can find it!) of protein. I will give Nutrisystem credit for sending chunky protein-rich soup, trickier to find with supermarket canned soup.

Dinners were frozen meals: meat (beef, chicken, or pork), carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, or pasta), and a vegetable, such as broccoli or peas and carrots).

Look for the many wholesome options of supermarket-carried frozen dinners. They'll likely cost less than what's on Amazon, but I'll link those for educational purposes. At the supermarket, most are half the price of a Nutrisystem frozen meal. I happen to like a brand called Healthy Choice, but there are other options also at the supermarket. Aim to find 17 grams - 30 grams per frozen dinner with 250 - 500 calories per serving. You may have to supplement some meals with a glass of milk to bump up the protein.

Snacks I liked the Nutrisystem protein chips and protein bars. The cookies and cake were good too. I was allowed 2 snacks per day. Protein chips are expensive everywhere. What's more, you don't get much in the costly bag. Consider skipping them as snacks for an ounce of cheddar (or your favorite cheese) on a saltine cracker to lower the price. Still, I'm not against expensive protein chips if they help on a diet. Spend the bucks as needed to succeed. 

I disliked Nutrisystem's dehydrated eggs. The pizza crust was as dry and flat as a cracker (which subsequently may have improved to taste like most frozen pizzas). Nutrisystem's vegetable patty on a bun was not good in taste or texture, and I thought their frozen pasta dinner entrèes were insufficient and expensive. I'll take a lean real hamburger over a Nutrisystem patty any day. It's easy to grill a raw beef burger on a stovetop. Add a slice of onion, tomato, and lettuce with ketchup, and thank me later.

Supermarkets offer all of the above meals for less than $5 - $10 each of the Nutrisystem entrèes. You'll spend far less money plus only have to eat the dishes you like!

When you buy Nutrisystem you still must buy extra fresh fruit and vegetables as they aren't packaged and mailed to you.

Nutrisystem is great at teaching people what they should eat in a day; selecting food with adequate protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber; eating a variety of food; learning portion control; and eating when you're hungry. Also, you should and do consume 1/3 of your daily protein requirements with each meal.

Helpful tip: If you desire to follow the Nutrisystem/Jenny Craig diet on the cheap: Go to the supermarket and buy a full month's supply of alike meals + snacks to follow the plan faithfully. Do not stray from the plan. When you subscribe to the more pricey trademarks, the companies send you a box of food you eat for the month. This will put you in the same mindset for less.

Savings versus Convenience: Finally, if you don't mind paying 3+ times the money, you avoid the work of picking Nutrisystem meal equivalents at the supermarket. The food is shipped directly to your home. Nice! I enjoyed the convenience for a short time. But. After 30 days I decided I didn't need a meal plan, as I had good eating habits and didn't mind shopping or cooking. Sometimes cleaning up seems like a repetitive chore though.

Good luck! Losing weight is hard. The older you are, the tougher it is. Cutting calories is never fun. From time to time, we all go through it. "It's a marathon, not a sprint!"

You may also enjoy:

A Humble Pear

Easy French Onion Soup

My Clean Sweet Snacks List

What Foods Are Always In Your Refrigerator?