You have undoubtedly seen commercials for pre-packaged diet food programs such as Nutrisystem or Medifast. They often feature a famous actress or athlete that has lost a ton of weight using their program. They promise to also help you lose weight by providing you with all of the meals and snacks that you need to follow a healthy and low calorie diet. Do they work?
Sure they do. You get all the food that you need for each day (usually for an entire month). You don’t have to cook. You simply need to place the meals in the microwave and you can be eating in a matter minutes. Well it sounds a little too good to be true, is it? Well, maybe. It depends on how much extra money you have and if you see this these types of systems as a means or an end.
If you view pre-packaged diet foods as a means to eventual long term weight loss, then you will likely have more success. This is because unless you have the money to pay for your meals every month, forever, then you will eventually have to learn to control your portions sizes. The biggest weight loss benefit of pre-packaged meals is that they provide portion control. The foods are also low calories. With a little planning and effort, you can pull this off on your own.
If you think that you will be able to use programs like Nutrisystem, Medifast or Weight Watchers for a couple of months and then resume your previous eating patterns, you will eventually gain all of the weight that you have lost, back. As a result, you will have just wasted your hard earned money. This is not to say that such systems are always a waste of time and money. If you use them properly you can lose a significant amount of weight. However, in order to accomplish this, you have to see these types of programs as a means to long term weight loss and not an ends.
Ok, you may be thinking, what exactly do you mean? Don’t worry I am going to tell you right now. Well, when you are using pre-packaged foods to lose weight, you need to be taking some notes and doing some research on what foods are good for you and what portions sizes are effective for weight loss and/or maintenance. You need to learn how to eat correctly and begin exercising and weight training program. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you have to get moving and become active. These actions build muscle and help you burn more calories.
If you decide to use pre-packaged meal systems to get rid of those extra pounds, this is perfectly fine. You just need to use it as a jumping off point to long term weight loss. If you can lose 15-20 pounds and then continue losing weight by following a healthy diet and exercising, this would be fantastic. Sometimes, getting rid of those first 15 pounds is all that you need to get motivated. However, if you simply think that you will be able to order the food, lose the weight, stop the program and go back to life as usual, you will be disappointed. You will re-gain the weight and probably an additional few pounds.
Can pre-packaged meal weight loss systems help you lose weight? Sure they can if you stick to them. However, they will not help you keep the weight off after you have finished them unless you become educated on how to eat properly and exercise. If you leave this out of the equation, you will have wasted your time, effort and money.
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