Halloween!

It's Halloween time again, all those little 'fun sized' candy things are great cheat snacks. They tend to be in the 80-100 calorie range. You just have to be willing to only eat ONE. Snickers aren't too bad, Whoppers are surprisingly low in fat compared to other candies. We also have mini gummy bear packs and such.

Thanks to Men's Health magazine and their "Eat This, Don't Eat That" book that points out some healthier alternatives to some foods.. including the Whoppers tip. :)

Don't forget about Three Musketeers and York Peppermint Patty!

(still slacking.. you'll have to find your own link to Amazon for that book hah)

Wow.. slacking..

I didn't realize it's been so long since I posted anything to this blog. Completely got tied up in life and work and all that. I find that, at some point, I start spending so much time logging, twittering, reading forums, etc, that I'm doing nothing else. So I kind of slacked on posting updates to our culinary adventures.

Here's a quick update. I'm currently down to 209 lbs. Still haven't really been exercising, although I finally got another gadget I was waiting for. Guess it's time to really shape up and justify spending money on gadgets. :)

Nutrisystem is about 50/50 these days. That is, I'm still generally following the eating schedule and guidelines on what to eat, but not doing it so strictly. Eating less often (more like 3 regular meals instead of 5 or 6 small meals) and I'm eating about 1/2 normal food and 1/2 nutrisystem.

Breakfasts have been 1-2 eggs on a piece of whole wheat bread (just one, not two) with some low/non-fat cheese. The Kraft stuff is pretty good and actually melts. hah Sometimes I'll have a Nutrisystem oatmeal (or two) and maybe a yogurt.

Lunch has been a sandwich, or a Nutrisystem bar/bucket. Sometimes as a snack, I'll get a slice of that low/non-fat cheese and a piece of whole wheat bread.

Dinner once or twice per week (not counting a cheat day or two) might be chinese takeout, or last night was Bertuccis (salad and a reasonable amount of pizza). We made potroast and probably ate more than a proper "serving" of that once or twice, but that's done now. Nutrisystem dinners are still quick and easy. That's what I did for dinner tonight. Right now I'm having a snack of some smoked gouda and melba toast (out of crackers dammit! hah). But not eating a whole brick of gouda.

That's probably the most important thing you can learn on diets like this, portion control. Don't just grab a box of crackers and a brick of cheese. Cut off a reasonable amount of cheese, grab a handful of crackers and put the rest away.

Still taking Saturdays and/or Sundays off and eating whatever (within reason). Some of the worse weekends have set me back a few lbs. I hit 210 a week and a half ago, then went back up to 213/214 after a weekend of being bad. It seems to drop back down a pound or two by going back to the lower salt of the normal diet, but that's still a few steps backwards. It's good to be aware of setbacks so you can compensate by eating a little better for a while.

Anyway, thanks for whoever may be reading this. Obviously someone is, I just got my first comment tonight. :)

I plan on posting a kind of "exit analysis" of the diet, as a reminder to myself what a realistic diet should be. But I think I'm done with Nutrisystem for now. I lost about 30lbs and see what I need to do to stay on track, so mission accomplished for me!

I feel great and am really happy I did this, even if it cost $600. It's hard to put a price on easy/lazy weight loss and the lessons I've learned.

Cheat day 8/16/2008

Starting weight: 222

Breakfast: 1/2 cranberry/orange scone, 1/2 spanakopita from farmer's market

Lunch: Main Ingredient - Chai latte, mediterranean chicken soup (tomato based lots of herbs and barley?), 1/2 chicken curry sandwich on croissant

Dinner: Beef, chicken, shrimp skewers on rice, tea

Snack later: Some leftover noodles and such from Emi's dinner

Bottle of Mt Dew.

Day 23 - Friday 8/15/08

Starting Weight: 222

Breakfast - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Chocolate chip granola bar
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice of cheese
  
• Fruit Serving
  Cantelope
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Morning Snack - ??

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  none?
  
• Fruit Serving
  none?
  

