The Diet
With rates of being obese or overweight at all-time highs in America--nearly 70 percent of Americans fit one of these categories, according to the CDC--diet and exercise plans are becoming more popular than ever as people try to lose weight. Weight loss is a matter of calories in vs. calories out, or the amount of food consumed vs. the amount of energy used. Most people have the hardest time with the former part of this equation, and with what little information is given out by restaurants and food labels, it is also rather confusing. It is also the reason that diets like the Nutrisystem diet have come to be.
Portion Control
Nutrisystem attempts to control the calories in portions by delivering prepackaged meals directly to your door. According to the Nutrisystem website, you simply order 28 days' worth of food (breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert), which can be a one-time order or a recurring monthly order. This eliminates the guesswork of how many calories are being consumed. The menu breaks down to between 1,200 and 1,500 calories for the day.
One of the goals of the diet is to teach people portion control. Because the foods are prepackaged in set amounts, you can learn what an appropriate amount of food is. This is extremely important because the overall amount of food is far more important than the actual types of foods consumed.
Glycemic Index
All of the foods are based on what is called the glycemic index. The glycemic index refers to the effect that the many different types of carbohydrates have on the blood sugar. Foods low on the list, as the foods in the program are, produce only small fluctuations in the blood glucose and insulin levels. A reduction of insulin is important, because insulin is partly responsible for the use or storage of carbohydrates. High levels tell your body to store foods as fat, rather than be used as energy.
Because this diet limits the amount of total calories, as well as the effect of insulin, it allows the typical dieter to see about a 2 lb. per week weight loss, according to the diet’s website.
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