What is the Difference Between Smart Ones and Nutrisystem Meals? Is One Better Than the Other?

I often receive emails which ask me to compare Nutrisystem to diet foods that you can buy in the grocery store.  One such example are the smart ones which you can get in the frozen food aisle.  In the following article, I will show you an example of a full day's worth of food and meals on both diets and will show you how the two stack up with one another.

The Nutrisystem Sample Menu For One Day: For this example, I am going to follow the diet's recommendations that you eat five times per day. I'll be including, breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack, and a dessert.  For breakfast, I have chosen the egg frittata. For lunch, we will have the cheese tortellini.  For dinner, I have chosen the Chinese pepper steak.  We get to have pound cake for dessert and nachos for our snack.  Now, I have added up the calories, carbs, and protein from each meal.  For the entire day, we have taken in 780 calories, 82 grams of carbohydrates, and 63 grams of protein.  Now, let's look at a comparable smart ones day of meals.

The Smart Ones Sample Menu For One Day:  I tried to keep the foods that I chose to be somewhat similar for comparison's sake.  For breakfast, I chose the english muffin egg sandwich. For lunch, I've chosen the three cheese ziti. For dinner, we will have beef with Asian vegetables.  There is not a lot to chose from in terms of snacks.  Basically, there is just mini pizza, quesadillas, and calzones.  I'll chose the calzone.  For dessert, let's have the strawberry shortcake. The caloric intake is 1210.  After consuming this menu, you would have taken in 173 grams of carbs and 62 grams of protein.

Do These Differences Mean That One Of These Is Better Than The Other?:  I am not sure if you know this, but Nutrisystem is designed based on a "glycemic friendly" index.  This means that the calorie to carb to protein content is very favorable to putting your body in a metabolic state called ketosis in which your body is sort of feeding on fat stores and burning through them.  The caloric, carbohydrate, and protein ratio is very important to this process.  If the calories or sugars are too high and the protein is too low, in a sense you are sort of wasting your time and money because you are going to have a hard time getting into ketosis (if you are able to get there at all.)

Obviously, Nutrisystem was much lower in both calories and carbohydrates.  In fact, the difference is approaching almost twice as much on the part of smart ones.  This is very significant in my opinion. I doubt very much that you would be able to get into fat burning mode in this way.  And if you did, it may take much longer.  Also, frozen meals such as these are known as being very high in sodium which might be a concern for you if you worry about water retention.

Many people tell me that they are interested in the grocery store alternatives as a way of saving money. Well, prices vary depending on where you shop, but smart ones generally run from about $1.75 to around $2.75 each depending on the type of meal and portion size.  This is around $ 9 -$10 per day if you're going to be eating five times.  Nutrisystem is very comparable to this and sometimes even cheaper if you can find the right coupon or package so in my opinion, you aren't saving that much money (if any.) And, even if you are, the little bit that you are saving is probably not worth the huge differences that might just keep you from having the kind of effectiveness that you are hoping for.

To get the latest Nutrisystem coupon codes discussed in this article or to see a list of or nutritional information on the foods, please check out my blog (where you can also read my free e book "Getting The Most Out Of Nutrisystem" which includes recipes, the latest specials (up to two weeks free or over $100 off), information on all of the programs, tips, support, and motivation. Check it out if you like at http://celebrity-diet-review.com/

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Comparing Nutrisystem To Lean Cuisine: Which Is Better?

The other day, I received an email from someone who asked if buying frozen meals like lean cuisine or smart ones at the grocery store would yield the same weight loss results as the Nutrisystem diet. She perceived that the frozen meals were cheaper, even though she suspected that they weren't going to yield as drastic results. Still, she hoped that she could get some at least some weight loss from the grocery store and asked my opinion on this. I'll tell you what I told her in the following article.

Ava's nutrisystem review website with the latest coupons is at http://celebrity-diet-review.com/

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Better Breakfasts Ideas

Nutritionists tell us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. With breakfast, we are replenishing our bodies from the night before and charging them for the day ahead. How we will perform during the day is affected by what we eat in the morning. Yet, breakfast tends to be rushed and routine--more so than any other meal. Here are dozens of ideas to help you build better breakfasts.

Eggs don't have to be boring

Breakfast Pizza

Wander through an egg cookbook for a skillion ideas on what you can cook with eggs. Years ago, we got a little egg cookbook from the Iowa Egg Council and have worn it to tatters. I notice that they have more cookbooks available.