Lunch - 12:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Chocolate raspberry bar
  
• Salad Serving
  none
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Zesty herb snack mix
  

Dinner - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Thin crust pizza
  
• Vegetable Serving
• Salad or Fruit Serving
• Fat Serving
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  1/2 chicken curry sandwhich (semi cheat)
  

Dessert - none

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  None
  

Glasses of Water: 3
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 22 - Thursday 8/14/08

Starting Weight: 221

Breakfast - 8:45

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Nutriflakes cereal
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Stonyfield fat free chocolate underground yogurt
  
• Fruit Serving
  Cantelope
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Morning Snack - 11:00

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice low fat ham
  
• Fruit Serving
  none
  

Lunch - 1:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Tomato corn chowder
  
• Salad Serving
  Cucumber
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Zesty herb snack mix
  

Dinner - 5:45

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Meatloaf w/potatos in tomato sauce
  
• Vegetable Serving
  none
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  none
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 5:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  none?
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 21 - Wednesday 8/13/08

Starting Weight: 222

Breakfast - 10:00

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Nutriflakes cereal
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice of low fat ham
  
• Fruit Serving
  Cantelope
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Crackers
  

Morning Snack - 1:00

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice low fat ham
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  

Lunch - 1:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Chocolate peanutbutter bar
  
• Salad Serving
  Cucumber
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Pretzels
  

Dinner - 7:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Rotini w/meatballs & tomato sauce
  
• Vegetable Serving
  none
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Fat Serving
  Meat from leftover paella
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Rice from leftover paella
  

Dessert - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Chocolate chip cookie
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 20 - Tuesday 8/12/08

Starting Weight: 223

Breakfast - 8:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Low fat granola cereal
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  1 oz steak
  
• Fruit Serving
  Cantelope
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Morning Snack - 11:45

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Lucerne light yogurt - Vanilla
  
• Fruit Serving
  none
  

Lunch - 11:45

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Vegetable beef soup
  
• Salad Serving
  Cucumber
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 2:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Chocolate chip pudding
  

Dinner - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Beef taco
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Green onions
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Lettuce
  
• Fat Serving
  Olives
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Tortilla
  

Dessert - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Almond biscotti
  

Glasses of Water: 3
Diet Soda: 1
Exercise: none

Day 19 - Monday 8/11/08

Starting Weight: 223

Breakfast - 9:00

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Nutrifrosted cereal
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  1 oz steak
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 banana
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Crackers
  

Morning Snack - 1:00

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  1 oz pork chop
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 banana
  

Lunch - 1:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Bean & ham soup
  
• Salad Serving
  Carrots
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 4:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Pretzels
  

Dinner - 6:30

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Hearty beef stew
  
• Vegetable Serving
  none
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Peach
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Rice
  

Dessert - 8:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Peanutbutter cookie
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 18 - Sunday 8/10/08

Starting Weight: 223

Breakfast - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Apple strudel
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  1 oz steak
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Rice
  

Morning Snack - 11:45

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  1 oz steak
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  

Lunch - 3:45

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Fudge graham bar
  
• Salad Serving
  none
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Chocolate chip cookie
  

Dinner - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Hearty beef stew
  
• Vegetable Serving
  none
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  1/2 banana
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Almond biscotti
  

Glasses of Water: 3
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Cheat day 8/9/2008

Starting weight: 225

Can't remember what I had for breakfast, if anything.

Lunch was an indian buffet (chicken curry, rice, tea) in Baltimore. Very tasty.

Had a gin & tonic while taking a break from walking all over the place.

Dinner was a very nice cuban meal at Babalu Grill in Baltimore. I had a mojito along with a taquito appetizer (single 3" long taquito, fairly small) and a porkchop. Two were served, but I only ate one. It was enough.

Day 17 - Friday 8/8/08

Starting Weight: 222

Breakfast - 9:00

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Granola cereal
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Hardboiled egg
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Banana
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat tortilla
  

Morning Snack - 1:00

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  1 oz steak
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  

Lunch - 1:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Chicken & Barley Stew
  
• Salad Serving
  Brussel sprouts
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Honey mustard pretzel
  

Dinner - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Thick crust pizza - pretty much the same as the thin crust, just slightly thicker. Microwaves ok.
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Carrots
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 11:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  White chocolate chunk cookie
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 16 - Thursday 8/7/08

Starting Weight: 225

Breakfast - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Nutricinnamon squares cereal
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Yoplait Light Yogurt - Banana cream pie
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Banana
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Crackers
  

Morning Snack - 11:45

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice low fat turkey
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Banana
  

