HappyAsianGuy

I Did It!! Nutrisystem, Here I Come…

Tuesday, April 17th, 2007

So I finally did it. I ordered the Nutrisystem meal plan! Yes, it took a while but as you guys probably know I decided to go with the Nutrisystem weight loss program about a week ago. I’ve been delaying the inevitable which was to place the order. While I’ve been busy I think I’ve really just been procrastinating…I know that when my Nutrisystem food arrives that I’ll have to start eating less popcorn/doughnuts and more healthy foods. It’s probably just as good. I really need to lose weight and need to whip back into shape. My wife just had a baby so the last thing I want to do is have a heart attack and croak.

I’ll be happy if I can slim down like how Dan Marino did (see picture). He was one of my favorite football players growing up so it’s cool to know that he took on Nutrisystem and conquered.

Anyway, I’ll give more detailed information on the checkout process on my next post. It’s a pretty simple process. It’s basically a 3 step process - pick your foods, choose plan, and pay. It’s great because there’s no upfront cost associated with Nutrisystem. Membership is free plus it comes with free counseling to help people like me lose weight. More info later…I’m just glad I finally placed my order.

Double woohoo!!!!!

Jenny Craig Review

Monday, April 9th, 2007

I’m researching diets and the first one that I decided to learn about is Jenny Craig. I have a few friends who tried Jenny Craig and they’ve said wonderful things about the diet plan so I decide to go to their website and see what it was all about. Once I got to their website, the first thing I saw was splashing images of Kirstie Alley. I don’t need to lose that much weight but it’s good to see that the diet program actually works…though if I was getting paid $$$ to shed the pounds I’m sure I could come up with a way to lose that much weight too.

So anyway, I surfed around the Jenny Craig website and it looks like they don’t have an online option (something I had heard in the past). I thought maybe they’d offer online ordering capabilities by now but I couldn’t find anything except random exercise products and cookbooks. The website said I had to go to my local center (there is one about 5 miles from my house) or I could call an 800 number to find out more info. I decided to just go in and check out what they had to offer.

I strolled into the Jenny Craig center and was a bit embarrassed for the first ten minutes or so. Most of the clients were women…actually now that I think about it, I think I was the only male in the room besides a Jenny Craig employee. Anyway, I received a tour of their center and they showed me the food section of their office. It’s pretty much a small frozen food section area (like your supermarket) where you come to choose meals for the week. The pictures on the box look awesome…though I’m sure the portions are about the size of my tiny cell phone. Foodwise, everything looked good. Between the frozen foods, snacks, and desserts I think eating would be no problem.

The cost, however, was a bit higher than I expected. When I visited the Jenny Craig website they had a promotion saying lose 20 lbs for $20. I thought to myself, “Sweet! What a great deal”. But that’s just the teaser rate and it doesn’t count the cost of food. I don’t think I’m allowed to publish their actual rates but it was quite pricey. And if you look at my previous post which links to a Forbes article on the most expensive diets in the market, Jenny Craig is # 1. I’m not saying it doesn’t work because obviously it has worked for many people including Kirstie Alley…but it is expensive.

Overall, I don’t think the Jenny Craig diet is for me. I didn’t feel very comfortable going into the center and as I said before I think it would be too inconvenient for me to go each week to meet with a coach and pick up meals. I’m going to find an online option so that probably eliminated Weight Watchers as well. More about my diet pursuit later today…

Most Expensive Diets Today

Sunday, April 8th, 2007

As you know, I’ve been doing research to see which diet program I should join. In the midst of doing research, I ran into a Forbes article that detailed the most expensive weight loss programs out in the market today. I’m not concerned about how much the diet costs as long as it works…after all, why go cheap if it’s not going to work for the long-run? I did, however, find the rankings interesting and I thought you guys would might find it helpful as well.

1) Jenny Craig - $137.65/week

2) Nutrisystem - $113.52/week

3) Atkins - $100.52/week

4) Weight Watchers - $96.64/week

5) Zone Diet - $92.84/week

6) Ornish (never heard of this!) - $78.74/week

7) South Beach Diet - $78.61/week

Slim Fast - $77.73/week

9) Sugar Busters (new to me, too!) - $69.62/week

10) Subway Diet - $68.60/week

Nutrisystem vs. Medifast vs. eDiets

Friday, April 6th, 2007

So like I said yesterday, I’ve pretty much eliminated Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig from the the list of diets. Both are probably awesome weight loss plans but it’s a bit on the pricey side and I just don’t have the time to go into the centres. I know for sure that I’d skip a meeting or two or three…and it would simply be too tempting to forget that week’s food supply and buy my own (most likely at a fast food joint…lol).

Now I must decide between what I’ve found are three of the more convenient diet plans - Nutrisystem, eDiets, and Medifast. All of these plans are supposed to offer balanced, nutritional meals throughout the day. I’ve read success stories from each of these diets and it seems to have worked for a lot of their customers. Best thing about it is they all deliver so I don’t have to get off my lazy rear to go get the foods…though technically I guess I should be getting off my rear more often than not.

Please share your thoughts on any of these diets so I can learn more about your experiences. I’ll also post a short snippet of what you guys say and list any pros and cons that you relay to me. Thanks for your help.

Which Weight Loss Program?

Thursday, April 5th, 2007

So I’ve narrowed down the choices to these five diet plans:

1) Weight Watchers

2) Nutrisystem

3) Jenny Craig

4) eDiets

5) Medifast

I’ve done preliminary research and I’m leaning towards either Nutrisystem or eDiets because of the convenience. I think Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig are more known but I don’t know if I have time to go into their centers every week. I’m going to browse around and ask some people what they think. If you have any thoughts, let me know. I’d be very interested to see if one diet worked or didn’t work for you.

The Crying Baby Diet

Thursday, April 5th, 2007

Hmm, why didn’t I think of this earlier?

So there I was having a nice breakfast - Country Fried Steak and Eggs w/ 2 Biscuits and 3 Panckages. Part of my last hoorah as I enter my final few days of eating unhealthy (going to start my diet sometime next week….I’m pretty sure!). Anyway, I’m eating bits and pieces of my Country Fried Steak and pouring syrup all over my pancakes when our baby starts crying. At first it was just a soft cry and then it began to grow louder and louder…and LOUDER!

Because I’m so paranoid and self-conscious about other people, I took our baby out of the restaurant and tried all sorts of things to calm him down. And before you know it, my wife and our friends had finished eating breakfast. The end result? I finished about half of my breakfast and saved myself at least 500-800 calories. So the question looms…should we just eat out all the time and wait for crying baby? I’ll eat 1/4 - 1/2 my portion and I’m sure I’d cut weight within a month or two.