I have no experience with Nutrisystem but losing weight is really not that difficult as long as you stick to a certain number of rules and remember that:
1)In order to lose weight you need a negative caloric balance. That means that you have to consume less calories than your body utilizes.
2) The body requires more energy to maintain muscle mass vs. fat mass. Increasing muscle mass contributes to an increase in the amount of calories your body requires (and can help you lose weight)
3) Reading Nutrition facts is not difficult. You can easily track how many calories you consume per day. Keep in mind that even the calories on the box of any given food can be off by up to 20%. So keep that in mind. If you don't lose weight with x amount of calories you might want to decrease your caloric intake a bit more
4) Don't consume too little calories as your body requires a certain number of calories to function. Consuming too little calories can cause your body to start breaking down muscle mass for energy. Reducing your muscle mass will reduce your basic caloric need per day which is counterproductive to your goal of losing weight.
5) Don't cut out too many carbohydrates. If you starve your body of CHO you might lose weight quickly, but much of it is to be attributed to the fact that you starve your body of crucial energy. You deplete your muscle's glycogen stores and that will significantly lower your weight. You'll put that "weight" all back once you start eating regularly. Losing that type of weight is not equal to losing fat...but people buy into the low car diet while enriching those companies that put you on such a diet. Also remember that your brain requires glucose (carb.) in order to function.
6) Remember that fat contains the most calories per gram (9) while carbohydrates and protein each contribute 4Calories of energy per gram. Don't forget about alcohol which is calorie dense with 7Calories per gram.
7) Consuming 200calories through a beverage is much quicker and leaves you less satisfied than consuming an equal amount of calories from food. Even healthy drinks such as fresh juice is "high on calories" and a couple glasses of it can easily put you in positive caloric balance territory by the end of the day. I personally wouldn't go for any liquids that are labeled "diet" and consist of artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, etc.
8) Don't buy into the exercising in the "fat burning zone". While it is true that a greater percentage of calories burned come from fat sources at a lower intensity, you burn more calories and with that reach your goal of losing weight quicker through higher intensity exercise (given that the time you exercise remains equal).
9) Don't starve yourself during exercise. No need to be going on a long ride without proper nutrition. People that omit supplementing with proper nutrition (and that includes Calories) during a long ride often bonk and with that they exercise at a lower intensity (=less overall calories burned during ride).
10) Keep it real. Don't expect to lose too much weight in too short of a period of time. Reduce your caloric intake, increase exercise, and if you don't lose enough (e.g 2-3lbs per week) you can continue to reduce caloric intake. And keep in mind that nutritional facts can be off by as much as 20%. Diluting your juices with just a bit of water is an easy way to cut some extra calories out of your diet.
good luck with your spam ;)
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