Lunch - 1:45

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Pasta w/beef meal
  
• Salad Serving
  Cucumber
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  White chocolate macadamia cookie
  

Dinner - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Chicken breast paddy - tasted like canned chicken (aka tuna flavored)
  
• Vegetable Serving
  none
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 9:300

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Peanutbutter Cookie
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 15 - Wednesday 8/6/08

Starting Weight: 225

Breakfast - 8:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Nutricinnamon cereal - Not bad, cinnamonny
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Hard boiled egg
  
• Fruit Serving
  Peach
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Phyllo dough (again, semi-cheat)
  

Morning Snack - 11:15

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Breyers Light Key Lime Yogurt
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  

Lunch - 1:15

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Cheese tortellini microwave cup - meh
  
• Salad Serving
  Greens, baby greens, shittake mushrooms, cucumber
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  none
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:15

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Nacho chips - god I hate these things, why do I keep eating them?
  

Dinner - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Mac & cheese w/beef hot water cup - Cheap tasting, but I like it.
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Snow peas
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Greens, cucumber shittake mushrooms
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - n/a

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  none?
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 14 - Tuesday 8/5/08

Starting Weight: 227

Breakfast - 11:00

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Chocolate chip granola bar - not bad, typical granola bar
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice of cheese
  
• Fruit Serving
  Peach
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Morning Snack - 1:45

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Turkey slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  

Lunch - 3:45

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Chocolate peanutbutter bar
  
• Salad Serving
  none
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 5:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Pretzel
  

Dinner - 8:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Stroganoff w/beef & noodles
  
• Vegetable Serving
  none
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  1/2 Apple
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 11:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Zesty herb snack mix
  

Glasses of Water: 4
Diet Soda: 0
Exercise: none

Day 13 - Monday 8/4/08

Starting Weight: 228

Breakfast - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Scrambled Eggs
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice of turkey
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread - Put eggs, turkey and cheese on bread
  

Morning Snack - 1:00

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Turkey slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Apple
  

Lunch - 1:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Black bean tortilla hot water cup
  
• Salad Serving
  Tomato (added to black bean tortilla with peppers and green onions)
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Strawberry shortcake bar - pretty tasty, dense and icing'd and sweet
  

Dinner - 5:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Cheese & spinach ravioli w/meat sauce - Microwave cup meal, meh, nothing "cheese" supplied by Nutrisystem tastes like cheese.
  
• Vegetable Serving
  none
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 8:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Blueberry lemon bar - Like the strawberry shortcake, dense little sweet icing'd bar. Tasty.
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 2
Exercise: none

Day 12 - Sunday 8/3/08

Starting Weight: 229

Breakfast - 11:00

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Apple strudel scone
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Morning Snack - 1:30

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Phyllo dough (semi cheat)
  
• Fruit Serving
  Peach (sliced up, baked into the dough with cinnamon)
  

Lunch - 3:30

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Chocolate raspberry bar
  
• Salad Serving
  none
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 5:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Almond biscotti
  

Dinner - 7:45

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Chicken Pasta Parmesan
  
• Vegetable Serving
  none
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  1/2 Banana
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 10:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Hot cocoa - eh, like most stuff.. semi-ok
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 1
Exercise: none

Cheat day 8/2/2008

Mmm.. cheat day. Didn't go too crazy.

Starting weight: 229

1 can Mt Dew
Some crackers
Bob Evens turkey dinner (at the restaurant, left most of the mashed potatoes and such)

Forget what else..

Day 11 - Friday 8/1/08

Starting Weight: 227

Breakfast - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Nutriflakes (wheat flake cereal)
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Yoplait light blueberry yogurt
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Banana
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Crackers
  

Morning Snack - 11:30

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Turkey slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  

Lunch - 2:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Chicken & Pasta in Cacciatore Sauce (microwave cup)
  
• Salad Serving
  Greens, sprouts, radishes
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 4:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Fudge brownie
  

Dinner - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Wedge potatoes w/sliced beef steak
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Carrots
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  n/a
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat bread slice
  

Dessert - n/a

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  none
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 1
Exercise: none

Day 10 - Thursday 7/31/08

Starting Weight: 227

Breakfast - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Scrambled eggs & cheddar - couldn't taste the cheese included in them
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice (added to bread and eggs, yes, you could taste this one)
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Apple
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat bread slice
  

