Nutrisystem Week 9 Update: Celebrating NSVs (Non-Scale Victories) #NSNation

December 15, 2012
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daisy tape measure

Woof Woof Papa and I just finished up week #9 on the Nutrisystem program and are back with an update for you! Weighing in this morning, I realized I’m becoming a bit too fixated on what the scale says. Yes, I lost weight this week (skip to the end to see how much) and should feel great about it, but instead of being thrilled that I’ve lost 19.8 pounds so far, I found myself feeling disappointed that I was .2 pounds short of 20! Silly, right?

Instead of beating myself up about it, I headed to the Nutrisystem Program Member’s Page to look for some inspiration  Each week, the folks from Nutrisystem post online advice and support designed to help members at each stage of their weight loss journey. This week’s advice was about ‘seeing past the scale’ and celebrating the NSVs (non-scale victories), so I decided to take stock of my NSVs. Some Non-Scale Victories I’m celebrating this week:

  • Inches Lost: I’ve been logging my measurements for 9 weeks now, but never really took notice of how the progress was adding up. I’ve lost 3 inches from my hips so far, and another 3″ from my waist!
  • Clothes: Since I work from home and spend a lot of time at the dog park, I tend to wear the same old dumpy stuff which makes it hard to tell that I’m getting smaller. I dug to the back of the closet and pulled out some jeans I love that hadn’t fit in a LONG time. Guess what? They fit great! (still several sizes to go to reach my goal but super exciting anyway)
  • Health: This one is harder to see and measure but probably the most important. I’m taking time to remind myself that I’m getting heart-healthy and reducing other health risks by losing weight and increasing my physical activity!

Woof Woof Papa celebrated his own NSV this week, too.  They had a huge holiday party at his work – a football tailgating themed party complete with ribs, wings, chili, ice cream and all kinds of other yummy but fattening foods. His strategy was to take just a tiny bit of each item on his plate. It must have worked because his coworkers noticed and about half were impressed, while the others expressed concern and asked if he was feeling OK. Too funny, but he was pretty proud of himself and told me all about it when he got home from work.

After all this talk about Non-Scale Victories I do need to update you on how much we lost this week. It’s still an important measure of our progress…I’m just going to work on remembering that it’s not the only measure of success. So, how did we do this week? I’ll tell ya!

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Staying On Track with Sugar Free Holiday Cheer from Torani!

December 13, 2012
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lattes with Torani

Regular readers probably already know that Woof Woof Papa and I have been following the Nutrisystem weight loss plan and are doing really well so far! You can catch up on our weight loss progress here if you’ve fallen behind or don’t know what I’m talking about!

The holiday season is probably the most difficult time of the year to stay on track with dieting, but we’ve been treating ourselves to some low-calorie and diet-friendly drinks, thanks to Torani Sugar Free syrups! They’re available in several yummy holiday flavors so we can indulge in holiday cheer without derailing our diet.

torani cheer

I’ve been enjoying the Pumpkin Torani in my coffee and even in a special cocktail I made for a little holiday splurge.  The hubby had the very clever idea of adding it to the Nutrisystem protein shake mix. The Hazelnut Torani is especially delicious in the coffee shake! We went a little overboard with the whipped cream, but it’s fat free so that’s a plus! The idea is to find small ways to replace full-calorie treats with lower calorie ones, and save them for special occasions…that way you don’t feel totally deprived and can enjoy a little Holiday Cheer with friends and family!

Stop by and snag a $1 OFF Torani Printable Coupon and get started on your own holiday cheer. You can find both regular and sugar free in the coffee aisle! Thanks to Torani and SheSpeaks for arranging for us to receive these products so we could try them and share our honest opinions with our readers.

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Almondina: Indulgently Tasty Low-Calorie Treats for People! (Sorry, Daisy)

December 5, 2012
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almondina cookies with coffeeBeing on Nutrisystem now for 2 months, we’ve become extremely careful about the types of snacks and treats we keep on hand so we don’t undo all the progress we’ve made so far with our weight loss. It’s especially difficult during the holidays, when we want to have nice cookies and treats around for guests, as well as stock up on some items we can use in gift bags and baskets. That’s why we’re super excited about discovering Almondina!

