Let me guess, you are one of those peeps who is trying to better your lifestyle not only through weight loss but also through healthy living..

Yeah well, me too.

You are probably also trying to figure what the differences are between Nutrisystem and Slimfast.

Well that’s good news because it tells me and it should tell yourself that you are on the right track.

Quick Summary: Slim Fast Vs Nutrisystem

The hard part though is going to be, sticking with it. Are you actually gonna make the changes, get what you need to get, do what you need to do, in aim to reach your goals, or are you going to give up?

Everybody wants to lose weight but most can’t or won’t accommodate changes to their lifestyles. Losing weight and living and healthier, happier lifestyle can sometimes seem like an easy task – you go on a diet, work out, and poof! You’re a new person looking so ooh-la-la.

Or not.

Weight management often comes in tandem with changing different parts of your life and that can take a huge chunk of your time and your savings.

I never had this problem until I landed an office job, ( I was a full-time personal trainer, now part time. ) Too many late nights spent at my desk working, too many healthy lunches traded for fast food and bagels so I can beat deadlines.

And when I had free time, I spent it getting (unintentionally) wasted with family and friends. Give me a break, I barely had time to meet anyone! I must have stopped working out for 6 months, if not for a whole year, and it was taking a toll on my size and weight.

While I continued with this lifestyle, my shirt size mysteriously kept getting bigger. My jeans started getting tighter.

After that, I started noticing how tired I always was and how a flight of stairs could leave me breathless in a terrible way. My self-esteem dropped significantly when it finally sunk in that I gained so much weight and I hated how I looked and felt overall.

I needed a radical change in my life. Aside from getting a weight loss cardio machine and starting a workout routine, I decided to go on a diet.

Like so many others out there, I tried dozens of them but most of them were boring and made me feel like nothing changed or if something did, I’d yo-yo back to my original weight or worse, gain more.

It stressed me out how this or that diet worked for someone I knew but it didn’t work on me. And between my job, family, and working out, I also had a hard time looking for a diet that was not going to eat up what little free time I had, if I had any!

The lesson I learned? There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to dieting or losing weight for that matter! Your preferences, circumstances, and dietary needs should be carefully considered when choosing which diet plan is best for you. 

You can copy paste what your gym buddy is doing, and end up with loose skin for losing weight too fast, or possibly not seeing any rest altogether.

Two of the most well-known diet programs out there are Nutrisystem and SlimFast. I have also tried other  fitness apps like MyFitnessPall and Cronometer as well as Aaptive and Peloton before; all these are pretty awesome too. 

But people have sworn Nutrisystem and Slimfast have helped them shed those unwanted pounds. So today I’ll be zooming in to know more about these plans and see if they’re the perfect fit for your diet needs, too!

Slim Fast vs Nutrisystem: Main Differences & Fast Facts!

Here’s a quick overview of the main differences between Nutrisystem and SlimFast:

PROGRAM

Nutrisystem is a diet program consisting of a personalized 4-week plan with prepackaged full meals shipped to your doorstep; SlimFast is a diet plan consisting of their weight loss products like smoothies, shakes, and snacks

PRODUCTS

Nutrisystem offers different ready-to-eat meal plans which can be matched to your dietary restrictions if you have any, your health goals, body shape, and even to your food preferences; SlimFast provides you with a guide on how to best use their products and has formulated certain products to suit certain diets like Keto and to control diabetes

AVAILABILITY

Nutrisystem is not readily available in many brick-and-mortar stores (nutrisystem is more specialized and built for you) except for Costco and Walmart and orders are mostly done online; SlimFast is readily available in most stores, can be purchased online at Amazon, Jet and other major online shopping platforms. Their products can also be bought offline at Target, Walmart, and other grocery stores;

SUPPORT

Nutrisystem offers all forms on contact, email, phone, and chat support any day of the week and has a dedicated weight loss app called NuMi; SlimFast does not have chat support but does offer email and phone support for comments and questions.

