Summer is fast approaching and you want a body you’re proud to display at the beach. Now is the time to start so you will be ready in 3 months. But what if you are not a cook or you are too busy to cook. Many people are looking to meal replacement plans from Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem or Medifast to cook for them. Problems: These plans are very expensive (around $300-$700 per month), some of the food isn’t great, and you’re paying expensive shipping fees. How would you like to accomplish the same thing but do it in a better way? You’ll be able to eat delicious food with more variety, spend up to 50% less, and eliminate all shipping fees altogether.
Let’s take a look at what you’re getting now when you order from Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem or Medifast. Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig give you 3 regular meals and 2 snacks. With Medifast, you eat 5 small meals of a shake, energy bar, soup or pudding, then you prepare 1 regular meal of 600-900 calories for dinner. Most of them want you to pick up fresh vegetables and salads from your local grocery store.
You can ask, what helps you lose the most pounds, a plan with a regular breakfast, lunch and dinner or regular meals for breakfast and lunch (and some snacks) and dinner ? In multi-year studies, both here and in the UK, the shake plus a regular meal fared better than all regular meal meals. With the first 2 regular eating plans, you lose 1-2 pounds per week, with Medifast, up to 20 pounds in the first month. But with Medifast, as the name suggests, you are fasting (only 1300 calories per day).
So let’s talk about a new plan. When you’re ordering fresh vegetables and salads at your local store, don’t stop there. The secret is — you can find a better, cheaper version of all the ingredients in those brand name diets at your local grocery store. You’ll have to do a little more shopping to find the right combination for you. Following are 4 ways to duplicate each item in the top 3 meal replacement plans at your local supermarket. You’ll get better quality and pay a lot less.
1. Shake or energy bar for first two meals and snacks
Many people have complained that brand name diet plans have shakes that don’t taste very good. The same goes for energy bars. what is the best? a survey in good Housekeeping Magazine calls Walmart’s $18 per week EQUATE CHOCOLATE SHAKES (pre-mixed, not premixed) the best tasting ever! I’ve tried them and they are delicious, like a cold, melted Wendy’s Chocolate Frosty. These shakes have tons of extra nutrients and 5 grams of fiber! For energy bars, Fiber One has a variety of bars that are cheap and taste great too. Check the calorie count before buying.
2. The Real Food Dinner Meal
Have you looked through the frozen TV dinner section of your supermarket lately? There is new food coming almost every month. Lean Cuisine and many other brands offer delicious diet food that’s better than you’ll find with a delivery service. What’s more, there are so many diet food options, you can choose your favorite. Some grow up with more food. Some have sweets, some don’t. Obviously, men need more calories than women. Adjust the total day’s calorie count based on how fast or slow you want to lose weight.
3. Breakfast
Many brand name diet plans actually give you 6 meals including snacks. You have to be careful here. Some snacks are much healthier than others. Fresh apples and oranges from the store are much healthier and more satisfying than energy bars.
4. Beverage
Don’t drink diet soda. The artificial sweeteners in diet soda, which are many times sweeter than sugar, will make you crave more sugar. Try to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water daily which will help in getting rid of fat. I use packets of light lemonade by Crystal Light (or Equate) to flavor it. I don’t notice the small amount of aspartame in it, with a slightly tart aftertaste.
So, the main benefits of brand name meal replacement plans, namely portion control and calorie counting can be easily found at your local supermarket. Of course, you’ll first need to spend a lot of time researching and comparing which TV dinners sound good to you and make sure they meet your low-calorie, low-sodium requirements. When I started this, I only bought 2 weeks worth of TV dinners so I could buy more later that I liked. Another tip, don’t forget to exercise… you lose weight faster. Once you’ve successfully reached your weight goals, create a healthy eating plan that you can stick with for the rest of your life. Lastly, I suggest you give it a try and be your own meal replacement service… you’ll love the control and savings!
Source by Hal Danforth
