House of Burke: What Nutrisystem Food REALLY Looks Like: A Peek Inside the Box

Welcome to another week of Nutrisystem fun and healthy living! Interested in reading last weeks post? Read 3 Myths About Nutrisystem to catch up. Today I want to give you an insiders peek of what NS is really about. We all know that when it comes down to it, it's all about TASTE. Yes, if you eat the food, you WILL lose weight. But, does it taste good?

Taste is paramount to any healthy eating program, because let's face it, it can be incredibly hard to train our bodies to like something that just doesn't taste good. Everybody has different tastes, so I would encourage you to try a little bit of everything and see for yourself what your favorites are. For me, the frozen foods are where it's at! I LOVE all of the frozen food. I do like a good mix of shelf stable breakfast and desserts like bagels, muffins, and cookies (because yes you get to eat ALL OF THESE on this program!), but my lunches and dinners consist almost entirely of the frozen program. The fancy NS name of the frozen/shelf stable plan where you choose your own foods is the Uniquely Yours plan. It's worth every penny!

A Typical Day on NS

Here is what a typical day looks like on the Women's Plan (I am currently on the 1500 calorie plan due to nursing my toddler!)

Breakfast - Nutrisystem entree plus a Powerfuel (this is a lean protein between 80-100 calories)

Morning Snack - Powerfuel (I typically save this to add to my lunch! )

Lunch - Nutrisystem entree

Afternoon Snack - Powerfuel and Smartcarb (a smart carb is a carb that rates low on the glycemic index - I typically substitute this for a Powerfuel because I feel like I get enough carbs with the NS foods!)

Dinner- Nutrisystem entree

Throughout the day, you will also add 4+ servings of NON-STARCHY vegetables and you utilize 3 extras (these are healthy fats that are about 45 calories for each serving)

Typical Breakfasts

Here are a couple pictures of the typical breakfasts I eat! I like to have an egg most days with my breakfast as a Powerfuel. Sometimes I hardboil them, and sometimes I "fry" them in a little cooking spray. If I'm not eating an egg, I will usually have a yogurt. My current favorite NS breakfasts are the bagels, muffins, frozen Turkey Sausage and Egg sandwiches, and frozen Cinnamon Rolls!!

The frozen pancakes are delicious! I save them for Sundays when my little family always cooks pancakes. I don't feel like I'm missing out. I love to pair it with some turkey sausage for my Powerfuel!

The frozen Cinnamon Rolls are honestly scrumptious!! They are sticky, gooey, and taste JUST like a typical cinnamon roll. I like to eat them warm with an egg on the side!

Typical Lunches

By far my favorite lunches are the frozen melts and the burgers! I eat them almost daily. They are so many different kinds of melts -anything from steak and cheese to pepperoni pizza! They are similar in taste and texture to hot pockets. They are all quick and convenient.

I ALWAYS eat some of my vegetable servings with my lunch, typically tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers or a salad. Sometimes I will even saute so fresh spinach! I also usually have one of my extras. My favorite extra is The Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss Garlic & Herb . For only 35 calories, it adds an extra "dip" and is super delicious!

This is the Pepperoni Pizza Melt! It is absolutely delicious, and so large and filling. I paired it with a salad and my morning Powerfuel: roast beef.

This is the Four Cheese Melt (though you can't tell since I didn't cut either melt open! Nobody ever said I was a food photographer!) I paired it with some cherry tomatoes and a The Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss Garlic & Herb .

Picture here is the Hamburger. While it is no Fuddruckers, it is honestly an amazing burger for frozen! It certainly satisfies my craving when my family is having burgers for dinner. I like to top it with ketchup and a slice of Sargento Ultra Thin Sliced Cheddar. At only 45 calories, I count it as an extra! Here I had eaten it some garlic sauteed spinach. (Stay tuned for next week for my absolute favorite side dish to eat with the NS Hamburger!)

Typical NS Dinners

There is such a HUGE dinner selection on Nutrisystem, that you can go an entire month without eating the same meal twice. However, I certainly have favorites that I stick close too. My tops favorites are the stuffed chicken breasts, chicken parm, turkey medallions, whole wheat crepes (which taste just like manicotti), and the pizzas!

I typically eat the majority of my vegetables with dinner. My two current favorite veggies are broccoli and spinach (which I think is far superior when sauteed from fresh!). Each night I pick and entree and then make my veggie. Easy peasy! (Stay tuned for my favorite dinner veggie recipes!) The ease of Nutrisystem fits in so well with my hectic life as a mom of two little ones.

Here is the Chicken Parmesan. It comes with a chicken patty and a hearty portion of spaghetti topped with sauce and cheese. I paired it with a heaping pile of my famous broccoli!

The Turkey Medallions are one of those meals that look delicious on the package and you question whether it is going to be just as delicious. This is my absolute favorite meal! The turkey is so tender and flavorful, and the mashed potatoes are DELICIOUS!! For someone who is used to from scratch cooking I am super impressed with this entree.

This is the Italian Sausage and Turkey Pizza! It is delicious, and is comparable to a Lean Cuisine pizza in size. I always cut it into 8 tiny little pizza slices. It tricks my mind into thinking I'm eating a big pizza, and I'm always full after eating one.

Desserts and Snacks

Now don't forget, in addition to all of these meals, you still get to eat DESSERT and your two snacks throughout the day (most of which I combine with other meals) You are also able to choose one day a week where you have a "flex lunch" and "flex dinner", but I don't often utilize those since I'm happy with my NS food!

The desserts are too die for. They have both salty and sweet selections to choose for. Picture below is a flex lunch of roast beef (powerfuel), grapes (smart carb), and a light string cheese (powerfuel). Next to that are two of my favorite desserts, the frozen Stuffed Apple Pie and the frozen Chocolate Cupcake. I can't even explain to you how delicious these two items are. I always warm the frozen desserts and pair with Kraft Lite Cool Whip Whipped Topping or the Fat Free version! Some of my other favorite desserts are the White Chocolate Chunk Cookies, the Golden Pound Cake, Chocolate Sandwich Cookies (just like oreos!). and Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies.

So there you have a few samples of NS meals! There are so many more to be discovered though. Even better, every few months Nutrisystem adds new items and revamps old ones. This helps to always keep the selection fresh.

My Results

Week 1 : -12.8

Week 2: +1

Week 3: -2

Week 4 : -2

Week 5 : -3.8

Week 6 : +2

THIS WEEK: -3.4

Total Lost : 20.2 lbs

I was super excited about my -3.4 loss this week! Especially since I had gained after indulging in an anniversary dinner the previous week. I also wait to the fair at the beginning of this week and had several planned indulgences, so that was a huge chunk of weight to pull out!! I officially have reached 20 lbs gone which means I've earned my Purple Nutribear. Woot!