COST

Nutrisystem’s plans range from dirt cheap for their basic plan to just cheap, for the Uniquely Yours Ultimate plan. All plans from Nutrisystem come with a money back Guarantee. I am personally using Nutrisystem right now, and the basic plan is what I am using and is all that you really need.

The company does offer you their Buy One Month plan, Get One Month plan for free, sale during your first order; Which is Huge! this is what I took advantage of. For Slimfast’s products, they also retail in pretty darn cheap.

All prices for both nutrisystem and slim fast vary based on what plan you go with and what products you choose.

NUTRITION

Nutrisystem provides you with 50% of calories coming from carbohydrates, 25% from protein, and the remaining 25% from fat; SlimFast focuses more on providing you with more protein, each serving of their drinks and mixes containing at least 10g to 20g of protein and as low as 1g of sugar.

You need to keep in mind that Nutrisytem is all in one weight loss plan, with ready to go meals, snacks, lunches, dinnners, etc.. all tailored for a better looking you.

Slimfast is also tailored to make you and better looking you, but they are not an all in one system. Slimfast has the products, you get what you want, they do not offer all in one plans.

What is Nutrisystem?

Nutrisystem is a weight loss program providing you with a 4-week pretty darn good meal plan, with snacks, drinks etc… that keeps your caloric intake healthy and under control.

Their diet plans will greatly benefit those who are busy bees and have no time to plan, shop, and cook healthy meals to aid their weight loss journey, and these are the people who Nutrisystem is specifically designed for.

Nutrisystem provides their subscribers with ready-to-eat meals based on their personalized goals and needs. The company ships your meals right to your door and provides you with breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks.

Nutrisystem guarantees you will lose weight without compromising convenience.

What’s Good about Nutrisystem?

So why exactly is Nutrisystem so good, and why is it all the rage right now.. Well actually why has it been the rage for literally years now?

Nutrisystem Plans are Proven

Having been around for almost half a century in the diet industry, Nutrisystem prides itself as the ultimate time-tested weight loss program that has helped many millions of people reach their weight goals.

Nutrisystem is Extremely Convenient – Perfect For Busy People

If your schedule is jam packed and you can’t find the time to shop and prep your own healthy meals, Nutrisystem can help you with their diet plans.

Their diet plan is convenient and easy to stick with. Their meals are preportioned so you won’t have to count calories yourself. Plus, their meal plans are designed with the help of nutritionists to make sure you’re getting the right nutrition!

For busy people, prepping food as one less thing to think about can definitely lessen the stress! Especially when you don’t need to count, measure, or cook anything because Nutrisystem does it for you already.

Nutrisystem’s Support is Top Notch

Nutrisystem likes to brag about their client support services, and righteously so. They offer support that you will not find anywhere else.

This includes access to on-call counselors, yes literally on call counselors are provided to you at no extra cost for every other plan other than the basic plan. Nutrisystem also includes online tracking for all diet plans and orders.

Who is Nutrisystem Best Suited For?

Nutrisystem’s diet plans are best for the busybody who has too much on their plate (literally and figuratively!) and needs a weight loss program that’s nutritious but at the same time convenient.

Their plans can be personalized for men, women, diabetics, and vegetarians. The company states that their plans are also healthy for people who have conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

The meals that form part of the plan are guaranteed low in sodium and saturated fats, lean protein, and high-fiber whole grains. You can also mix your meals up to make your diet less boring!

Overall, it’s suited for you if you’re looking to lose weight with a diet that helps you cut calories without having to worry about how much you’re consuming thanks to prepackaged meals.

How Does Nutrisystem Work?

In a nutshell, Nutrisystem prepares portioned breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks which will be delivered to your doorstep every 28 days. With the program, you’re taught how to eat healthier in order to manage your weight.