Almondina is an all-natural crispy almond cookie treat that’s perfect with coffee, as a dessert, or an afternoon snack. Their tagline is “Indulgently Tasty. Minimal Calories. Thin. Light. Crunchy.” and that totally sums it up! At only 30 calories, we’ve been enjoying ours as an “Extra” on our Nutrisystem meal plan. We each get 3 extras per day at up to 35 calories each. Favorite flavors so far include the Choconut, Ginger Spice, Chocolate Cherry and the Original (with almonds and raisins), and we can’t wait to try more varieties, too! We’ve been careful not to open them all at once or we might lose our will power and eat them ALL!!!!

I’ve also decided that they make a fabulous gift item to include in some gift baskets I’m putting together, along with colorful tea towels I snagged on sale, and some delicious sugar free Torani coffee syrup! I’m still looking for some baskets or other nice containers on sale. I found a few cute flower pots on clearance and am thinking about using those as gift baskets this year, too:

Almondina gift basket

In addition to being delicious, Almondina Cookies are:

  • Free of cholesterol, coloring and preservatives
  • Made with no added fat or salt
  • Low in calories – only 30 per slice
  • Made in America
  • Kosher and Pareve (non dairy)

If you’re looking for healthy and fancy hostess gifts, stocking stuffer, treats for your holiday guests, or something special to add to your gift baskets, be sure to keep an eye out for Almondina Cookies when you are combing the gourmet food gift aisles at TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Home Goods and other similar stores. You can also find them at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and many of the major grocery chains, too! Stop by and say hi to Almondina on Facebook, and follow @Almondina on Twitter to keep up with all the new flavor offerings and more.

blog info

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Nutrisystem Week 7 Update: Shakes and Cinnamon Rolls! #NSNation

December 1, 2012
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breakfast with nutrisystem

I was never much of a breakfast person before starting the Nutrisystem program, but I find myself becoming a big fan! Last week, I tried the new frozen breakfast burrito entree, and this week I had my first Cinnamon Roll along with a yummy chocolate protein shake. If I’d known I could eat pastries and drink shakes every morning and still lose weight, I would have started eating breakfast a long time ago!

The shakes are easy to make in the handy blender cup that Nutrisystem sends, and my favorites are chocolate and coffee. They’re meant to be a breakfast item, but I sometimes save mine for later in the day depending on my schedule and mood. And the cinnamon roll is even more delicious than I’d imagined…very much like the yummy Cinnabon ones you can get at the mall or airport!

Nutrisystem Cinnamon Roll

I love that we are 7 weeks into the program and I’m still discovering new food items!  They definitely have enough options to keep things interesting! We just placed our next food order and I reordered a bunch of my favorites, but am also excited about trying a few more new entrees!

Woof Woof Papa wants me to let you know that he got back on track and has recovered from his Thanksgiving feasting! He’d gained some pounds the week after Thanksgiving and has managed to drop them again quickly. Having a reliable and easy plan in place, that we know is working, really helps…so THANKS to Nutrisystem for that!


So how did we do this week? Here’s our week #7 update:

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Nutrisystem Week 5 Update: New Foods + Tips for Thanksgiving! #NSNation

November 17, 2012
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Nutrisystem breakfast burritoWe received our month 2 food delivery from Nutrisystem last week, and got some yummy new items including a tasty and filling Breakfast Burrito! Also loving the new desserts, but more about that in a future update! One of the things I really enjoy on the Nutrisystem program is the variety. We get to stock up on our favorite foods (pizza for me and cheesy home style potatoes for the hubby) plus try new ones from the large menu of options.

While things are going really well and I’m super pleased with our progress, I have been a bit worried about staying on track as we head deep into what I like to refer to as “the holiday eating season”. That’s the time of year that starts around Halloween and runs through New Year’s.

To help, the folks over at Nutrisystem sent us some Diet-friendly Tips for Thanksgiving! That’s another thing I really like about the program…it’s not just about the food. We also get support, advice, tools and tips to help us change the habits and eating issues that led to our weight problems in the first place.

A few Thanksgiving Diet Tips and Strategies we are planning to follow (they work for everyone, not just Nutrisytem members):

  • If you’re cooking, keep your bottle of water with you in the kitchen, so you’re less tempted to snack.
  • Stay away from the appetizer table. We’ll substitute raw vegetables since those are unlimited!
  • Instead of just sitting around after dinner, take a family walk, or organize a touch-football game. We plan to take Daisy for an extra long walk!
  • Don’t skip meals in an attempt to “bank” calories. Instead, eat everything on your meal plan leading up to the holiday event to help stay on track.

Since most of us dieters will still want to indulge in some of the traditional Thanksgiving favorites, here are some portion guideline to keep in mind:

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