Day Nineteen: Saucy Shells and Crunchy Bars

Stuffed Shells (yes, only two shells)

As we near the end of our first month on Nutrisystem, Husband and I find we still have meals and desserts that we have yet to try. Today, I tried the Crunch Bar, which is somewhat similar to the Nestle Crunch Bar. It was very good, and it took some time to eat because it was so crunchy. Husband also liked this bar.

For dinner, I tried Spinach & Cheese Stuffed Shells. I had only ordered one of these meals. The stuffed shells had a nice flavor -- it was seasoned just right with basil and oregano. The cheese texture and flavor was spot on as well.

Mentally, I felt "cheated" because there were only two shells in the meal. The shells were large, and when I ate the meal out of the dish rather than putting it on a plate, the small dish tricked me into thinking I had a lot to eat (and I swear it was mocking me the entire time).

There was plenty of sauce in the dish -- as usual -- so to get all my calories in I used a spatula to get ever last drop of sauce.

Saucy shells!

I cannot fault Nutrisystem for making the meals so tiny, of course. Like many other meals, this one is small but tastes great. But look at the photo of the meal on the box. How does it compare to the meal I received?

I was not starving at all today, so I don't have any desperate "status updates" to give. I was extremely tired from having my sleep interrupted by a tornado warning around 1:15 a.m., and I believe my appetite shrank considerably due to my "Influenza Diet." There was a silver lining to being sick this time!

Day Eighteen: Lots of Dough AND Yes, we Re-ordered!

Nutrisystem's Ham and Cheese Omelet

Sunday was the first day since Tuesday that I felt hungry enough to eat everything required of me for the day.

Breakfast was a Nutrisystem Ham and Cheese Omelet, which I had before and enjoyed for the most part. I took a photo of the omelet on my plate and then a photo of the inside of it (Husband said I shouldn't have looked inside). It tastes really good, and the photos don't do the omelet justice.

It is made with egg whites, so it is healthy for those who have high cholesterol. It's not enough to keep me full all morning, even after I drank a glass of milk and ate a half cup of strawberries. However, it was a nice break from cereal.

Inside the Ham and Cheese Omelet

For lunch, I had the Nutrisystem Meatball Parmesan Melt, which was another freezer item. Husband also had it for lunch. It smelled delicious warming up in the microwave. The dough smell was wonderful. I am always eyeing Husband's bagel thins and English muffins at breakfast and dinner, so having a bit of bread was the highlight of my day.

As I said, the dough smelled wonderful warming in the microwave. But as you can see in the photo, there's a lot of dough. Unfortunately, that meant that there was not much filling to compensate for the calories that the dough consumed.

As far as taste goes, I enjoyed the melt. I could taste the Parmesan cheese in it, and the meat was full of flavor. Husband liked his meatball melt too, although he said the same thing about the dough.

Nutrisystem Meatball Parmesan Melt

It wasn't long after lunch that I was ready for a PB2 and banana snack!

Dinner was another new treat -- Chicken Pasta Parmesan. It was much better than my Saturday night dinner, so I was happy. It's definitely a meal I'd order again because the flavor was delicious (a good mix of Parmesan, meat, and sauce), and I wasn't starving later. Nutrisystem is not stingy on the sauce with any of the meals we've had so far

After almost a month of the Nutrisystem plan, we've decide to renew for March. However, we downgraded to the plan without the frozen foods because we have no control over what we receive, and we were not too thrilled with several of the frozen food options. It's just not food we'd pick to eat. So instead we went with 28 days of "ready-to-go" meals and snacks. It was a challenge for Husband because he gets 56 snack items per order (I get just 28). He was having a hard time finding all 56 items because there aren't dozens and dozens of items in the snack section.

Chicken Pasta Parmesan -- Yum!

We are trying several items as well as getting a few we've already tasted. I am increasing the number of pizzas I ordered because I miss bread, and they keep me full. I was surprised I was not starving an hour after eating the first Nutrisystem pizza last week. It was definitely a good surprise! I ordered more cereal and less oatmeal, and Husband and I will both be trying the scones. I'm nervous about the scones, and I think he is too.

Since we did not order the frozen meals, we had to pick more of the ready-to-go meals so we'll see how the next month goes. If nothing else, there will be more entertainment on this well-read (ha!) blog.