With the right mix of nutrients, heaps of healthy protein, high fiber, and no bad carbs and artificial sweeteners, Nutrisystem’s meals are crafted to be healthier versions of your favorite foods.

There are 6 meals in the Nutrisystem plan which follows suggested research on eating frequent smaller healthier meals throughout the day for optimum weight loss.

You eat every 2-3 hours enjoying a variety of Nutrisystem’s breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks. You can add your own fresh grocery foods on top of Nutrisystem’s meals if you need to supplement it.

Once you’ve subscribed and paid for a plan of your choice and selected your meals and snacks from their huge menu, you simply wait for Nutrisystem to ship your meals to your doorstep and follow their meal schedule.

For your first week in, Nutrisystem provides you with a week of meals and snacks that’s carefully chosen to reboot your body and hasten weight loss. During this week, your meals don’t go over 1000 calories/day.

Starting on your second week, your daily calorie intake gradually increases to 1200 to 1500 depending on your plan.

You’re sure to continue losing weight with Nutrisystem’s meals and snacks along with whatever healthy grocery foods and “Flex” meals (meals you have on the two days you’re not eating Nutrisystem’s meals) you add in.

With your Flex meals, you don’t have to miss out on enjoying a meal with family and friends. It also helps prepare you for when you transition after being on the program by letting you practice to choose healthy options.

While you’re on the program, you can contact support through phone or chat 7 days a week for any concerns or if you need guidance. Nutrisystem also has an app called NuMi that connects to wearable fitness devices for easier tracking.

If you opt to buy Nutrisystem’s personalized weight-loss programs, it considers your body type, food preferences, and weight loss goals to provide you with custom macronutrients as well as grocery and Flex meal guides.

How Much Does Nutrisystem Cost?

The cost for Nutrisystem’s plans vary. They base it on the recommended daily calorie intake and nutrients needed to make up healthy foods for men, women, vegetarians, older adults, or diabetics.

Nutrisystem is just a tiny bi more expensive than Slim Fast. However not by much, and when all things are considered, they are both still a fraction of the cost of the options out there. These two are some of the cheapest options available.

However, in spite of the cost, Nutrisystem offers convenience and ease to its subscribers.

The company aims to simplify your weight loss journey by providing you with ready-to-eat meals that are tailored to your body’s needs and shape, and your health goals.

Most of all, Nutrisystem’s plans give you time to relax without having to worry about shopping and cooking. When you factor all of these in, the cost doesn’t sound that bad!

What’s Not So Good About Nutrisystem

Nutrisystem seems like the magic miracle worker, are there any negatives to Nutrisystem’s all in one weight loss plans?

Yes..

Cost

Many have voiced concerns over the steep cost of the program and additional expenses you’d need to shell out for to buy additional food to supplement your diet.

A few have pointed out that the prepackaged meals from Nutrisystem are mostly processed foods with preservatives, deeming them not the healthiest choice for healthy lifestyle.

This is despite the company’s pledge against using artificial flavors and sweeteners, trans fat, and high-fructose corn syrup.

People sensitive to peanuts, soy, dairy, and gluten should take caution and consult their physicians before subscribing to a Nutrisystem plan.

Most meals on their menu contain gluten and while only a few contain peanuts, soy, and dair, the risk of cross-contamination is high.

From what people have said in the forums and through reviews though is that this is no problem and that it is not even noticed. Some say that there meal replacement shakes are great for people with sensitive stomachs.

Some subscribers have also aired concerns about slow responses from customer service which may be due to the volume of consumers that customer support have to deal with daily.

Subscription

In order to avail the full benefits of the Nutrisystem program, you would need to subscribe to a diet plan of your choice that provides you with prepackaged meals designed to restrict your calorie intake.

No one can really deny that a monthly subscription with Nutrisystem is not for someone who’s very tight on budget and it’s reassuring to know you can cancel any time.

Knowing how to cancel your subscription correctly to avoid any charges would also be good for you in the long run.

