Twelfth Day - Finally a Whole Pound Gone

This morning the scale showed I was "down" to 202 lbs. That means I've lost a whole pound. I guess I need to be more patient (and exercise more).

I was on the last day of the two 5-day boxes of Nutrisystem I had bought at Walmart, and planning what I would do until the Nutrisystem I ordered from QVC arrived, when my husband told me that a delivery man was coming up the driveway with "two big boxes".

(Several days ago I found out that QVC had shipped two* (rather than one) of the Nutrisystem packages and it was too late to cancel so I had decided to just let things be.)

Now I've got enough product to last me quite a while:

Two 7-day "Fast5" packages.  This is what I "should have" started with, so I guess I'm doing things backwards.  The "Fast5" program recommends that each day you have a Nutrisystem breakfast, lunch, and dinner, an "energizing" shake, a "crush-craving" shake, and four servings of vegetables. The difference between a Fast5 day and a regular day is that there are no SmartCarbs or Powerfuels, just four servings of the recommended non-starchy vegetables. There also aren't any Nutrisystem snacks. I've decided not to try to do the whole "Fast5" thing at once but to use it as an alternate - perhaps after one of my "days off".

The rest of each package has food for five "weekends off" weeks, with the regular breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and the recommendation that each day you add two "Smartcarbs" and two "Powerfuels" plus four non-starchy vegetables.  This is basically the same daily pattern as the Walmart packages, except that the Walmart package came with a grocery shopping list and more specific recommendations for what Powerfuels and Smartcarbs to use each day. While the QVC package includes a thicker instruction booklet than the Walmart packages did, I am still going to have to go to the Nutrisystem website to get more detailed information about SmartCarb and Powerfuel substitutions. I should add that the Meal Planner that came with the QVC shipment only has a one-sheet guide to the "Fast5" and the Meal Planner for the rest of the package only has room to write down 28 days-worth of meals. Since the QVC package actually has enough product for 35 days (with weekends off) I'm wondering why they put the package together that way.

My rough calculation is that with the QVC package it works out to about $9.37 per day for the days when you are not on your own, and that is not counting any additions (Powerfuels, SmartCarbs, or non-starchy vegetables) you decide to add. This is pretty close to the $9.86 per day currently offered through Nutrisystem, but I believe you have to sign up for auto-shipping if you want that price through Nutrisystem. I also note that the QVC tag that came with each order says it will only deduct about $11 from your refund if you return it; while the Nutrisystem website says it would deduct over $19 for a similar package if you returned it for a refund.

Double order 6-week Nutrisystem from QVC

I separated the Nutrisystem into eight boxes: four for the Fast5, and four for the double six-week program. It was hard work and my back hurts now. Stored it in the bedroom, and now there is hardly room to walk around the bed. Somewhat reassuring to know that I won't starve to death for a while, but also a bit frightening to think about how long it is going to take to get rid of everything. 

*Regarding the double order. When I had started the original order the computer 'hung' half-way through, so I had to log out and start again. When the final page listed "2" I thought I had changed it to "1" but apparently I was wrong. No one's fault but my own. My Mom once said that she thought she had been "scared by a machine" before I was born, so that is perhaps why I have such bad luck doing certain things online.