There are a number of diet plans out there designed to help you lose weight. Here are two plans and a comparison of them. Nutrisystem is a prepackaged meal replacement program where you will buy all of your meals through them. Nutrisystem advertises that it is a diet plan that utilizes portion control with balanced nutrition that allows you to eat frequent meals up to six times a day in order to fight off cravings and still lose weight. Nutrisystem is a glycemic index based diet that has food choices designed around the correct portion sizes. Medifast advertises their five and one program plan, and then after you have lost the weight, to continue on their three and three program indefinitely. The plan relies on the Medifast meals, healthy snacks, and lean and green meals prepared by you. Medifast is also glycemic index diet that works by restricting your calorie intake allowing you to lose weight.

Nutrisystem has great food quality with a variety of plans that can be selected depending on your dietary needs. Nutrisystem offers 150 food choices to provide variety in your diet plan. The portion sizes are small because they are meant to be supplemented with other fresh produce and healthy snacks. Some consumers were turned off by the meat choices and recommended the vegetarian options as being more appetizing. Many consumers stated that the food quality has improved in recent years. Nutrisystem food contains all of the nutrients that your body will need with roughly half coming from carbohydrates, one quarter from protein and one quarter from fat. The meal plan can be supplemented with a list of other healthy options such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, fresh meat and dairy.

As long as you remember to order your food from Nutrisystem each month, the program is moderately easy to follow. It is a calorie restricting diet and as such, you may feel the need to supplement your diet to feel full. This will require a little effort from you to go to the grocery store and select items that are both healthy and nutritious. There is not much cooking involved since most of the meals provided will just need to be heated.

The cost of Nutrisystem program is around $240 to $350 dollars each month depending on the plan just for the meals from the company. Any additional food from the grocery store would be extra. Nutrisystem recommends 30 minutes of activity every day. This can be broken down into 10 minute blocks. Nutrisystem participants lost at least 3.8 percent more weight after three months on the program over the control group.

Medifast has fairly good food quality, but with only 70 choices available, many consumers got bored very quickly eating the same things over and over. There are a variety of diet plans available depending on your dietary needs including vegan and gluten free options. The meal that you prepare yourself needs to include five to seven ounces of a lean protein source, three servings of vegetables, and no more than two servings of healthy fats. The foods that are off limits are fruits and starches.

As long as you remember to order your from Medifast each month, the program is moderately easy to follow. It is a calorie restricting diet that may leave you feeling less then full. There will be some effort on your part to go to the grocery store and find foods that are approved for your prepared meal. Preparation of the meals with the plan is fairly easy, since most just require heating. Although there will be some effort involved with preparing your own meal.

The cost of the Medifast program is around $300 a month depending on the plan selected. The food that you supply from the grocery store for your prepared meal would be an additional cost.
Medifast recommends 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day and to limit your amount of vigorous exercise to no more than 45 minutes each day. Medifast participants had a greater than 4% weight loss after four months over the control group.

The US News evaluated and ranked thirty-eight diets based on the ease of following the program, whether the meals were nutritious, and whether the program was safe and effective for overall weight loss. Nutrisystem was ranked number 16 and Medifast was ranked number 29 for the diet plans. Most of diet plans reviewed were for life style changes and the types of food that were consumed. Only three of the plans reviewed were for prepackaged meal plans. By far, more consumers prefer the Nutrisystem plan to Medifast. The food choices available seem to be better on the Nutrisystem plan. The ease of following the program, total cost, and success rate for weight loss appears to be similar for both plans. The downside to the Medifast plan is the fact that they encourage people to continue on their plans indefinitely. Overall, either diet plan can work with the right amount of commitment, but Nutrisystem appears to be the better option.

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