|
Nutrisystem Can Cure
|
 |
Meet the enemy:
- Restaurants
- Advertisers
- Food scientists
- Drink companies
- Candy companies
- Convenience stores
- Chewing gum vendors
All these entitities have conspired to convince us that we should always be putting things in our mouths. Also...
These folks have managed to convince us that everything we put in our mouths should be a treat. That's right, they've got us thinking that, inside our mouths, there should always be a party going on!
Well, you know what? If you want to lose weight you HAVE to stop buying into their bulls---!
I mean, would you let someone convince you that
- every day is Christmas?
- horse #5 can't possibly lose?
- credit cards don't have to be paid back?
Of course not. So why would you believe you're entitled to a non-stop party in your mouth without it having a horrible effect on your weight?
 |
Grok is your ancestor. Grok hunted, Grok gathered. Grok spent just as much calories finding food as he consumed by eating it.
(Today we call that "weight maintenance." Notice there's no party in HIS mouth.)
Only rarely did Grok have more rich, fatty food (think Wooly Mammoth) than he knew what to do with. When that happened, Grok's genes told him to eat as much he could! He would put on a few extra pounds to make sure he could survive the lean times that would inevitably come.
Guess what?
You share Grok's genes. Only you have two problems Grok didn't have:
- You consume NO calories hunting and gathering, and
- You're ALWAYS confronted with more food than you know what to do with
Oh, and one other thing...
There were no food scientists (or chefs) in Grok's neighborhood. His foods didn't taste so wonderfully, unnaturally, sweet or fatty.
In other words, Grok didn't have a party in his mouth. He didn't expect a party in his mouth. So when he started to feel full (on his LOW calorie vegetables and grains), do you know what Grok did?
He stopped eating.
What'd I tell you??? Grok had this weight maintenance thing down!
It's time to look at your food 'tude
 |
Too many of us have developed an attitude about food. At any given moment, we think we're entitled to the yummiest thing we can get our hands on!
Do you know one of the worst villains in shaping this food 'tude? Restaurant menus. Think about it...
Whether it's fast food or fine dining, we're confronted with an array of delicious options. Our job? Pick the yummiest.
It's insane! That menu gives us only two pieces of information: the name of the food and its price.
No calorie count. No fat grams. No nutritional information. How are you supposed to maintain (or lose) weight if your only criteria are yumminess and price?
Do you know what Grok would have done? He would have eaten the menu. (At least he would have gotten his fiber!)
You: Suzette, you sound like the Food Police. A restaurant is a treat!Suzette: Well, I'm all for treats. But how often do you go to restaurants? And hasn't that restaurant attitude crept in to much of your other eating? Take a look in your cupboard and refrigerator. Are the foods you buy based on weight and nutrition or upon yumminess and price? Did you really leave the "Party in Your Mouth" mentality at the restaurant?
 |
"Environmental eating" is a phrase we dietitians use. It's about how the availability of food and the "party in your mouth" message works to make us overeat!
You see, we still share Grok's genes. Our bodies haven't evolved to deal with food availability and food messages. If Grok were alive today, he'd be drinking Big Gulps.
Then, if we sent him back to his time, he'd be the slow, pudgy guy the saber-toothed tiger catches!
So are we doomed to be overweight?
We are if we don't take control of
- our eating
- our environment
- whether we let the food messages effect us
And you know what? THAT'S why I'm recommending Nutrisystem.
 |
Nutrisystem can drown out that party in your mouth. You see...
Since your body hasn't evolved to deal with food availability, your mind has to pick up the slack. Your mind has to say to your body, "Time to act reasonably. Here's some food that's just food."
And your body has to accept it.
I don't care what all the formerly overweight spokespeople say on TV
Nutrisystem is not a party in your mouth. Real people use words like "tolerable" to describe it.
And "tolerable" is a great way to cure Party in the Mouth Syndrome. We don't gorge on "tolerable."
Other good things about Nutrisystem:
- It's quick
- It's cheap (you might actually SAVE money on your normal eating habits)
- They don't make you commit to an unreasonably long duration
Downsides:
Despite the Nutri, it's not the most nutritious food in the world. But it will help most people lose weight, and it's probably more nutritious than the Party food you ARE eating!
DON'T feel you have to eat it every meal, every day
Nutrisystem talks about a month's worth of food, operating on the assumption that it's pretty much ALL you'll eat.
I don't recommend that...unless you think you can do it.
I always say that the best diet is the one that works for you. So I recommend thinking about using Nutrisystem in a way that allows you to sustain and succeed, rather than burn out and fail. That could mean
 |
- Nutrisystem for lunches only
- Nutrisystem only until you lose 10 pounds
- Nutrisystem on days when you don't exercise
- Nutrisystem unless you're going to eat fruits and vegetables instead
- Nutrisystem for your other meals on days when you eat out
- One week of one Nutrisystem meal a day, then one week of two, then...
How you use it is limited only by your imagination. (So unless it's all you eat every day, your "one month of meals" is going to last longer than a month.) Come up with a plan you can commit to and keep with!
Can I stay on Nutrisystem forever?
I don't imagine most people will be able to. The way I see using Nutrisystem is to jump-start weight loss. But, more importantly...
I see using Nutrisystem to tame the Party in Your Mouth. Use it to remind your brain and your tastebuds that it's just not reasonable for everything you put into your mouth to be a treat. In fact...
While you're on Nutrisystem is a GREAT time to figure out just how often you NEED food to be yummy. Is it one out of every five meals? Every ten?
By the way, it's silly to order Nutrisystem if you're going to continue throwing a liquid party for your tastebuds.
If your standard liquids are soda or diet soda, sweetened, flavored or creamed coffee or tea, juice or juice drinks, energy drinks, even beer, wine or mixed drinks, then you're telling your tastebuds to stay used to the goodies!
In Grok's time, the rivers did not run with Pepsi, it didn't rain V8, and liquids didn't bubble unless they were coming out of a volcano.
The perfect liquid accompaniment for Nutrisystem? Water.
Use Nutrisystem as a tool
Use its blandness to prove to yourself how good fresh fruits (and even vegetables) can taste.
 |
Use it to remind yourself that your ancestors didn't have restaurants and grocery stores, and that if you want to live healthfully and lean in this modern world, then you're going to have to take charge of your own diet instead of being a victim of environment and temptation.
Don't let the ads trick you into buying Nutrisystem because the celebrities say it's yummy. It's not! (And the people who buy it for that reason are bound to be disappointed.)
Use it because it's not yummy. And the best time to start? NOW.
Navigating Nutrisystem's site
As of this writing (January, 2009) you'll find Men's Plans and Women's Plans and Silver (you're getting up in years) Plans. (Also Diabetic and Vegetarian.) You'll generally find a deal or two being offered, though they usually involve auto-delivery.
Beware of auto-delivery! If you're not eating Nutrisystem all day every day, the food is going to be coming more often than you can eat it!
They also usually offer some extras, like online tools, an exercise DVD or something. Currently there's also a money back guarantee. (In case you find the food intolerable!)
But it's really about the food - the cheap, quick, bland food. Give it a try and see if it doesn't tame the party in YOUR mouth.
