Fitness To The Bone

I get a few questions a day about prepackaged diets like Nutrisystem and Medifast, probably because you see Nutrisystem commercials on TV and Medifast coupons on the internet and you think they must be a magic solution to weight loss. In today’s fast-paced world, many people often wonder if they should purchase prepackaged diets, which are diets that come ready-made and are all set to be heated and served. The main reason that prepackaged diets are considered is because it is an easy way to lose weight since all the work is done for you already. It is especially convenient and is basically a shortcut to dinner; however, you cannot control the ingredients or the quality of nutrients that are left within the meals.

However, the true question is whether these are worth the money that you are spending on them?

Not as Convenient as You May Think

While prepackaged diets may make sense for the dieter that leads a very busy lifestyle because they weigh heavily in the convenience factor, home cooked meals are much healthier and cost less money overall. Many believe that you can save time with the prepackaged diets, but a study from the UCLA showed that it only takes approximately 10 more minutes to have a healthy home cooked meal instead of a dinner that you simply heat up and serve.

Have Control Over the Ingredients

Plus, you’ll have a lot more nutrients in your home cooked meal as compared to many – not all – prepackaged diet meals. You can limit the amount of sodium (salt) that is in your food as well as other ingredients. In addition, by cooking from scratch at home, you can limit or eliminate completely the use of additives or preservatives while keeping the flavor intact. Since you have full control over the ingredients being used, you have the ability to eliminate any ingredients that you or someone in the family may be allergic to.

Research is Key

If you spend a little bit of your free time doing some research on quick and easy nutritious recipes, you will find that you can actually have dinner on the table in 30 minutes – and that’s from gathering the ingredients, beginning meal preparation, fixing the meal and getting it on the table ready to dig in. Simple, quick recipes and meals are fine despite what some of your high maintenance friends say. Gourmet meals do not have to be prepared every night of the week.

“I Don’t Have Enough Time.” Yes, you do – just improvise.

For those that lead a very active lifestyle and find it difficult to prepare home cooked meals every night of the week, you could try preparing several meals on a Sunday afternoon and place in the freezer. They can then be taken down, defrosted, heated and served for dinner while you are taking care of some other household duties.
Something to consider is that as you begin cooking more meals at home and learning recipes, you’ll soon discover that you are speeding up in the cooking process. Plus, you may even be able to start creating your own meals from complete scratch without a recipe at hand.

While the real answer to the question is dependent upon your own opinion, the money really isn’t worth it to most dieters.

Tags: diets, Medifast, Nutrisystem, package diets