Nutrisystem Complete 50 review 2024: a meal delivery service for weight loss

How does Nutrisystem Complete 50 work? 

Nutrisystem Complete 50 offers protein shakes, breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, and desserts to help people age 50 and up lose midlife weight gain. You can pick five or seven days’ worth of meals per week when you order. The meals are frozen and only require a few minutes in the microwave to heat. Some meals can be heated in an air fryer or the oven.

Nutrisystem Complete 50 is marketed as a weight loss program and advertises that women can lose up to 8% of belly fat in the first month. While this is promising, we think it’s worth noting that many factors can affect how fast you lose belly fat, including activity levels and waist circumference.   

Nutrisystem Complete 50 meal plans

When perusing the Nutrisystem Complete menu, you’ll note all the nutrition information, including protein, fiber, fat, and calories of each meal, snack, and dessert. You can filter for things like low sodium, vegetarian, and exclude allergens like tree nuts, eggs, milk, and wheat. 

For women

The goal of the women’s plan is to reduce menopause side effects, including gaining weight around the waist. The high-protein Hearty Inspiration meals are designed to help you stay full longer; they contain 25 grams of protein or more per meal. That said, some meals are pretty low in calories, like the 370-calorie beef and broccoli dish, which might leave people reaching for snacks between meals. 

Here are five of the 10 meals currently on the new Hearty Inspiration menu:

• Sesame beef and broccoli with brown rice 
• Grain-crusted pollock with vegetables
• Swedish meatballs with green beans
• Meatloaf with potatoes and veggies
• Chicken Bianca pizza

How much is enough protein to lose weight? It depends on your biometric data and age. You can visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition calculator to see your specific needs. (2)

For men

Complete 50 for Men is designed to help men burn fat and maintain lean muscle with high-protein meals. This plan is personalized to men’s age and current activity level. The protein shakes contain amino acids, amylopectin, and chromium, which increase lean muscle mass and strength when paired with strength training. (3)

For partners

Complete 50 for Partners is for couples who want to lose weight and get healthy together. The program is based on your age, nutrition needs, and activity level. You can lose weight and support each other on your weight loss journey. Studies show that working out with a romantic partner can make exercise more enjoyable and help keep you both on track (4)

Creating a subscription

To get started, you create your meal plan by selecting Chef’s Choice or I’ll Pick My Menu. You can also opt to get high-protein Hearty Inspirations meals. Next, select auto-delivery or pay in installments. You can also add protein shakes to your order. 

Cost of Nutrisystem Complete 50

Nutrisystem gets you started by putting some items in your cart, and you can choose to keep or change the quantity or remove items from the cart. Before discounts, the starting price is $11.07 per day for women, $12.50 per day for men, and $10.62 per day for partners for a monthly auto-delivery. If you opt to pay for two-month or three-month shipments, you will pay $10.39 or $9.96 for the women’s plan, respectively. Adding on 28 protein shakes cost $79.98, which is $2.86 per serving. 

Shipping for Nutrisystem costs $9.99. The company also regularly offers discounts. Currently, Nutrisystem is running a discount of $30 off your first order.

You can pay with VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Diner’s Club. Nutrisystem also offers express checkout using Paypal, Venmo, and Google Pay. You have until 6 p.m. EST of the day before your order is to be fulfilled to change your order.

NuMi app

Nutrisystem Complete 50 has a free app to download to your iOS or Android device. NuMi offers the following features:

• Track water, meals, calories, and exercise
• Reminders to move and drink water
• Scan barcodes when shopping
• Recipes for days you want to cook meals
• Read articles on diet, nutrition, and exercise
• Connects with Fitbit, but not Apple watch

Coaching

As part of the Nutrisystem Complete 50 subscription, you can connect with coaches, people who have successfully lost and maintained their weight loss using the Nutrisystem program. Be aware they are not registered dietitians or nutritionists.

Customer service

Nutrisystem’s website says you can try the food for seven days. If you don’t care for the service or food you can get a refund by calling (800)-727-8046 before your first week is up. However, when I called customer service to cancel, I was told I needed to mail back the uneaten pantry items, or I would incur a $125 fee, which was not disclosed during the purchase. This refund is not valid for returning customers, Partner Plans, Transition and Maintenance plans, or a la carte purchases.

Specs

Starting price	$11.07 per day for women, $12.50 per day for men, and $10.62 per day for partners
Shipping cost	$9.99
Shipping area	Continental United States
Meal type	Prepared meals, snacks, protein shakes, protein bars, and desserts
Number of meals per week	5-7 days’ worth of meals per week (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks)
Meal options	High protein, low sodium, high fiber, no cholesterol
Cancellation options	Call customer service

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Who is Nutrisystem Complete 50 best for? 