Day Seventeen: The Crunchy Things Ruined My Dinner

Do you see the cheese?

By Saturday, my stomach still did not feel well most of the day, which meant I didn't eat everything outlined by the Nutrisystem plan. I was hungry by lunch and decided to try the most appetizing item I had left -- the Nutrisystem Roasted Vegetable Pizza. Husband warmed it up for me, and when he took the pizza out of the wrapper he said there was little cheese on it. When he took it out of the microwave, he said "The cheese is invisible." That's never a good sign.

However, the pizza tasted great even without much cheese. I was very happy with the crust's crispness and taste. The vegetables were good and not soggy. I appreciated the zucchini. This pizza was a win for me, although Husband wants to trade his for one of my lunches (he's not an onion fan). I had a small amount of seaweed salad, and that was all I could stand to eat for lunch.

My snack was an apple with PB2, which still sounded good to me.

Dinner was tricky because a lot of the meals I had left contained beans, and that did not sound good to me at the time. I decided to try the Nutrisystem Sweet & Sour Chicken with Noodles. This was not a good decision.

Beware the water chestnuts!

The taste of the sauce was fine and the chunks of chicken were great, but there were too many crunchy things in it (crunchy things for me means water chestnuts). I appreciated the pineapples, but the noodles were about an inch long each, so it was hard to pick them out with my fork and avoid the water chestnuts. I have always detested this vegetable, and I wouldn't eat them whenever my mother made a vegetable medley, which I dreaded because of the crunchy things, carrots, and Lima beans. These four vegetables and I are still not on speaking terms. After picking out the tiny pieces of water chestnuts failed (there were just too many of them), I ate all the pineapple and chicken and gave up.

We had cabbage as one of our side vegetables. The appearance of the cabbage dish didn't leave him wanting more, so I made Brussels sprouts for his second veggie. And guess what? He liked them!


I'm very glad I had only ordered one sweet and sour chicken dinner because I did not want to face another plate of that food. Husband, however, also has one of these meals and hasn't tried it yet. It'll be interesting to see what he thinks of it if I haven't scared him away from it now. And no, I won't be trading meals with him this time.

Day Sixteen: The Influenza Diet

Husband's Salisbury Steak with Mac and Cheese

I woke up Friday morning at 8 a.m., and I was so tired and ached all over that I said bye to Husband as he left for work, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

I woke up at 12:25 p.m., and I dragged myself out of bed and downstairs to put breakfast together. Nothing sounded good because I felt nauseated still. I decided a bowl of oatmeal would be a good idea, so I measured a cup of dry oats and after cooking it, I sat down to eat. I had to force myself to eat for the sake of getting some energy.

After I finished eating the oatmeal, I was over the entire eating thing so I basically skipped lunch (or I guess it was breakfast since I ate a meal around noon).

The afternoon was not much better. The thought of vegetables still turned my stomach. I decided to eat a chocolate and peanut butter Nutrisystem dessert bar, but it was not the right choice because it was too sweet. I was actually glad that the portion size was small for once!

When Husband got home, I didn't want to even think about dinner. I picked out the dehydrated flame broiled Nutrisystem burger because I knew it was bland enough for my stomach to handle. Husband ate one of my frozen meals that looked awful to me even when I was not sick: Salisbury Steak and Macaroni and Cheese. He liked the meal so he was happy. I could not even look at his food.

When I was done eating the burger, I didn't want anything else to eat. However, I felt bad about the lack of fruits and vegetables in my diet the last few days so I ate an apple with some PB2 on it. It took me about 20 minutes to eat it.

A little later, I had a Nutrisystem ice cream cup. It had caramel in it, and it was delicious, although it was almost too sweet for my stomach. The Carbo-Lite would have been better, but we were out of it.

That was it for the day. Although the diet plan is uncomplicated and free, I do not recommend the Influenza Diet.

Day Fifteen: Weigh-in Day

My pizza lunch on a salad plate.

This morning, I could barely get out of bed because I was hurting all over -- even my hair hurt at the roots. I had a fever still, so I resigned myself to a day in bed and on the couch.

I felt so nauseated that the thought of weighing myself did not excite me as it usually does. Husband lost 1 pound, and I lost 1 pound. That was good considering we had a few bad moments during the last week where we did not eat food "on plan."

