Turbo Takeoff

I have to admit that I am really not enjoying the Nutrisystem Turbo Takeoff week. It is extremely low calorie, so much so that they state very clearly only to do it for one week and even to curb your exercise. While it's easy to follow, that's because for the first week you are pretty much only consuming the Nutrisystem food plus fresh veggies. There is no adding in any Smartcarbs or Powerfuels (I still feel silly writing that and I wish they gave them better names!) anywhere, so there really isn't much you can do with the food besides heat and eat. I can be 100% straightforward when I say that if this was how the program continued, I would prefer to be fat.

My next complaint is that they prepack the food that is in the Turbo Takeoff week, and there are just way too many bars. They give you a Nutricurb bar for your afternoon snack, which has stats similar to your average protein bar. So some days, you get a breakfast bar, a lunch bar, and a Nutricurb bar. There just isn't enough bulk even when you add in your four veggie servings. I don't like being hungry all the time. Even though the regular entrees are still small before you bulk them up, they're more satisfying than just eating a cold bar for a meal. I have had several moments when I have felt lightheaded from eating so little, and I'm definitely crankier than usual. They didn't have a kickstart like this when I first did Nutrisystem back in 2010. However, since it's only one week, I will persevere.

Today at least has been better. I had the granola cereal for breakfast, and it was pretty close to what I remembered. Instead of adding in the skim milk as required to complete the entree, I added in a 1/2 serving of Greek yogurt. It's much more filling that way and I can't stand cereal so this is the only way it works for me. It was tasty and for at least a little while I didn't feel deprived! I missed being able to add the fruit, though.

I haven't really been taking many photos this week because I've been so hungry that as soon as I grab my food I just want to put it in my face. I will try to be a little more conscious of my record keeping here!

So far I have tried: beans & ham soup, harvest nut bar, fudge graham bar, macaroni & cheese with turkey sausage, chicken alfredo, cinnamon streusel muffin, in addition to the granola cereal and chicken noodle soup.

The beans & ham soup is also much as I remember it. I couldn't add my usual veggie dogs, sadly, but I did still add the ketchup and mustard and it left me with the familiar baked bean type dish that I remembered. While it was small, it was pretty filling and I enjoyed it. I would order this again.

I seem to have been grabbing things that looked familiar, which I suppose makes sense! The harvest nut bar is a little on the small side, but it tasted pretty decadent and I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't so hungry that I was stuffing it in my mouth. While it was good, I prefer to have something for breakfast that feels more like a treat and I probably would not order this again.

The fudge graham bar is yummy and exactly as I remember it. In the past, I used it as a meal replacement when I was on the go, or else as the "dessert" to a meal which was a big salad with a protein serving on top. That isn't an option this week (or apparently at all anymore unless you borrow the powerfuel from a snack and I have to ask if that is still okay), so I ate the bar, liked it since it used to be a favourite of mine, and then looked regretfully at the package when lunch was over.

The mac & cheese with turkey sausage was pretty good. I'm actually not sure what I would do to modify this entrée but I haven't put much thought into it. The sauce was creamy and delicious and the sausage chunks tasted good. It was much better than I expected and I would order this again.

I felt similarly about the chicken alfredo, although I still miss the Florentine entrée that was discontinued years ago. That was SO good. I wish they would put more vegetables right in the Nutrisystem entrees but I can understand why they don't and just have you add your own. This one I think could definitely do with some onions and peppers and spinach mixed into it to bulk it up a bit, but the flavour was pretty good on its own. The chicken was a little dry but it was okay.

The cinnamon streusel muffin was yummy! I love their baked breakfast treats and was not surprised that I enjoyed this. I would most definitely order it again.

Three days into Turbo Takeoff... only four more to go thankfully. I hope I am losing inches this week and all this hunger is worthwhile! 

Something in it After All!

I must confess, I was a little doubtful that going low sodium for a day would have much of an impact, but I did want to try it since I saw how awful I felt after ingesting all that sodium (among other things!).

As is usual for me, I got on the scale the next morning and saw I'd gained five pounds. That really hurt since I've been working so hard lately. So I decided to see how a really low sodium day would affect me. With help from Nutrisystem Counselling and by watching my add ins, I managed to restrict my sodium for the entire day to 1423mg- well below the daily recommended maximum of 2300mg. I got on the scale this morning to see if it had any effect, and I was delighted to see that I'd already lost 3.5lbs! I may try to go low sodium today as well with that kind of success.

Just to clarify- going low sodium is not going to make you drop massive amounts of weight overnight. But in a situation like mine where I knew that most of that 5lb gain was water weight (a few slices of pizza is not 17,500 calories!), going low sodium apparently helped my body release a lot of that water weight. Hopefully I can take the rest off before this weekend's weigh in- I'd like to at least have zero loss instead of a gain.

I've got some more Select frozen item reviews for you! This food is really yummy.


Chicken Quesadilla (Frozen Lunch):



This was SO good. I love Mexican food in general (as you can probably tell!) and I love gooey, cheesy quesadillas. This one was really nicely seasoned and I enjoyed it very much (and wished there were more!). I used a little plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream since I didn't have any, and it was perfect. This was one of my favourite frozen lunches.


Breakfast Burrito (Frozen Breakfast):



Sometimes when I am flexing breakfast I make myself burrito style things, so I was looking forward to trying Nutrisystem's take on it. Again, I really enjoyed the zesty flavour and this entree is incredibly filling. I forgot to have my morning snack (I often save my dairy and fruit for later in the morning) and realized it was lunchtime!


Chicken Alfredo (Frozen Dinner):



I was a little nervous about this entree because I used to love alfredo style pastas but the shelf stable Penne Pasta & Chicken in Alfredo Sauce had a nasty reaction on my system- it felt like it triggered me to eat more. I was really happy that I gave this entree a try though! The sauce was thick and creamy, the serving was large and flavourful. There was enough sauce to add more vegetables to it, but not enough to drown the meal if you chose not to do that. One thing I am finding with these frozen meals is that they are so colourful and attractive. The vegetables all look like they were just sliced fresh and added to the meal and taste great- not mushy or watery like some frozen veggies do. I would have loved to have more of these in my Select frozen meal pack!

Disclosure: This post was written by me and was not edited by anyone. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and have not been influenced in any way. Nutrisystem Canada is providing their food and program to me free of charge for my weekly updates. I was not compensated for writing this post.