The NutriSystem Challenge Has Begun

Today is my first day on the NutriSystem Diabetic Program, and the lessons have already begun.

 

Lesson No. 1: READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY.

 

Before bed last night, I thumbed through my Results Kit, which is a folder that promises to tell me everything I need to know about the program and usher me through success with it. There’s a Mindset Makeover guide to help me change the way I think about food, a meal planner to help me track what I eat each day and fact sheets on the support offered by NutriSystem to its members.

 

I can admit to being a little bleary-eyed this morning when rifling through my box of food. My QuickStart guide tells me to unpack the box and organize my food by day, but I’m a rebel and decide to leave it all in the box and go from there. Yup…that’s me… fighting the power.

 

I decide to try the scrambled eggs for two reasons:
1.    That’s mainly what I ordered for breakfast.
2.    I am intrigued by the concept of shelf-stable eggs.

 

I open my scrambled egg container to find yellow-orange powder inside. Interesting; maybe slightly scary. What does one do with yellow-orange powder? This is where reading skills are important. The directions on the back are quite clear when they tell you to mix a half-cup of water in with the powder and microwave it for 30 seconds.

 

For whatever reason, I read “water,” I read “30 seconds” and somehow, I read the measurement wrong. So I mix in a quarter-cup of water. Thirty seconds later, I have a ball of yellow-orange Styrofoam.

 

“This can’t be right,” I think, as I contemplate biting into the rubbery ball for the sake research. Then I look on the back once again.

 

“Ahhh…a HALF-CUP of water; let’s try this again.”

 

I’m happy to report that the water amount made all the difference in the world. About a minute later, I had a nice cup of fluffy scrambled eggs. I added a little garlic salt and pepper for seasoning and then measured out my additional protein portion. Yup…you heard that right; I’m not just limited to NutriSystem food. I actually get to augment my meals with additional portions of protein, dairy, fruit or vegetables. And the best thing of all, is that my meal planner tells me when and how to do it! How’s that for convenience.

 

Logging into NutriSystem.com, I see that I’m not limited to the paper version of the meal planner. I can conveniently track my meals online – and it’s the easiest thing ever. I just had to select which breakfast item I chose and which additional protein/dairy serving I added (low-fat cottage cheese for today). The system tracks the calories, protein, carbohydrate, fat and fiber. The cottage cheese and eggs I chose for breakfast add up to 167 calories, 21 grams of protein and 10 grams of carbohydrate. Not so bad.

 

I am just now nibbling on the last of my eggs. I probably should have stopped halfway through, because I don’t think I needed more food at that point. But they were really yummy so I kept eating. I’ll have to pay closer attention to my body’s needs in the future.