I ate a Nutrisystem breakfast and had 8 ounces of milk and coffee. That was all I wanted. I couldn't manage to eat my fruit serving. After spending a morning watching TV, I ate the only Nutrisystem lunch that sounded appetizing, Margherita Pizza. There is less basil on it than in the photo on the box, but otherwise it tasted fine to me. I wanted bread and nothing too adventurous for lunch, so the pizza hit the spot.

I couldn't stand to eat anything else, although I tried to eat some seaweed salad. I managed to finish 60 percent of it, and I had to put the rest back in the refrigerator. I couldn't eat anything else after that so I went to bed and napped for half the afternoon.

I managed to eat one yogurt after waking up, but I couldn't stand the thought of a fruit or even the Nutrisystem dessert bar.

By dinner time, Husband was home and searched for a Nutrisystem dinner that I could manage to eat. I decided that a cheese ravioli dish I had had recently would be OK. It was a frozen meal so he prepared it for me. It was fine, and after that I felt so nauseated that I couldn't eat anything else. After he finished eating, he brought me a small bowl of some sugar-free, fat-free, lactose-free ice cream (it's actually called Carbo-Lite). It had a sugar-free peanut butter flavoring added to it, and it tasted wonderful. I ate it slowly, though.

So that was Thursday. I couldn't believe how little I ate, but the ongoing nausea is the culprit. Maybe Friday will be better.

Day Fourteen: Sickness Takes Over

Toasted Ham and Cheese

The day began like any other. Husband and I woke up starving so we ate our Nutrisystem breakfast and fruit as usual. I had my milk serving in my coffee, and off to work we went.

10 a.m. Status Update – Starving. Coffee gone. Must wait for lunch. Feeling really tired and muscles are aching.

11:33 a.m. Status Update – Time for lunch. Today’s featured food is the Nutrisystem Toasted Ham and Cheese, which smells amazing while it’s toasting. The package indicates that this selection is “A crispy crust filled with ham and American cheese.” Indeed, it is a crispy crust, but it was not as tasty as the pizza crust the company makes. The filling tasted very cheese and ham like, but there was not much of it. It seems that there was much more crust than filling. This “grilled ham and cheese” packs a whopping 10 grams of fat in one serving (the entire pocket), 6 grams of fiber, and 12 grams of protein. With that much fiber and protein, I expect that I’ll remain full until snack time around 3 p.m. The taste was definitely outstanding for a diet food.

12 p.m. Status Update – I am feeling nauseated. Not hungry at least.


1 p.m. Status Update – Nausea is getting worse, and I feel like I'm going to fall asleep on the spot.

1:15 p.m. Status Update – I can barely stand the nausea at this point. My head is hurting, and every muscle in my body aches. Food is the last thing on my mind.

1:45 p.m. Status Update – The thought of food makes me feel even worse. I try to eat the seaweed salad that I have, but the smell makes me want to vomit so I put it away.

Inside the ham and cheese

2:15 p.m. Status Update – I think I am getting a fever because I'm getting chills. Not even thinking of food. I go home early.

5:55 p.m. Status Update – I am not really hungry. I eat a few crackers and Husband drags me to the walk-in clinic at my doctor's office, which is open until 8 p.m.

8 p.m. Status Update – Back at home, Husband and I watch a TV show as I eat a few more crackers and some cheese. I have influenza, and I've been given Tamiflu. I have a fever of 101.0 degrees at some point during the afternoon.

I decide that I can eat real crackers and cheese because I have not consumed many calories throughout the day. Hopefully, I will feel better tomorrow!

Day Thirteen: The Peanut Butter Binge

My pancake breakfast with forbidden syrup!

I woke up this morning with a headache and a rumbling stomach. I am hosting book club at our house tonight, so I have to stay strong.

For breakfast, I decide to try the Nutrisystem frozen pancakes. They do not come with syrup, so Husband and I decided that adding some light syrup would be OK. We are still not sure why Nutrisystem offers frozen pancakes and a packet of pancake mix. So far, the only pancakes he has had on plan are from the Nutrisystem packets that contain enough mix for two small pancakes.

The two pancakes I ate for breakfast were tiny and thin. The taste reminded me of the Fiber One pancakes that I’ve made from a mix. Not bad, but they won’t be winning over a New York Times food critic. To supplement breakfast, I ate strawberries and later had 8 ounces of milk in my coffee.