Morning Snack - 1:00

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Almonds
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Banana
  

Lunch - 1:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Cheesy cream of broccoli soup
  
• Salad Serving
  Greens
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Honey mustard pretzel sticks
  

Dinner - 6:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Mushroom gravy w/rice & salisbury steak (lots of gravy, weird semi-rice stuff, tastes ok for what it is)
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Carrots
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Greens, sprouts
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat bread slice
  

Dessert - 9:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Pretzels - fakey pretzel cracker things
  

Glasses of Water: 3
Diet Soda: 1
Exercise: none

Day 9 - Wednesday 7/30/08

Starting Weight: 230

Breakfast - 9:00

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Scrambled eggs w/thyme & red pepper flakes
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice (on eggs)
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Banana
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat bread slice (put eggs and cheese on it)
  

Morning Snack - 11:15

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Yoplait light apple turnover yogurt
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Banana
  

Lunch - 1:15

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Tomato corn chowder - more 'stew' consistency than the stew, tasted more like baked beans with a little bit of corn
  
• Salad Serving
  Steamed zucchini w/herbs
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:15

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Nacho chips - still pretty nasty, but bearable
  

Dinner - 7:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Cajun style chicken w/sausage & rice - Not too bad, but rice is a little mushy/weird. Edible though.
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Steamed green beans
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Greens, sprouts, mushrooms
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 9:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Oatmeal raisin cookie
  

Glasses of Water: 5
Diet Soda: 1
Exercise: none

Day 8 - Tuesday 7/29/08

Starting Weight: 230

Breakfast - 9:45

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Frosted crunch cereal - Yes, you read it correctly. Frosted. And yes, this does have some sugar as well as high fructose corn syrup in it. But also lots of soy, wheat and corn. Not very "frosted" tasted, despite all that, but still tasty enough.
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat bread
  

Morning Snack - 12:00

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Boca burger
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
  

Lunch

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Fudge graham bar
  
• Salad Serving
  Green beans w/ garlic powder (not garlic salt)
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Honey mustard pretzels
  

Dinner

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Veggie Fajita
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Tomato (added to fajita)
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Green onion (added to fajita)
  
• Fat Serving
  Olives (added to fajita)
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Extra whole wheat tortilla shell
  

Dessert

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Chocolate peanut butter bar
  

Glasses of Water: 3
Diet Soda: 1
Exercise: none

Day 7 - Monday 7/28/08

Starting Weight: 228

Breakfast - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Cereal (dry, stupid milk was sour)
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Roll
  

Morning Snack - 12:00

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice of ham
  
• Fruit Serving
  Blueberries
  

Lunch - 2:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Fudge graham bar
  
• Salad Serving
  n/a
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 4:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Pretzels
  

Dinner - 6:30

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Hearty beef stew - Microwave cup, edible, but I wouldn't call it beef stew
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Carrots
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Peach
  
• Fat Serving
  Almonds
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  BBQ soy chips
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 2 large glasses
Exercise: none

Day 6 - Sunday 7/27/08

Starting Weight: 233

Breakfast - 12:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Cranberry-Orange Pastry - Puck shaped the same as the brownie, dense but tastes ok
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  Peach
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Roll
  

Morning Snack - 5:00pm

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese (on salad below)
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  

Lunch - 5:00pm

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Chocolate peanut butter bar
  
• Salad Serving
  Greens w/ green onion
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 6:00pm

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Zesty herb snack mix
  

Dinner - 8:15

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Mac & cheese w/beef cup - another hot water cup things, not bad.
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Tomato
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Fat Serving
  Peanut butter
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Corn
  

Dessert

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Oatmeal cookie - The cookies are chewy but passable. They taste like cookies.
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 0
Exercise: none

Some cheating today, went to a wine festival. Probably had 6x 1oz samples of wine over the course of an hour or two. Does wine count as grape juice?

Cheat day 7/26/2008

Starting Weight: 235

We decided to have a cheat day every Saturday. A day where we wouldn't go overboard, but wouldn't really stick with the diet either if we didn't want to.

I didn't log anything I ate this day, but I think I remember most of it.

Breakfast - Yogurt, some other stuff. I think it was two dairy items total and something else. Reasonable meal, but not totally within diet spec.

