Complaints about Nutrisystem

Nutrisystem is one of the most popular diet programs in America—and it’s also one of the most hotly debated. Like Jenny Craig, members of Nutrisystem are assigned a low calorie diet, relying on the company’s pre-packaged meals to lose weight. Although many loyal fans rave about Nutrisystem’s results, the path to those results—the diet’s lack of variety, the unsavory food, poor customer service—has left a bad taste in many customers’ mouths.

Less Than Appetizing Taste

You’ve probably heard the rumors and it’s not pretty: Mush. Astronaut meals. Dog food. Negative reviews of Nutrisystem foods range from the gentler “bland” to the more brutal “I wouldn’t even feed this to an animal.” Nutrisystem’s food is the least beloved among national diet programs. "The dehydrated hamburger becomes meat mush when prepared. Tuna and chicken salad are puree. The chocolates are like eating sawdust," lamented one customer on a consumer complaint website. Additionally, many individuals have complained that the food is exceptionally salty. Although the meals’ sodium levels are comparable to supermarket frozen dinners, dieters say that the salty taste of many Nutrisystem meals isn’t complemented by the food’s dry or mushy texture. Dieters that order a month of food, only to discover that they hate their choices, will be forced to swallow them down until next month’s shipment of potentially tastier selections. Nutritionists aren’t wild about the number of calories (1,200) that the average woman consumes daily on Nutrisystem, citing that this amount may make it difficult to manage hunger. Some meals are only 150 calories—the amount most dieticians recommend for a snack.

The Heavy Cost

The cost of Nutrisystem is another issue for many dieters. Although not as expensive as Jenny Craig, a basic 4-week plan will set you back $299.95 (provided you sign up for the auto-delivery feature). The Fresh-Frozen 4-week plan, which includes more palatable options and a larger selection of foods, rings in at $388.94. The meals are designed to be supplemented with 6 servings of fruits and veggies each day, which you’ll want to consider when contemplating the program’s pricetag Individuals used to dining out frequently or who don’t have budget restrictions won’t bat an eye, but Nutrisystem will have the coupon clipping set feeling the burn.

Say Goodbye to Choice

When it comes to online consumer complaints, customer service issues abound at Nutrisystem. Members have griped that the company will make substitutions to their meal choices at random, and several aggravated vegetarians weren’t thrilled to discover that Nutrisystem had decided to substitute meals with meat for their vegan fare. “My biggest issue is the substitution of products,” one Nutrisystem member blogged.  “I'm fairly picky and have some food allergies, so when I order I order the food that meets my requirements. On my second order they substituted 16 lunch items (8 were noted as subs while the other 8 were just wrongly picked.” Some members, after calling to cancel their Nutrisystem membership, were shocked when their credit cards continued to be billed, while others were charged a cancellation fee in the $50 range.

Programs like Weight Watchers are successful in the long run because they teach members how to eat healthy when dining out, examine food labels, incorporate exercise into their lives, and cook their own nutritious meals. Nutrisystem doesn’t teach behavior modification or address emotional eating issues, and many dieters run the risk of relapsing into negative eating habits when they’re no longer living off of the company’s pre-packaged meals. Nutrisystem can be a great short-term approach to dropping pounds, but an individual won’t learn weight management skills (like portion control) from pre-packaged food. By following Nutrisystem’s reduced calorie diet in the 1200-1500 calorie range, there’s no question that people will lose weight. But if dieters decided to monitor their daily calorie intake themselves, they could achieve similar results without the hefty cost.

Click Here to Read the Complete Nutrisystem Review