10:00 a.m. Status update – NOOOO. I’m hungry. I just finished my coffee. I must have messed myself up with all the “real food” I’ve tasted since Friday. I will stay strong and ignore my stomach. Maybe it needs to be “reset.”

11:23 a.m. Status update – It’s late enough. Time for lunch! On the menu today is Nutrisystem Cheese Tortellini and lots of green beans.

12:03 p.m. Status update – I am going to eat my yogurt now.

12:33 p.m. Status update – It should be 1 p.m. by now, but it’s not. I am still very hungry.

1:11 p.m. Status update – It’s afternoon snack time. I have chosen to eat the Nutrisystem version of an “Almond Joy.” It is my favorite. The company has mastered the fine art of creating healthy imitation candy bars.

1:33 p.m. Status update – It should be after 2 p.m. My stomach thinks so at least.

1:46 p.m. Status update – Today is difficult.

2:13 p.m. Status update – I want my apple, but I distract myself with water. 

2:22 p.m. Status update – I’ve had one liter of water now. It is not working so time for an apple. My headache is back so I borrow REAL peanut butter from a co-worker. The PB is actually “natural” and has no sugar so it must be OK to eat a half cup, right?

2:26 p.m. Status update – I’ve texted Husband to tell him about my PB binge. He texts back some encouraging words so I return the PB and go back to my water. The apple and PB snack was good though.

3:07 p.m. Status update – I notice the headache I’ve had all day is gone! This is great news. I wonder if the headache was caused by hunger? Ha! Now, my PB binge is justified.

5:50 p.m. Status update – As I warm up our dinners, I also prep for book club. This means lots of running around the kitchen and dining room. Cat looks at me like I have lost my mind.

Frozen Ravioli on a salad plate

6:01 p.m. Status update – I have 29 minutes until everyone arrives. I decide to break the rule of not eating my food too quickly. I snarf down the Nutrisystem cheese ravioli (a frozen meal) as I mentally rejoice at the lack of vegetables in the meal. The sauce is sweet, and the cheese inside the ravioli is flavorful. I eat the, and before I knew it dinner was done.

6:30 p.m. Status update – Everything is in place. Husband helped with the dishes and emptied the dish washer. He enjoyed his Nutrisystem Tomato Pizza. After he finished his dessert (a half cup of chocolate mousse with homemade whipped cream made by me, not Nutrisystem) he retires to the “Man Cave” to watch a movie.

8:40 p.m. Status update – Book club is over, and I did not eat anything. I drank a diet soft drink. I celebrate by eating one leftover mousse-filled crepe before packing it up to take to work the next day. Success! I also have no headache.

No cheating tomorrow!

Day Twelve: Vegetables, Vegetables Everywhere

Chicken Alfredo (frozen Nutrisystem meal)

All I wanted was some pasta, chicken, and Alfredo sauce. What did I get? A platter of thin white sauce, some chicken bits, and vegetables. Oh yes! There was some pasta too.

I am veggied out. First, this meal was one of Nutrisystem's "must haves" that I thought would be good. (They send several meals that the customer cannot turn down or change.) It did not turn out that way. I think I was more disappointed than Husband because I detest cooked carrots, and this dinner was filled with carrots. The side I made was asparagus, which we both like. For some reason I thought I was going to get a meal that was similar to the non-refrigerated chicken Alfredo that Husband ate the first week of our Nutrisystem journey. Compare the photos and see if you blame me. Surely eating a head of lettuce, some fruit, and green beans all day should be enough. I suppose not because these unwelcome guests were still invited onto my plate.

I think I am getting a tad grumpy from the drastic change in my caloric consumption.

Husband's Chicken Alfredo (not frozen)

The success of the day came during lunch. Breakfast was good, but it failed to keep me full all morning. I had a ham and cheese omelet from Nutrisystem (one of the "must have" breakfast meals that I had no choice about taking). The omelet impressed me because it looked just like a freshly made dish, and it was neatly folded over – a trick all the fancy chefs can do. It tasted fine, but I was regretting the breakfast by mid-morning.

9:55 a.m. Status Update – I’m starving. I had thought the 15 grams of protein in the omelet would last longer than this. The cereal certainly does the trick. Omelet = fail.

