Online Diet Programs

NUTRISYSTEM REVIEW:Go to Site | Back to Chart

Nutrisystem's plan is based on low Glycemic Index, which uses a mix of proteins and slowly-digested carbs to stabilize your blood sugar to avoid cravings and encourage weight loss. It combines the convenience of prepackaged foods (including a wide variety of breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and dessert options) with fresh produce and dairy from your local grocer. The diet comes with a meal planner which outlines your 5 meals a day, 7 days a week. The diet has variations for men, women, seniors, diabetics and vegetarians. (The log-GI approach is particularly useful to diabetics who need help in regulating their blood sugar throughout the day.) Nutrisystem says its plan is not appropriate for nursing mothers. Nutrisystem offers strong online and phone support, freeing you from meetings and weekly group weigh-ins. Their website also offers motivational messages, a newsletter, online class, bulletin boards and chatrooms, and weight loss and fitness diaries. The site is easy to access and navigate, and can be used without purchasing any Nutrisystem meals. All of Nutrisystem's foods can be stored at room temperature and prepared easily. They can cater your meal plan to a specific need, such as a food allergy or dairy intolerance. The Nutrisystem plan also includes MindNourish and BodyNourish, two free guides that complete the Nutrisystem offering by 'fueling all aspects of the self'. MindNourish uses simple techniques to create a healthy mindset about your body and weight loss. BodyNourish is an exercise program that incorporates simple movements, exercises and yoga poses to invigorate and energize. Nutrisystem is an excellent program to encourage a healthy attitude about your body while providing an easy-to-follow program for busy people.

DELICIOUSLYYOURS REVIEW:Go to Site | Back to Chart

DeliciouslyYours, a food delivery plan from eDiets, is designed for those well-intentioned individuals who want to eat healthy and nutritious meals, but who simply don't have the time to plan and prepare an elaborate breakfast, lunch and dinner each day. DeliciouslyYours offers customers a choice of two different plans. The 7-day complete program includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack or dessert every day, and is recommended for those who are serious about weight loss and prefer as much structure and convenience as possible. The 5-day 'weekends free' program, which only provides meals on weekdays, is more flexible and is intended for weight maintenance.

Rather than emphasizing a particular diet with restrictions and rules, DeliciouslyYours focuses on supplying nutritious, gourmet meals in sensible portion sizes. Just sign in to your account and custom design your menu for the week. The meals you select will be freshly prepared to order, packed in Stay Fresh refrigerated coolers and delivered to you via FedEx. All you have to do is heat and eat your chef-prepared, personalized meals. Epicurious.com named DeliciouslyYours as its top pick among diet delivery services, highlighting the many tasty meal options. When you sign up for DeliciouslyYours, you also get access to the many other resources at eDiets.com, including support and motivation at community message boards, live support from registered dieticians and certified fitness trainers, a personalized fitness plan and health and fitness news, tips and motivating challenges.

If you are a picky eater or have specific dietary needs due to allergies or diabetes, this plan may not be right for you. But this program is ideal for people who prefer healthy, sensible, well-proportioned meals rather than a strict diet. Many consumers will appreciate the ease and convenience of having every meal freshly prepared and delivered to their door. For $19.95 a day, DeliciouslyYours serves a fresh, chef-prepared, great tasting breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack or dessert to your front door, plus a variety of other resources designed to help you eat well, exercise effectively and lose weight.

DIET-TO-GO REVIEW:Go to Site | Back to Chart

Diet-to-go provides a 3 meal per day plan for those seeking low fat, low carb, or vegetarian diets. You can choose from a full plan (all 3 meals delivered, 7 days a week), lunch and dinner (2 meals delivered, 7 days a week), or an action plan (2 meals per day, 5 days per week). They also offer between-meal snacks on their website. The meal plan is created by a counselor when you start the plan, based on your nutritional needs and preferences. Diet-to-go has physical locations in Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Francisco for pick-up, but you can have your meals shipped to you anywhere in the US. (Demonstrations and food sampling are also available at the pick-up locations.) The meals follow the guidelines from the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association. Their website has a 'Ask the Dietitian' feature where you can e-mail your questions to their resident dietitian for answers. They also offer various tools like a BMI calculator (to tell you your current body mass index) and a diet analysis (to help you decide which Diet-to-go plan is best for you). For support, the website offers a community bulletin board which can be accessed by anyone, regardless if they are on the plan or not. In addition to the delivered meals, Diet-to-go sells a variety of prepackaged snacks through the website. Diet-to-go seems to lack in an exercise component as well as strong support in weight loss, but it does offer convenient, fresh and healthy foods as compared to prepackaged foods plans. It is important to read the fine print on this diet (as well as any meal delivery plan), as the plan will auto-bill your credit card for the duration of your diet contract.

CHEFS DIETS REVIEW:Go to Site | Back to Chart

Chefs Diet is a meal delivery service based on the Dr. Sears Zone Diet, which balances a ratio of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% favorable fats and claims to promote increased energy levels, weight loss and lean body mass and to maintain blood sugar levels. The delicious, gourmet meals are a hit with their many Hollywood celebrity clients. Chefs Diet offers several different program options to suit different needs and budgets.

