I’ve seen a lot of interest in and have been getting a lot of questions about the new Nutrisystem Flex program and I can understand why. Not only is this program about $100 cheaper than the regular program (only about $230 before coupons,) but you are also allowed to take two days off every seven days. These two days aren’t mandated to be the weekend, but many people will chose two weekend days because this just makes things more convenient and family friendly. Still some people hesitate because they wonder if you are able to get the same results or to lose as much weight when you’re only dieting five out of seven days. I’ll address this concern in the following article.

The company will flat out tell you that most folks lose 2-3 pounds per week or about 8 -12 pounds for every month that you are on Nutrisystem. They don’t make any clarification as to which program they mean, but since the flex plan is relatively new, it’s probably safe to say this wasn’t included in that claim. However, I know many people who have tried this new program out and who have been pleasantly surprised to see no significant drop in the pounds lost. To be honestly 2 - 3 pounds per week should not be difficult for most diligent folks. I think that this estimate is pretty low for most and should not be too hard to reach, even with skipping some days.

The real key seems in whether you use common sense and make decent choices on your days off. Obviously, you can’t hit the buffets or the all you can eat restaurants, load up, and then go back to eating your diet foods and think that it is going to all even out in the end. The basic formula still exists - less calories must go in and more must go out. And, you will still have to take in a lower amount of carbohydrates and more protein to get into ketosis where you will burn fat steadily and quickly. If you cheat horribly on your two days off, you’re going to bump yourself out of ketosis and when you do, you will need about three days to get back in.

However, if you eat reasonably during your free days and never get bumped out of fat burning mode, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t coast along in the same way that you have been. I do believe that flex can work if you have the dedication and commitment to make sound choices when you have to. And at the end of the day, this is great training for when you go off of Nutrisystem because no one plans to be on the diet forever. The goal is always to lose your target amount of weight, learn new habits, and change your lifestyle so that you keep the weight off. Nutrisystem’s Flex plan seems to be firmly in alignment with this, but how much you make it work for you is entirely up to you and the choices that you make when you’re “off.”

I should also mention that the foods are not any different than what you can chose from on the 28 day plan. So you’ll be eating the exact same foods (which you can customize if you wish), but you’ll just be eating them ten days less frequently every month which is the main reason that you can get this package for very cheap, especially if you use coupons.