Here are some of the egg dishes that we enjoy. (They're more techniques than recipes but you'll get the idea.)

o Scrambled eggs in all their variations. Try Spanish scrambled eggs with leftover rice, salsa, and sautéed onions, peppers, and chilies. Or the old standby--cheddar scrambled eggs. Try adding a can of Mexi-corn to scrambled eggs. We like Chinese vegetables added to our scrambled eggs.

o Omelets in their variations. Think about the omelets on the menu at your favorite restaurant. Whatever you can do with scrambled eggs, you can do with an omelet. An omelet is a great way to showcase your favorite vegetables.

o Quiches. Think of quiches as savory pies instead of sweet pies. Check out a few recipes for ideas and then experiment with the ingredients that you like. Many quiches are loaded with cheese but they don't have to be. Load them with your favorite veggies instead.

Here's how to make a quiche practical for a busy morning: Make the crust and line the pie pan the night before or purchase a pie shell from the grocer. Mix the filling the night before and stick it in the refrigerator. When you get up, load the pie shell with the filling and set your quiche to bake. By the time the kids are ready for school, the quiche will be ready to come from the oven.

o French toast. French toast can be quick and easy. For variety, try different breads. We love hearty breads like multi-grain bread for French toast and fruit-filled bread like raisin bread. French toast is a great way to use up day old bread. Or try stuffed French toast. Consider this a technique and not a recipe. Load your French toast with different fruits or your favorite preserves. Try mixing nuts, raisins, or preserves into the cream cheese filling.

o Breakfast burritos. Anything that you can do with scrambled eggs, you can wrap in a tortilla. We like veggies and cheddar loaded with salsa. Try nuts, cream cheese and pineapple. The Iowa Egg Council has a recipe for Hawaiian Enchiladas you might want to try.

Consider breads for breakfast

Biscuits, scones, muffins, English muffins, bagels, pancakes, toast, and quick breads all make great breakfast fodder.

The argument is that breads take too long and are too much trouble for breakfast. They don't have to be. Consider these alternatives:

o Toast. Try cheese or thinly sliced deli meat on toast as a quick and easy breakfast. Spread a little cream cheese on your toast and top it with a slice of fruit or jam. We like peanut butter or peanut butter and cream cheese on toast. Or try peanut butter and raisins or peanut butter and sliced bananas on toast.

o Pancakes. Pancakes are quick and easy especially if you are using a mix. The grocery store mixes tend to be made almost entirely of flour but you can bolster the mix by adding dry milk or buttermilk powder. Or you can make your own mix.

o Muffins. You don't have to invest a lot of morning time in muffins. Consider refrigerator muffins. Mix up a batch of refrigerator muffins on Sunday evening, keep the batter in the refrigerator, and you'll have fresh muffins for most of the week. Simply load up the muffin tins when you get up and let them bake while you herd your family through their morning routines.

Don't forget the bread machine

What could be better than fresh bread for breakfast? Most bread machines have timers. You can program these machines to turn out perfect bread just in time for breakfast. Consider some of the fruit and nut breads for breakfast. Fresh Cranberry Nut Bread with whipped cream cheese butter or California Raisin Bread with strawberry butter sounds pretty scrumptious.

Eat what you like

Remember our college days when we thought pizza was a staple and cold pizza was the breakfast of champions? I'm not ready to go back to those days but a salad or a sandwich sounds passable in the morning. The point is, if you like it, try it for breakfast. Who said we have to classify foods into breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Take a second look at hot cereal

Hot cereal is quick and easy and doesn't have to be boring. Try spiking your hot cereal with dried fruit, nuts, or coconut. (Dried pineapple, coconut, and raisins is a combination we love.) You can even make it in the microwave. Mix the goodies, the cereal, and a touch of salt in a bowl. Add water and nuke it for about three minutes. Presto--instant hot cereal. (With microwaving cereal so easy, we don't understand how the cereal conglomerates manage to sell any of those little packets.)

Get the kids involved

Democracy doesn't always work but letting the kids vote on breakfast foods is a good way to get support. If they have a say in those breakfast burritos, they are less likely to revolt the next morning. Try having a breakfast council on Sunday evening and planning your meals for the week.

The Prepared Pantry produces bread, cookie, and dessert mixes. Check out some of their fruit and nut breads, pancakes, and muffins from The Bread Shoppe.

Better Breakfasts Ideas

Dennis Weaver is the author of "How to Bake", a free 250-page e-book. Which is free at The Prepared Pantry.

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