Lunch - Stopped at a diner while we were out. I got a burger with cheese and bacon and something else. Added a little ketchup and mustard. Ate a few fries with it. Drank unsweetened iced tea.

Dinner - Got a hoagie from Wawa and a diet ginger ale. Hoagie was roast beef with horseradish, lettuce, tomato, onions and a little bit of mayo (yes, that's an option on their ordering screen "a little bit of mayo".. go Wawa!). Topped it all off with some Kozy Shack Key Lime pudding. About 1 cup worth. Not so good (for the diet and also flavor-wise).

I may have had a little Chik-o-Stick bite size thing as well.


Again, trying to be reasonable but not strictly be on the diet either. A pressure relief valve so we can actually eat food we really ENJOY at least once per week.

We'll see how Sunday goes. Supposed to go to a wine festival, but still be on our diets. I'm thinking it's going to be 50/50.

Day 5 - Friday 7/25/08

Starting Weight: 230

Breakfast - 9:30

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Chocolate Chip Granola Bar - Pretty good, like the lunch power bars
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Banana
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Roll
  

Morning Snack - 12:45

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Slice of ham
  
• Fruit Serving
  1/2 Banana
  

Lunch - 12:45

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Pasta parmesan w/broccoli - Not bad, another hot water cup meal. About on par with such things
  
• Salad Serving
  Tomato - Oops.. that's supposed to be a veggie serving, oh well.
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 3:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Fudge brownie - Not bad. Akin to vending machine brownies (but more cake-like and less brick-o-fudge). I'm a little disturbed by the silica gel packs found in some of these items. I'm glad they're there, but it's so tempting to eat them when they're stuck to the bottom of your brownie.
  

Dinner - Fat and low glyc at 7:30, rest at 10:45

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Chicken Florentine Fettuccine - heat-and-eat deal, 10oz is huge for these meals, pretty good though. Chunks of chicken are tasty.
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Tomato (yes, I eat it like an apple)
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  1/2 banana
  
• Fat Serving
  Peanut butter (what can I say, I love peanut butter)
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 10:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Oatmeal Raisin Cookie - Single cookie, but tastes like the real thing. Not home-baked good, but it wouldn't be, coming out of a package.
  

Glasses of Water: 4
Diet Soda: 0
Exercise: none

Day 4 - Thursday 7/24/08

Starting Weight: 230

Breakfast - 9:45

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Apple Strudel Scone - Wow, a lot sweeter than I expected. Pretty good. About as dry as scones tend to be, so don't be too surprised.
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Roll
  

Morning Snack - 11:45

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Yoplait light yogurt - blueberry
  
• Fruit Serving
  Strawberries
  

Lunch - 2:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Chocolate Raspberry Bar - These 'energy bar' things they give are pretty sweet, this one is no exception. Tastes pretty good.
  
• Salad Serving
  n/a
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 4:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Honey mustard pretzels
  

Dinner - 6:30

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Vegetable Fajita - Freeze dried goodness. The chunks of fake meat weren't too bad. Put them on a Mission brand whole wheat wrap. Added green onion, jalapenos and spices.
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Tomato (added to the fajita)
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Green onion (added to the fajita)
  
• Fat Serving
  Olives (added to the fajita)
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Corn
  

Dessert - 11:00

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Pretzels - Regular, not honey mustard. These definitely don't follow your normal lye glazed pretzel recipe. These are more like weird thick crackers. They taste ok, but they're not really "pretzels", outside of the shape.
  

Glasses of Water: 2
Diet Soda: 1.5
Exercise: none

Day 3 - Wednesday 7/23/08

Starting Weight: 236

Breakfast - 10:00

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Low fat granola cereal w/milk
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Roll
  

Morning Snack - 12:15

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Yoplait yogurt
  
• Fruit Serving
  Grapefruit juice
  

Lunch - 3:00

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Fettuccine Alfredo - Not bad, your basic "just add hot water" cup meal.
  
• Salad Serving
  Spinach, radishes, green onions
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 5:30

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Honey Mustard Pretzel Sticks - Pretty good. Like most of these items, you can tell it's "diet" by the lack of tasty tasty fat in it, but still good.
  

