Finding the perfect weight loss program is an never-ending journey. Part of it is because there is always a new program popping up, trying to become the next best thing in the world of healthy eating.
In a time when fancy food delivery boxes are all the rage, imagine the convenience of offering the same service, but with food guaranteed to help you lose weight. This is the case with two popular home-delivery programs: Nutrisystem and Seattle Sutton.
Find out which one may be your ultimate home delivery weight loss program of choice.
Here is a quick pre-analysis of the two, based on customer reviews.
Nutrisystem
Average monthly budget: Starts at $274 a month, for the Basic plan, with auto-delivery.
What is included: 21 meals per week, 21 snacks, a week’s worth of the turbo plan (shakes and bars for quicker weight loss), access to online diet tools, and free FedEx shipping.
Food choices: Nutrisytem will select the foods for you on the basic plan. The Core and Uniquely Yours plans, however, will allow you to select from other food choices. The Uniquely Yours plan will let you choose from over 150 items plus frozen meals.
A la carte items? Yes
Shakes and bars? Yes
Plans: Basic weight loss, Core, Uniquely Yours (totally customized), Diabetic, Vegetarian, Men, Core Men, Vegetarian Men, Uniquely Yours Men.
Food type: Pre-made, microwaveable. Salads and fresh fruit are suggested for the customer to add in the meal suggestions. Vegetarian options are available.
Number of meals per week: 21 meals per week plus 21 snacks
Seattle Sutton Plan
Average monthly budget: Starts at $316 per week with auto delivery
What is included: 21 meals per week. Shipping is around $100. The total is around $1,200 per month
Food choices: Seattle Sutton offers 115 different meals and customers select their choices.
A la carte items? No
Shakes and bars? One of the breakfast options is a bar; no shakes/smoothies.
Plans: 1,200 calorie, 1,500 calorie, or 2,000 calorie plus vegetarian options
Food type: Pre-made, microwaveable, frozen and fresh produce is delivered.
Number of meals per week: 21 meals per week
In Depth
Average monthly budget
Nutrisystem and Seattle Sutton charge essentially the same average monthly price for 21 microwaveable meals. However, there is a steep difference. Nutrisystem’s FedEx shipping service is free every time. There are also more food items in the box (see “What’s Included”). The total monthly expenditure for Nutrisystem’s basic is $274 on average. The “VIP,” all-customized Nutristem plan, Uniquely Yours, will run at around $374 per month.
Seattle Sutton also gives you 21 meals, but they are supposed to be filling enough not to need a snack in between. Seattle Sutton also offers pick-up in limited areas. However, if you are not within the areas, be ready to pay up to $100 per shipping per week. This is what makes the difference between Nutrisystem’s $274 a month, for Basic, versus Seattle’s $316 per week, which adds up to nearly $1,264 a month.
What is included
All Nutrisystem plans include 21 meals per week. They also include 21 snacks, and a first week worth of shakes and bars for faster weight loss. FedEx shipping is free, and you also get access to online diet tools to help you lose quicker. The more customizable plans, Core and All Yours, allow more freedom selecting foods. Uniquely Yours will let you choose from over 150 items from the Nutrisystem kitchen, including frozen meals. The monthly fee also gets you access to nutritionists and counselors for the Uniquely Yours program.
You can also select a-la-carte items, shakes, and supplementary bars
Seattle Sutton’s anchor for sales is that their foods are essentially handcrafted and unique; organic, non GMO, gluten-free and adept to all dietary needs. Still, what you get is, essentially, the 21 meals per week.
The plan does not include a-la-carte items, shakes, or supplementary bars
Plans
Nutrisystem’s plans are based on food selection. The Basic plan allows for the company to select the best foods for you. Core plan helps you select from a variety of choices. Uniquely Yours lets you select from 150 choices from the kitchen, plus frozen meals. The access to counselors and dietitians comes with Uniquely Yours and Core. All plans, however, have access to online tools. There are also vegetarian and diabetic plans that work the same as the regular ones in terms of selecting the foods. There are also versions of the Core, vegetarian and diabetic programs made just for men.
Seattle sutton’s plans are based on calories per day: You get a 1,200 option, a 1,500 calorie option, and a 2,000 option. There are vegetarian options also available.
Food types
Both, the Nutrisystem and the Seattle Sutton plans feature microwaveable meals that are made so that customers do not have to prepare their own food.
Also, both plans feature meals such as Italian, Hispanic, Asian, and they include delicious desserts.
Flagging Factors
Nutrisystem
1. Food quality and taste
According to the high rate of returning Nutrisystem customers, the taste of the food is quite appealing. The reason is that Nutrisystem’s menu is created based on the most popular meats, snacks, side dishes, comfort foods, and meal choices that busy people consume on a daily basis. As such, one will find a higher amount of delectable meals in the Nutrisystem program, including pizza, lasagna, casseroles, burgers, and cheese-based dishes.
2. Easiness of following the program
Sticking to any diet program is not an easy task; we all wish to eat whatever we want, whenever we want to. The freedom of Nutrisystem is that it offers three extra mini-meals a day, in the form of snacks, that take away the ennui of following a “diet.” The foods make it worth it.
3. Cost of the program
The free shipping, and the additional 21 snacks, makes Nutrisystem a relatively affordable choice, at less than $10 dollars per day under the Basic plan. The Uniquely Yours program, which is the highest priced one, still runs at around $12 per day for all meals, at the most.
4. Activity needed
Although exercise is encouraged as part of a healthy lifestyle, the Nutrisystem program can work even with sedentary individuals who simply cannot take time to walk, or who cannot afford a gym membership.
5. Nutrisystem’s Lean 13 program guarantees a loss of 13 lbs and 7 inches, overall, during the first month. Customers report that this outcome can be greater or lesser depending on how much water is drank during the period as well as physical activity.
Seattle Sutton
1.Food quality and taste
According to Seattle Sutton customers, the taste of the food is a lottery. The reason is that Seattle’s menu is based on the premise of mega healthy eating with no added anything that may interrupt a super clean diet. As such, the meals will still be appealing, but not necessarily seasoned or crafted to please a popular palate.
2.Easiness of following the program
Depending on your goals, Seattle may be the plan for you. Most people who need to lose weight right away, just like people who need to drop their high blood pressure, or blood sugar levels, may find Seattle as a more “clinical” diet option than Nutrisystem.
3.Cost of the program
21 meals per week at almost $1,200 per month may or may not be affordable to you.
4.Activity needed
Like with Nutrisystem, Seattle Sutton encourages exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle.
5.Results:
Seattle Sutton customers are very pleased with the results. However, this plan is for sustained healthy eating for life; this means that it is not going to make you go on a crash plan to drop sudden amounts of weight. Like with every reduced-calorie plan, the goal is to lose 1.5-2.0 lbs per week the healthy way.
Conclusion
If you are looking for something you can “stick” with, perhaps the best choice for you is Nutrisystem. It is much more affordable and the food apparently tastes better, so the chances to stay with this program are much higher. Dieting is hard enough, so anything to make things easier can help. Nutrisystem’s plan of snacks, free delivery, and ease to select foods makes it a more approachable program, especially to people who are new to dieting and healthy eating.
