Day 30:

I am currently waiting for my next box of NS foods. It is out for delivery according to the tracking. We'll see. So far all other meals have arrived on time, so I'm expecting the box today.

I recently found out that someone is actually reading this blog. I suppose I should keep it up better. :) To do a quick update. The first week of the program I lost pretty much four pounds. Then for the past three weeks I've been fighting to get past the 156 mark. Today I had success! I'm officially at 155.2. Which makes me very happy. Three weeks at 156? Why did I stay on the program? Answer: the inches. At my last measuring, I had lost 17 inches total.

So to compare my standard "I'm just eating low cal" diet vs. Nutrisystem after one month: Weight is pretty much the same up until now. I never got much below 156 on the old diet and I still have another two weeks to go on Nutrisystem. Inches are another thing-- On my old diet, by this time I had only lost 9.25 inches over all. On Nutrisystem I have lost 7.75 above that mark and I haven't even measured for this week.

As for the overall food: I have found that Nutrisystem ranges. Some of the foods are excellent. There are some that are not so excellent; however, in the past few days I have discovered the NS Recipe Club. People who add their vegetable portion or their fat portion for that meal and make it into something quite tasty. Given all except two items "Mushroom Risotto", and the "Beef Pot Roast" are new for me, I probably won't be doing the food reviews like I have been in the past- unless I get a great deal of substitutions; however, I will post the recipes with credit to those who created them for my less favorite NS foods. I will try to catch up on the foods that I have not reviewed this week. :)

These recipes are amazing. For example:

NS Italian Casserole by Kate

1 NS Rotini with Meatballs and Tomato Sauce
2 cloves garlic (free item)
1 t Italian seasonings (free item)
1 TB olive oil (Fat serving)
1/2 C yellow or red bell pepper (Vegetable Serving)
1/3 C Frozen spinach (Vegetable serving)
1/2 C diced tomato (Vegetable serving)

In a frying pan, saute cloves of garlic (or to taste/ I'm very fond of garlic) in olive Oil. Add the yellow/red bell pepper and spinach. To that add Italian seasonings. Once the bell pepper has started to lighten in color add the Rotini with Meatballs to the pan. Stir frequently on a medium heat until the pasta and meat are heated. At the very end add diced fresh tomato. Stir in and let it simmer for a minute or so. I had a dairy serving left from lunch, so I topped the casserole with 1 oz low fat cheddar cheese and let it melt before I put it on my plate. (Though it was tasty without it)

Rotini with meatballs was not one of my favorite meals (21/2 stars)- I need to post my review of it. I'll get to that later today... I played with the recipie and it is fantastic. At least 4 stars.


krnsmith created one of the best uses of the chicken salad (2 1/2 stars) ever! (I was really considering throwing it all away) I don't believe it myself but I'm adding Chicken Salad to my September order, so I can make this again. (five star recipie)

"I mixed the NS Chicken Salad, 1 oz. canned chicken, and 1 Tablespoon of Cream of Mushroom Soup. I formed these into patties and covered as much as I could with crushed Low Fat Ritz Cracker crumbs equivalent to the melba toast.

I sprayed a skillet with Pam and put in my fat of olive oil. I heated it on medium high heat. I put the patties in the skillet and browned on both sides.

I put it on my plate and put 1 tablespoon of the mushroom soup thinned about 1/2 table spoon of water or less and heated."

The blog will be changing a bit but I'll keep it up better. :) Cheers!

Katie