Interesting Things to Know About Nutrisystem

Are Nutrisystem’s Diet Plans vegan-friendly?

Nutrisystem has stated that their plans are not suitable for those following a vegan diet.

Do you need to exercise while on Nutrisystem’s Diet Program?

Nutrisystem recommends that their subscribers pair their diet plans with at least 30 minutes of exercise every day to achieve optimal weight loss. It's heavily debated whether you should workout 7 days a week, but personally I feel it's down to the intensity of your exercise.

Nutrisystem has created their My Daily 3® plan to help you focus on completing 30 minutes of physical activity every day.

What is Nutrisystem’s stance on Gluten?

The company advises people to avoid misinformation about gluten and advocates their subscribers to be aware that a gluten-based diet may not be as bad as others make it out to be.

What is SlimFast?

SlimFast is a diet industry brand that’s been in the market for over 40 years. Back in the day, its products consisted only of diet shakes.

The SlimFast diet plan was designed to replace breakfast and lunch with a SlimFast shake then followed by a hearty dinner.

As time passed and low-carb diets started to trend, the company expanded its line adding low-carb and low-sugar alternatives as well as meal replacement bars and other meal replacements like Soylent, Ensure, Shakeology, Shaklee, Huel and its alternatives.

Today, SlimFast has a variety of products composing of shakes, smoothie mixes, and snacks which forms part of their  3-2-1 diet program.

With the 3-2-1 diet program, you consume 3 SlimFast snacks, 2 meal replacements (shake or bar, your choice), and one sensible or 500-calorie meal of your choosing.

What Products Does SlimFast Offer?

SlimFast has a variety of products for its customers:

• Original Shakes and Smoothie Mixes
• Advanced Nutrition Shakes and Smoothie Mixes
• Advanced Energy Shakes
• Keto Meal Bars, Shake Mixes, Shakes, and Snacks
• Diabetic Weight Loss Meal Bars, Shake Mixes, and Snacks

Like Ka’chava’s top of the line meal replacement, their meal replacements also provide you with rich ingredients that beat those of Kachava's alternatives by a mile. For instance, you get 10-20 grams of protein, 2-5 grams of fiber, and only 1 gram of sugar for their Original, Advanced Nutrition, and Advanced Energy Products.

For their Keto products, they focus on providing 15 grams of fat to supplement your Keto diet while their Diabetic Weight Loss products have 10 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber, and zero sugar.

Here are the Slim Fast products that I tried out when I gave slim fast a run through.

Although, I do still prefer Nutrisystem, Slim Fast is very good for what you pay for it.

What’s Good About SlimFast?

SlimFast helps you restrict your calorie intake and reduce your portion sizes with minimal effort. The diet plan is flexible enough to suit a variety of lifestyles and is a convenient supplement to weight loss.

With the SlimFast Diet, you don’t need to worry about undereating or overeating! Just replace a meal with a SlimFast shake or meal replacement bar twice a day, have one regular meal of your choice, and that’s it.

You can eat 6 times throughout the day as long as you follow the SlimFast Diet Plan and add in 3 SlimFast snacks you prefer for the day.

SlimFast’s meal replacement shakes and smoothie mixes are gluten-free and have 0-1 gram of sugar in them.

Due to its high protein content for their meal replacements, SlimFast may aid in reducing hunger cravings. A study found that meal replacements similar to SlimFast hastened weight loss and improved blood sugar levels.

What’s more, SlimFast is easily accessible for everyone and can be purchased online and offline.

Who is SlimFast Best Suited For?

SlimFast is perfect for those who want to manage their weight while on a slightly modest budget and don’t want to commit long-term to a program. You can buy their products on retail and you don’t have to subscribe to anything before you can try out their diet plan.

SlimFast is good for those looking to supplement their Keto diets and for those who are trying to lose weight with diabetic restrictions.