10:50 a.m. Status Update – Starving even more. I suck on a sugar free cherry candy. Maybe it’ll be 11:30 a.m. soon so I can have my lunch.

11:07 a.m. Status Update – Hungry.

11:21 a.m. Status Update – How can I be so hungry today?

Chicken Fajita Melt

11:43 a.m. Status Update – I am eating lunch, which turns out to be the best meal all day. I tried the Nutrisystem Chicken Fajita Melt. I ate half of the green beans and then ate half of my Nutrisystem meal. Then I finished the remaining beans and the last of the melt to make it last longer. The melt's flavor was very good and a tad spicy, which I like. The breading smelled like freshly made pizza dough when I microwaved it, but the taste is too whole grain. It does not have much flavor.

12:18 p.m. Status Update – I’m done with the melt, the green beans, and the Nutrisystem Chocolate Fudge Bar. I’m saving my yogurt and apple for later.

1:12 p.m. Status Update – It’s time for the yogurt.

3:23 p.m. Status Update – I’ve been fine so far this afternoon. The chicken fajita melt must have been a good choice for a filling lunch.

Inside the melt

I felt let down after dinner because I didn't have anything left to eat. I had to finish the desserts I was making for my book club meeting, so I spent two hours doing that. I managed to not eat any of one dessert I made (a Diplomat) and only had a small bowl of chocolate mousse that I used for the second dessert. It was much better than devouring a pound of chocolate, and it was less depressing.

As a man, Husband gets to eat two dessert options every day, and he gets a morning snack that I do not get. Eating all this, he still loses more weight than me even when I'm following the plan perfectly. It is just the curse of being a woman I guess. Maybe tomorrow those veggies will stay at home in the freezer. Or better yet, I can coat them all with mousse!

Day Eleven: French Toast Disappoints, Mousse Doesn’t

Turkey dog on a bun with ketchup

When I woke up Sunday morning, I was starving. I was excited about trying the French toast that had come with our frozen meals. The excitement did not last long. It was ONE slice. I put a dab of light syrup on it, and I tried to eat it slowly but it was gone in a minute. I was hoping the taste would be excellent since there was so little French toast on the plate. Not so. I do not even think two slices would make it better unless the flavor is improved.

Then I had strawberries, and I made some coffee and added milk to it. I was still hungry when I sat down to plan my grocery store list – not a good sign.

By noon, I was more than hungry. I was famished. I decided to finally eat the turkey hot dog from a box (not frozen). Husband had already tried it, and he said it was “not bad.” The box was a half inch thick, and the hot dog was just a bit under a half inch thick. It was another non-refrigerated meal so I was not expecting too much. I placed it on a whole grain bun, added a little ketchup, and it was gone in an instant. I think the veggie dogs I used to eat were much better so I am not going to choose this meal again. It did not keep me full for long either. Fortunately, I had a Nutrisystem chocolate peanut butter bar and a fruit to keep me from starving.

In the afternoon, I had to start working on components of two desserts I was making for my book club this Tuesday. One was vanilla pudding (the kind you cook) and the other was chocolate mousse. This was going to prove to be a challenge because the pudding is easy to resist but not the mousse. However, Husband and I did not succumb to temptation and eat bowls of mousse. Instead, there were bowls and spatulas to lick after the desserts were made.

The French Toast breakfast

Dinner was disappointing. I had the chicken tenders meal, which I thought meant “small pieces of breaded chicken.” Husband had the same impression. My meal included pieces of chicken in gravy on top of rice with a side of green beans and almonds. 

His dinner did not look any more exciting. He had Asian Beef, which consisted of some rice, beef, sauce and broccoli. I cooked the cabbage and added cilantro, scallions, a dab of honey, low sodium soy sauce, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and sesame seed oil. I thought the cabbage was delicious. Husband ate it and said it was better than having raw cabbage so I guess that means it was an acceptable side dish.

We were both disappointed the eleventh day, but there are plenty more dinner entrees in the freezer to enjoy another day.

Day Ten: The Errand Day Calorie Burn

Nutrisystem's Grilled Chicken (you can see the slime glisten)

Saturday is a very busy day, and I spend most of it on my feet walking around at various stores as my mother and I get errands done. Breakfast included a latte (milk requirement), a Nutrisystem cereal, and a pear (meal requirement). About an hour and a half after eating breakfast, I was ready for lunch.