Nutrisystem Complete 50 is for women, men, and couples over the age of 50 on a weight loss journey who want fast, easy meals and online support to keep them on track. Most meals are frozen and pre-portioned and include all macronutrient information on the packaging, making it easier to count macros and calories if you want to. 

If you follow a specific diet, some meals are labeled diabetes-friendly, and you can see the sodium of each item. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends limiting your total salt intake to a maximum of 2,300 mg per day. (5)

Our experience with Nutrisystem

I haven’t tried the Complete 50 meal plan specifically, but I have tried the standard Nutrisystem plan.

The food arrives within four to seven business days in a recyclable box with ice packs to keep the frozen items cold. I didn’t have the option to pick the time of day when the box would arrive. But everything that was supposed to be frozen still was upon delivery. 

Most meals can be heated in the microwave, but I found that the meals, like the cheese-stuffed chicken breakfast and sesame beef and broccoli with brown rice, heated in the oven or stovetop tasted considerably better than the microwaved meals. Mostly, the meals were lackluster and the portions were small. That said, I did enjoy the nutty dark chocolate square for dessert.

The protein shakes are sweetened with stevia, which is good for those who avoid sugar for health conditions like diabetes, because it doesn’t affect blood sugar levels. (6) But I found the shakes to be too sweet. 

I didn’t have any problems canceling my subscription, which can only be done by calling customer service. But the customer service representative did try to talk me out of canceling.

What customers are saying

Nutrisystem has garnered 2,196 reviews on Trustpilot, and 36% are five-star reviews. Some customers were satisfied with the meal plan and were successful in losing weight.

“I’ve tried many diets and exercise programs over my lifetime. Nutrisystems was the easiest and fastest way to lose weight, and I am now 67 years old. Achieved the goal due to the portions, exercise, and food quality.”

Greg M., Trustpilot

That said, 22% of Trustpilot reviewers rated Nutrisystem one star. Many of the complaints were about the difficulty in trying to cancel the subscription, and not everyone enjoys the meals. 

“Prepare yourself for a culinary letdown of epic proportions. Brace as disappointment marches in, draped in the guise of a meal,” said Pamela on Trustpilot.

Nutrisystem Complete 50 vs. competitors

	Nutrisystem Complete 50	Weight Watchers	Mayo Clinic Diet	Noom Weight	Reverse Health
Rating	2.9/5	4/5	4.8/5	3.8/5	4.5/5
Starting cost	$10.62–$12.50	$23	$15.99/month for a year	$70	$30 per month
Meal type	Prepared meals	Prepared meals	Homemade	Homemade	Homemade
Delivery area	Continental U.S.	Continental U.S.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Support	Coach, community	Coach, community	Coach, community	Coach, community	Coach, community
	Check Price	Check Price	Check Price	Check Price	Check Price
				Read Review

How we test meal delivery services

Signing up for a meal delivery service like Nutrisystem Complete 50 may benefit your health and weight loss goals as you age. Delivery services can provide pre-portioned meals that meet your dietary, caloric, and macro needs.

Not every meal delivery service is a great fit for every person. That’s why Fortune Recommends™ aims to personally test every meal delivery service we review. Our goal is to provide unbiased, honest feedback to help you pick the right service for you.

Here’s why you can trust our meal delivery reviews.

Every Fortune meal delivery review features:

• In-depth analysis by testers and/or authors who are certified nutritionists and/or registered dietitians
• Testing for portion/ingredient accuracy, taste, and freshness
• Fact-checking and reviewing by qualified experts

At times, we may feature meal delivery services we haven’t yet tested. Until we can try them, we examine each service’s cost, meal variety, nutrition breakdown, and customization options. We then update our reviews once we’ve tested them to highlight everything we liked and didn’t like.

Read our full meal delivery testing methodology here.

Testing criteria

Meal choices—30%

A meal delivery service should provide numerous healthy, nutritious options for every meal of the day. It should also give you as much authority as you want over what you order. Here’s what we take into account in our meal choices rating:

• Multiple options
• Substitutions
• Guidance
• Label transparency

Food quality—30%

We want you to enjoy your meals! We aim to match you with companies that use delicious chef-designed recipes and have the dietary firepower of nutritionists and/or registered dietitians behind them. Here’s what goes into our quality rating.

• Flavor
• Healthiness
• Freshness

Value—20%

Meal delivery services vary a lot in price and you want good value for your dollars. Here’s what we factor into a program’s value rating:

• Fair price
• Multiple quantity options
• Customization

Customer experience—20%

When shopping for a meal delivery service you want one that is easy and convenient. We contact customer service representatives with questions to see how quickly they are to respond. 

• Packaging
• Ease of preparation
• Reviews
• Customer service

FAQs