Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating

Founded in downstate Illinois back in the mid-1980s, Seattle Sutton Healthy Eating is the brainchild of a woman actually named Seattle Sutton - a registered nurse who worked alongside her physician husband in his medical practice. Sutton developed a nutritional program for her husband's patients who suffered with health issues - primarily hypertension, obesity, diabetes and heart disease - in order to improve their eating habits and their overall health. She determined that she could control the patients' diets with pre-packaged foods - fresh food - provided twice a week, for every meal of the day. It's a 5 week rotating menu featuring 100 or so different meals, but unlike other meal delivery programs the menus are planned by Seattle Sutton - here there is no choosing allowed on the part of the dieter.

Nutritionally it's a calorie and fat controlled plan, which Sutton assures is balanced in terms of nutrients, protein, calories, carbohydrates, etc. It is not a low-carb plan, as you'll find items like Cinnamon Raisin Bread and Banana Muffins on the breakfast menus. Fresh fruit or a fruit juice is typically included in one meal per day. There are two plans available - a 1,000 calories option that tops out at 1,200 calories with the addition of 2 fat-free dairy products as recommended, or an 1,800 calorie option which tops out at 2,000 calories with the same dairy recommendation. Meals are obtainable either delivered to your door, or picked up at a physical Seattle Sutton location. Since all of the food is fresh, you'll take delivery (or make a trip to the Sutton shop) twice a week. The program is available throughout the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii.

Seattle Sutton's primary marketing slogan is convenience. Though it was originally conceived as a means for people to follow a restricted diet for medical reasons, its base has expanded to include people who want a controlled diet to lose weight, people who are unable to drive or cook and people who simply cannot plan, shop and cook for themselves due to work constraints or a variety of other reasons. Will you lose weight on Seattle Sutton? If you don't cheat on it, yes. A controlled calorie diet is surefire. If you exercise regularly while you're on this eating plan, you'll drop even more. But bear in mind that Seattle Sutton is not a "full-service" weight loss plan like many other meal-delivery plans. There is no counseling, support, education, fitness program, recommended supplements, recipes, etc. available through Seattle Sutton. But that should not stop you from using a service like this to jump-start your weight loss - you're only just more self-reliant, which is what you need to be to maintain weight loss for the long term. Obviously, most people cannot (or won't, due to boredom) stay with a program like this indefinitely. But if you've seen weight loss results and made the connection between the results and the controlled calories and portions, ideally you'll be able to make the transition to healthier cooking and eating choices on your own. And if you fall into any of the other categories Seattle Sutton markets to - it seems like a win-win.