1:05 p.m. Status Update – It’s time for lunch. I’m not starving, which is a good thing. Lunch turns out to be boring because I ate the same thing for dinner Friday night. I had a huge plate of lettuce that was topped with the Nutrisystem Caesar Salad kit (bits of chicken and a dressing packet). I had packed all the food Husband and I would both need during our trip so there was no temptation to go off plan while we were away. I supplemented my lunch with a yogurt. I also chose to eat the Nutrisystem Chocolate Caramel bar because I figured I’d need the energy for the four hours of errands.

2:10 p.m. Status Update – We’re at Lowe’s looking at paint, and I feel light-headed. How can I be hungry already?

3:30 p.m. Status Update – We’re now at Kohl’s, and my stomach hurts. I have no snack with me because my next snack is yogurt. I trudge onward.

4:45 p.m. Status Update – Hungrier than Hungry. I'm slowly turning into Zombie Shopper.

5:05 p.m. Status Update – We reach the house so I eat the yogurt, and the light headedness goes away. We go to church, which starts at 5:30 p.m. and ends at nearly 7 p.m.

7:15 p.m. Status Update – I wanted my dinner as soon as we got back to the house, but it had to be prepared first. I ate a yellow bell pepper that was cooked on the stove with shallots and a tiny bit of Greek vinaigrette salad dressing. I ate the entire pepper, which fulfilled my three serving vegetable requirement for dinner. My Nutrisystem meal was grilled chicken, which comes out of a sealed plastic package that’s free of air. After microwaving it for a minute, I place it on a whole grain 80-calorie bun (not provided with the meal). The chicken looked slimy, but I ate all of it anyway. The chicken needed seasoning, but other than that it was fine. Not my favorite.

11:17 p.m. Status Update – Husband and I have made the drive back home, and we’re both tired and starving. I don’t eat anything. Instead, I drink some water hoping that will fill my stomach. When starved, head to bed. So that’s what we did. We stayed strong by thinking about our Sunday morning Nutrisystem frozen food breakfast. It’s a good thing we had no idea what the French toast was like, or else that thought would have been no comfort.

Day Nine: First Meals Out

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing (these are NOT on plan)

It’s Friday, and Husband and I have a birthday dinner to go to out of town. To prepare for the two and a half hour car ride, I pack a meal to eat – grilled chicken Caesar salad. I decide to save it for consumption just before we arrive at the restaurant so I won’t be famished. I’ve decided to not eat an entrée at the restaurant.

Although the Nutrisystem plan allows for eating out, it does not allow dieters to “take a break.” Some diets do, like Weight Watchers, which allows participants to use “discretionary points” to eat each week. This allows a person to have something decadent as long as it fits into the parameters of the discretionary points. I guess the people at Nutrisystem are afraid that if we eat real food, we won’t go back on the diet.

Husband and I decide to become rule breakers. We give ourselves permission to have a small break at the birthday dinner. He has a side salad and pulled pork, but he does not have croutons on the salad, asks for the dressing on the side, and he only eats half of his pulled pork. Good job! Husband enjoyed several rolls with cinnamon butter. I had three rolls. We each had one chocolate peanut butter birthday cupcake. I had no trouble resisting additional cupcakes even though the peanut butter icing was heavenly. I felt full, and I did not want to ruin my losing streak.

Prior to eating out on Friday, we both followed the Nutrisystem plan. Husband even had a working lunch at a restaurant and ate “on plan” by consulting the eating out guide. He had a grilled chicken salad with the dressing on the side, no cheese and no croutons. I think he’s starting to get sick of salad. I know I am beginning to feel like a rabbit after eating several heads of lettuce in one week.

On our last trip to the grocery store this week, I snuck into the cabbage section of the vegetables area while Husband was distracted by fruit. I bagged some Chinese cabbage hoping he wouldn’t notice. Of course he did. He said he’s not a fan of cabbage, but I was sick of salad. He asked me if I thought he was stupid, and I said no I just hoped he wouldn’t notice it looked a little different. He laughed. My clever plot was foiled by his keen observation. Better luck next time. 

I wonder if he knows about fennel…