Dinner - 7:30

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Meatloaf - A heat-and-eat non freeze dried affair this time. The meat sponge was ok, but the sauce was really flavorful.
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Carrots
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Greens
  
• Fat Serving
  Peanut butter
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat bread
  

Dessert - 10:45

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Honey mustard pretzels
  

Glasses of Water: 5
Diet Soda: 0
Exercise: none

Day 2 - Tuesday 7/22/08

Starting Weight: 232

Breakfast - 9:45

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Scrambled Eggs & Sausage - Powered eggs, yum! Kind of scary, but actually not as bad tasting as they sound. Could use some sprucing up. I recommend adding some herbs like thyme or rosemary or something to the powdered mix before heating, so it'll be evening distributed throughout the eggs. You could also add hot peppers, green onions, or anything else from your "unlimited" list to add flavor. Too much may make the eggs not cook right, though. Maybe limit pre-cooking additions to herbs and small stuff.
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  Strawberries
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Roll
  

Morning Snack - 11:45

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Yoplait Light Thick & Creamy Peach
  
• Fruit Serving
  Blueberries
  

Lunch - 2:30

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Black Beans & Rice - Not bad.. I should have stirred it a little more because I got some still freeze dried bits in the middle. Haven't made the same mistake twice, so it was probably just me, not the food or directions.
  
• Salad Serving
  n/a
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  n/a
  

Dinner

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Thin Crust Pizza - Another fairly tasty item. The crust isn't exactly gourmet and the cheese is a little scary, but the tomato sauce was pretty good and really helped the rest of it. I recommend cooking in the oven for that crispy crust.
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Carrots
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Greens
  
• Fat Serving
  Peanut butter
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Whole wheat bread
  

Dessert

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  BBQ Soy Chip - The same wafer vehicle as the Nacho chips, but with a different powder on them. The chip itself tastes like a soy chip. Nothing to really write home about. The BBQ dust makes these a bit more enjoyable than the nacho ones. That is, I don't think I'll force myself to eat any more nacho flavored ones, but the BBQ are good enough for a snack.
  

Glasses of Water: 4
Diet Soda: 1
Exercise: None

Day 1 - Monday 7/21/08

Starting Weight: 238

Breakfast - 9:00

• Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
  Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal - Pretty tasty. Almost the same as any other instant oatmeal
  
• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Cheese slice
  
• Fruit Serving
  n/a
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Roll
  

Morning Snack - 11:45

• Dairy or Protein Serving
  Stonyfield Chocolate Underground Fat Free Yogurt
  
• Fruit Serving
  Fruit Juice (some little juice box thing)
  

Lunch - 2:15

• Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
  Fudge Graham Bar - Pretty good, if you like protein bars. Tastes sweeter than your average protein bar, though.
  
• Salad Serving
  Mixed greens
  
• Fat Free Dressing
  n/a
  

Afternoon Snack - 4:15

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Nacho Crisps - Nasty, seriously. Puffed soy wafers with yellow dust, not so tasty.
  

Dinner - 7:00

• Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
  Beef Patty - Ok, this one looks scary. It's literally a freeze dried beef puck in a small plastic tray that you add boiling water to. Surprisingly, it's actually tasty. It has a good grilled taste to it that makes the freeze drying forgivable.
  
• Vegetable Serving
  Carrots
  
• Salad or Fruit Serving
  Greens
  
• Fat Serving
  Peanut butter
  
• Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
  Slice of whole wheat bread
  

Dessert

• Nutrisystem Dessert Entree
  Zesty Herb Snack Mix - Kind of like a Chex Mix type thing, but with herbs. I found it a little odd, but definitely more edible than the nacho crisps.

Glasses of Water: 4
Diet Soda: 1
Exercise: None

Recommendations & Hacks

Updated: 7/30/08

I'm going to try to keep this post updated with recommendations on how to modify, enhance or otherwise make palatable some of the things on the Nutrisystem diet. I'm also going to use it to record the basic of what each food type is calorie and nutritional content-wise, in case anyone totally can't stand (or afford) what Nutrisystem sends and wants to find a basic analog in the real food world without totally throwing their diet out of whack.