The Premium Daily program offers the most variety, but it is only available to clients in New York, parts of New Jersey and Connecticut, and Southern California. The 31 day program costs $39.99 per day, while the 21 day program, the 14 day program and the 7 day program are each incrementally more expensive, costing up to $49.95 per day for a one week commitment. Each day, customers receive a cooler bag containing 3 freshly made, microwaveable meals and 2 snacks. This program also offers a kosher option for $22.99 per day, a vegetarian option for $36.95 per day, and a children's option for $22.99 per day. The Premium Daily program menu can be altered to accommodate allergies and food preferences.

The Premium Weekly option is available throughout the 48 continental states and also costs $39.99 per day for a 20 or 28 day program, plus $49.99 per week for shipping. The 14 day program costs $41.99 per day and the 7 day program costs $44.99 per day. Customers receive weekly shipments of containing 3 freshly made, never frozen, microwavable meals and 2 snacks for each day of the week. There is also a kosher Premium Weekly option for $29.99 per day. The Weekly Premium delivery program allows clients to custom tailor their own menus. New customers who choose the 28 day Weekly Premium delivery program receive a $50 discount.

The My Solution programs are more affordable and more versatile. Every other week, customers receive a shipment containing 14 days worth of frozen gourmet meals. There are a variety of different meal arrangements available for a range of prices to fit any budget. Customers can choose to have their credit card charged automatically once every 4 weeks, or to request their meal delivery one month at a time. The monthly option costs an additional $2 per day. The cheapest My Solution configuration is $14.95 per day with the auto ship option and includes breakfast, dinner and 2 ChefsDiet bars. The most comprehensive My Solution program consists of breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 ChefsDiet bars, for $22.95 per day with auto ship or $24.95 per day with the monthly billing plan. There is a shipping and handling charge of approximately $56.99 for each biweekly shipment of My Solution frozen meals, depending on your location. Customers receive 2 weeks of free meals after using the auto ship option for 2 months. First time customers who select the monthly billing plan receive a $50 discount.

Chefs Diet does not provide much in the way of diet and exercise support, although there are some general health and diet tips, nutrition advice for eating out at restaurants and a Chefs Diet blog. According to Chefs Diet, the average client loses approximately 8 to 10 pounds during the first month and 6 to 8 pounds per month thereafter. Chefs Diet is a great option for those who are serious about sticking to the complex ratios of the Zone diet, and who don't mind splurging a little on fresh, gourmet food.

MEDIFAST REVIEW:Go to Site | Back to Chart

Medifast offers a meal delivery program that is considerably more rigorous than most of the other programs reviewed by NextAdvisor.com. Medifast is focused on helping those who are obese or seriously overweight improve their health. All Medifast meal packages are based on their 5 & 1 plan, which means that you eat 5 prepackaged Medifast meals and 1 'lean and green meal,' which should consist of lean meat plus salad or vegetables. Your 'lean and green meal' adds some flexibility to this diet plan, since you can prepare it yourself or eat at a restaurant. The 5 Medifast meals are not actually full meals comparable to those offered by other meal delivery services. Meal options include shakes and other beverages, soups, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, puddings and bars. Many of these items come in powder packets that you mix with water and microwave or refrigerate. Meals are formulated with low-fat protein and fiber and fortified with vitamins and nutrients. Dieters using the Medifast 5 & 1 plan eat once every 2 to 3 hours, for a total of 6 small meals each day. The Medifast 5 & 1 plan promotes rapid weight loss by restricting dieters' daily calorie intake to between 800 and 1000. For this reason, customers who already have an exercise program in place are advised to cut their routine in half for the first couple of weeks, and customers who do not already exercise should wait 2 to 3 weeks before beginning an exercise program. Once you have reached your weight loss goals with the 5 & 1 plan, the Medifast Transition, Maintenance and Exercise plans are designed to help you maintain your weight loss.

A 4 week supply of Medifast meals costs $299.50, plus shipping and handling, which varies depending on your location and the weight of the package. A 2 week supply is $154.50. Customers ordering the 4 week package receive 50% off the cost of shipping, plus 3 extra meals and a shaker jar, used for mixing powdered meals with water. These meal packages are not customizable, but individual meals and snacks are available for purchase from the Medifast website. Medifast also offers a meal package specifically designed for those with type 2 diabetes, which is available for the same prices. Enhanced packages are available, which include Super Omega-3, a nutritional supplement that promises to boost your weight-loss program, for an additional $28. The Momentum packages, which cost $169.50 for a 28 day supply or $353.50 for a 60 day supply, include flavor infusers meant to be added to water, as well as liquid Medifast meals. These products contain caffeine and green tea antioxidant EGCG, and promise to help dieters burn calories more efficiently, break through a weight loss plateau and maintain a new, healthier weight. They are designed to complement the Medifast 5 & 1 plan, with the liquid meals replacing normal Medifast meals and the flavor infusers used in addition to the normal 6 meals per day. Customers are advised to consume up to 3 Momentum products daily.

Medifast is an intense diet plan designed to promote rapid, significant weight loss and improved health. Because this plan works, in part, by drastically reducing calorie intake, people with unique caloric requirements or health conditions should check with their doctors before beginning the Medifast 5 & 1 diet.