Dinner’s On The Table – Healthy Specialty Foods & Recipes

     The reality is commercial diet systems like NutriSystem, Jenny Craig and The Zone Diet want you to become dependent upon their food. This is how they make money. So, you decide to make the leap thinking that 12-18 dollars per day for food isn’t that bad. This sounds inexpensive until you add in the fact this doesn’t include your spouse or the rest of your family if you have children. So you still have more work to do to prepare meals for everyone. And you thought your food worries were eliminated?

     Jill and I have searched through various review Web sites and spoken to a number of folks who have been on these diet systems and we get very mixed responses. From the quality of the food to poor customer service to menu availability.

     We found these responses for NutriSystem:

• "A few of my friends swear by it, but it seems expensive, especially if you still have to cook separately for your family."
• "After losing 15 pounds on NutriSystem, I have gained all plus five back. The diet was OK, food ranged from decent to inedible. The pictures on the website and TV are inaccurate."
• "They are very small portions and require salad and other side dishes to complement to get full enough."
• "I dealt with almost constant problems just with getting the food I ordered. They were constantly out of things and would just send substitutions."
• "Even though I took their survey on what I can or can’t eat they still got it wrong. I said I don’t eat beef and they sent beef as a substitute and I’m allergic to nuts and they completely ignored that."
• "The food is flat out disgusting, and thats IF you get any of the entrées that actually HAVE taste."
• "I have to say I don’t think the food is so bad but I am starving from mid-afternoon to the time I finally fall asleep. I’m totally following the diet which is supposed to keep you "full and satisfied" Really the sodium is so high it should keep you so bloated you won’t want to eat anything but, no, I’m HUNGRY."

     Of course there are plenty of positive responses as well. Consider, if you are satisfied with store bought frozen dinners then you will most likely find NutriSystem’s meals fine. But if the quality of your food extends from beyond weight loss to nutrition and taste, you will most likely not feel satisfied. And if have to prepare regular style meals for the rest of your family you’ll be torturing yourself because you won’t be able to eat what they’re having for dinner.

     A Personal Chef offers you and your family a more livable option for changing the way you eat as part of a new lifestyle. We sit down with your entire family and learn about likes and dislikes, allergies, and special diets. We work one-on-one with you to create a weekly menu (usually for dinners only, but we can add lunch and breakfast too) based on what you wish to eat. You will always have the correct menu prepared unless extreme circumstances make a particular ingredient unavailable in our region. In which case we find an acceptable substitution that fits your expectations. From experience we’ve found that on rare occasions some species of fish, fruits and vegetables may not be available due to season.

     Would you prefer to conform to what a diet system offers you to eat or would rather have custom made meals that fit your dietary (lifestyle!) needs? With a Personal Chef preparing healthy, delicious meals for you, even if you do decide to have store bought, "healthy" frozen dinners for lunch, you’ll have a fantastic dinner to look forward to 5 nights each week.

     Please explore NutriSystem and other diet programs for yourself and find other folks who have enrolled in these programs so you can make an informed decision for yourself.

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