Nutrisystem Supplied Food

Breakfast Entrees

• Scrambled Eggs & Sausage - Powered eggs, yum! Can't really taste the sausage. Kind of scary, but actually not as bad tasting as they sound. Could use some sprucing up. I recommend adding some herbs like thyme or rosemary or something to the powdered mix before heating, so it'll be evening distributed throughout the eggs. You could also add hot peppers, green onions, or anything else from your "unlimited" list to add flavor. Too much may make the eggs not cook right, though. Maybe limit pre-cooking additions to herbs and small stuff.
• Scrambled Eggs part 2 - If you're a man and get a "low glycemic" item, try putting your eggs on a slice of bread and using cheese as your dairy.
• Scrambled Eggs part 3 - DO NOT OVER MICROWAVE THEM! Remember eating jello and finding chunks that were harder than the surrounding jello? Over-microwaving these eggs produces disturbingly hard chunks just like the jello. Not very appetizing.
  
• General recommendation on milk for cereal - See note in Dairy section about "Skim Deluxe"
  

Lunch Entrees

• So far, nothing to report. They've all been energy bars so far. Pretty flavorful and nothing you can really do to doctor them.
  

Dinner Entrees

• Any of the pizza entrees - I recommend cooking them in the oven for the crispy crust. The crust and cheese are "subpar" even for cheap pizza, but the sauce is ok. Again, think about adding things from your "unlimited" list or combining your veggie or salad servings with this to spruce it up a bit. Not to mention herbs! Oregano, red pepper flakes, etc.
• Vegetable Fajita - I'm a fan of Mission brand tortillas. Some tortillas are dry and kind of nasty, but these are pretty good. I recommend using their whole wheat tortilla shell for this dinner. Thing is, this dinner won't fit on a single 10" tortilla, so I just put it in a bowel with some jalapenos, green onions, some chili powder and tumeric and some other random spices and sorta scooped with the tortilla. I also added some tomato from my "vegetable serving" and olives from my "fat serving" and corn from my "low glycemic carb serving"
  

Dessert Entrees

• Nacho Crisps - Nasty, seriously. Puffed soy wafers with yellow dust, not so tasty.I don't think there's any fixing/hacking these to make them taste better..unless you put real cheese on them.
  

Free Range Food

Dairy or Protein Serving

• Stonyfield Chocolate Underground Fat Free Yogurt
• Yoplait Light Thick & Creamy Yogurt
• Safeway has something called "Skim Deluxe". It's skim milk, but it doesn't have that weird purple hue that regular skim milk has and actually has some body to it. Definitely nicer to drink straight than regular skim milk.
• There are many varieties of soy burgers out on the market right now. Boca and Morningstar maing some pretty good stuff. I don't remember being too fond of the Gardenburger brand, but I don't remember. One thing to be concious of, some of these contain cheese or other things to boost the flavor. Be aware that "protein serving" should be predominantly protein, so don't go overboard with the less healthy soy burgers. Watch for hidden fats and such.
  

Fruit Serving

• Some companies make little micro juice boxes for kids. They tend to be in the 4oz size the is your "serving" of fruit according to Nutrisystem. Most of these juice boxes should also have no additional sugar and be generally healthy.
• Like most of the free range items, don't forget that you don't necessarily have to eat/drink it in the normal fashion. You can freeze fruit juices or add your favorite fruit juice to some diet ginger ale, or favorite diet lemon-lime soft drink.
• Does wine count as "grape juice"? If so, your 4oz serving of fruit juice could be a 4oz glass (standard serving) of wine. Since you're supposed to keep alcohol to a minimum and you're only allowed three fruit servings during the day, this is semi-self regulating. Maybe keep it to one glass of wine per day as your fruit serving, to try to stay within boundaries better. And no dessert wines!
  

Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving (Men's plan)

• Pepperidge Farm 15-Grain Bread - In the search for edible whole wheat breads, I found this one. They have a 9-grain, 12-grain and the 15-grain bread. I can't remember, but I think the other two aren't whole wheat. This one is. Lots of good little nuts and other chunks (that may make this not Nutrisystem-appropriate, actually). It's damn good bread for whole wheat.
  

Vegetable Serving

• Tomatoes - has these great little tomato mixes at our local Safeway. They come with normal red tomatos, but also yellow and these weird dark green ones that are really flavorful.
• Tomatoes part 2 - Look for heirloom tomatoes if you can find them. They tend to be really ugly looking, but really flavorful.
  

Salad or Fruit Serving

• has a mixed greens with herbs plastic box at the local Safeway that's very good even without dressing.
• In general, don't forget your "unlimited" items, especially since they tend to be veggies anyway. I love adding radishes and green onions to my salads.
  