Only their meal replacement shakes and protein smoothies mixes are labeled gluten-free and may not be suitable for those sensitive to gluten.

If you are not sensitive to dairy, SlimFast can be a good option for weight loss, however, the brand’s Advanced Nutrition shakes are 99.8% lactose free.

How Much Does SlimFast Cost?

Depending on where and how many you’re purchasing, Slim Fast is going to be the cheaper of the two but not by much. Slim Fast cost next to nothing and is a bit cheaper than Nutrisystem but keep in mind that Slim Fast does not offer the options, customizability, nutrition, and in my opinion, great taste, that Nutrisystem offers.

What’s Not So Good About SlimFast?

Meal replacement plans similar to SlimFast are known to be effective but only for short-term weight goals.

There’s a risk of gaining back the weight you’ve lost once you wean off the SlimFast Diet since the diet plan doesn’t help you learn portion control or develop habits to eat or cook healthy foods.

The diet focuses more on the number of calories you take in instead of the nutrients needed by your body, encouraging the false notion that counting calories is better than eating healthy.

Some consumers  are concerned that SlimFast’s products are built primarily on processed foods and preservatives.

SlimFast does not offer personalized support but does let you inquire through email and phone. They also have a Facebook page.

SlimFast’s products are not vegan friendly. Most are also not gluten-free and dairy-free. There’s also no indication on whether they use non-GMO ingredients.

Most of all, many consumers have complained about the taste and texture of SlimFast’s shakes and smoothie mixes saying they were not appetizing and were gritty or chunky.

Interesting Things to Know About SlimFast

Can You Drink Alcohol While on the SlimFast Diet?

Interestingly, SlimFast does not stop you from drinking alcohol while you’re on the diet plan. The brand does state though that losing weight would be much easier to achieve if you cut back on your alcohol consumption.

Does SlimFast Really Work for Diabetics?

SlimFast boasts of about 50 published clinical studies conducted by independent researchers that suggest diet plans like SlimFast can aid diabetics to effectively lose weight without compromising their health through measured glycemic control.

Should You Still Exercise While on the SlimFast Diet?

SlimFast highly encourages consumers to combine the diet plan with at least 30 minutes of physical activity like walking. It will not only help you lose weight faster but will keep you energized and brighten your mood.

My Concluding Thoughts & Recommendations – Go With Nutrisystem

My recommendation: So first off, through my personal experience testing both Slim Fast and Nutrisystem and taking note of the results I got with both of them, I recommend Nutrisystem.

I recommend Nutrisystem because it is an all-in-one solution that not only keeps you on track but also is extremely convenient.

If you’re new to diet plans, it’s best to do your research before you jump in and invest. Diet plans differ in what they can offer you and you’re not only risking your hard-earned money but you’re betting your health on these programs, too.

SlimFast offers flexibility in a way that if you don’t like a product, you can simply choose another SlimFast product to supplement your diet.

They may not be the cheapest but the convenience of being able to purchase them at grocery stores is a plus.

Nutrisystem, on the other hand, may be intimidating at first because you have to sign up before you can try their diet plans. Not to mention the cost for each plan.

But considering what it has to offer (the time you save, a variety of choices from their menu, the personalized diet plans, flex meals), the cost to sign up might just be worth the investment.

All in all, we should remember that different programs work for different dieters. What’s most important is the diet plan we follow is safe as well as effective.

About to start your weight loss journey or are you currently on one? We’d love to hear your insights!

Recommended Readings;

• Best Dumbbells for Women
• Kachava Vs Huel, Which is Better For What?
• Should You Workout 6 Days a Week?
• How To Get Rid of Mom Butt: What I Did to Build My Booty
• Pre-Workout without Beta Alanine
• Huel Vs Soylent

Resources:
https://leaf.nutrisystem.com/faqs/diet-food-nutrition-and-science/nutrisystem-diet-food-for-vegans/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11707563
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16002798
https://slimfast.com/