Fat Serving

• Safeway has these little plastic square containers of nuts. They have odd little mix names. Most of them are salted (which is a no-no for the fat serving on the diet), but I found one that isn't. I think it's called Sequoia or something. You'll have to pick around the dried cranberries, though.. unless you can count that toward one of your other items for that meal.

Water

• Water can get kind of boring. I prefer Dasani or Smart Water for their slight mineral taste, which makes it much tastier than regular 'flat' water to me.
• Metromint has a great line of mint and fruit flavored waters. The mint ones are literally just water and mint oil. They even have a Chocolate Mint version (my girlfriend thinks it's made using the "chocolate mint" plant, which has a faint, but not overpowering chocolate flavor). You could probably do the same yourself at home with tap water and some mint essence. We've found Metromint products at Whole Foods, Harry & David and at a nice little local market called David's Natural Market in Gambrills, MD.
  

Tea

• Lots of little tea shops are popping up in this area. Many have online stores you can order from. If you get a good tea, many times you don't need to add sugar. My favorite is Jasmine Tea, which is a scented green tea. It does have caffeine, but the jasmine gives it a nice smell and flavor.
• Celestial Seasonings has many herb teas that taste sweet but contain no calories. Their Wild Berry Zinger tastes like fruit punch.

Coffee

• This might be a tough one for some people. Not everyone likes their coffee black. I'll have to investigate this more.
  

Diet Drinks

• Walmart and I assume, Sam's Club, has "Sam's Choice Clear American" flavored waters. So far, the Key Lime is pretty good. Tastes nothing like proper "key lime" but is vaguely Sprite flavored.
• I've found that Diet Dr Pepper and Diet Slice taste most like their non-diet counterparts.
• Add Diet A&W Root Beer to the list of acceptable diet drinks for people who don't like diet drinks. You can barely taste the artificial sweetener.
  

Alcohol

• You're supposed to limit the amount of alcohol you drink, but if you want a drink, Amstel Light tastes like a real beer and there are many new "light" beers that have more body than light beers of old.

General Tips/Combinations

• If you don't like the taste of something, but are still willing to eat it, try to eat it before you eat other things that may cancel out the flavor. For instance, the eggs aren't too tasty to me, so I might save my fruit or something with real flavor for after I eat the eggs.
• Eggs (breakfast entree) w/ cheese (dairy) on a slide of whole wheat bread (low glycemic)
• Lettuce wraps - Take butterhead/bibb lettuce or iceberg, anything with a firm leaf, and stuff it with other items from your meal, like soy crumbles or a cut up soy burger as your protein serving, or any entree that would normally be put on bread, tortilla or a roll.
  

The box arrives

I'll try to get some photos to post here, but a few little things before we get into the food.

First, be aware that Nutrisystem gives you a 'discount' on shipping and such with your first order, but if you don't make a second order, you have to pay back that discounted amount. It comes out to be around $50 or so. Better than another $300 for the next month, but don't be surprised if you quit and you get nailed for an extra $50 for not ordering a second month.

Second, the meals they send are NOT "complete". At least not complete by their diet plan. A typical meal involves both packaged Nutrisystem food as well as other fresh food you add to it. This includes veggies, fruits and/or fruit juice, whole wheat bread products. Some items say "serve with whole wheat roll". I'm going to assume that roll + Nutrisystem meat is separate from the "low glycemic" addition that men get in their diet plan.

So anyway.. the box came today, but we're going away for the weekend so the diet starts on Monday. The box was like 80lbs worth of freeze dried and wet packaged food and snack bars and stuff. Everything is color coded.

One of the first things I see is a beef patty that's obviously freeze dried. YAY! ASTRONAUT BURGERS!! I joke about eating it without adding water. I'm not sure how healthy that may be, so I think I'll avoid that option. We'll see.

Anyway, more later once I get my notes together. (I'm posting this on 7/22, just back-dating it so everything stays in order)

The diet begins..

Starting on the Nutrisystem Advanced (men's edition) and it looks like it's going to be a real interesting experiment.

The object of this blog is going to be a combination of reviewing the food, discussing the in's and outs of the diet as well as possibly coming up with some creative ways to 'hack' both the Nutrisystem food as well as the fresh foods they have you eat along with it. Maybe even some creative recipes if we get creative.