Jenny Craig?

[RaydensMama]

Anyone done it? What did you think? Was the cost insane?

I was thinking that if I havent lost enough wait a few months before the wedding I may try it, so Id love some feedback!

[JulieG]

Someone else on here tried it, I think.

 

I have heard that you do lose the weight but the portions are really small and that is the main reason. I know a few people who were hungry all the time and ended up binging.

 

If you want to try anything, I say try weight watchers. It worked for everyone I know who tried it and its much cheaper, and you can do it on line if you want and not go to meetings.

 

I did it last year and lost 20 lbs. It totally works. And, you can eat whatever you want, just count it. You can go out for dinner as well, where with Jenny Craig you have to eat their meals, so it does not help when you go out or have guests over for meals.

[stacy75]

I did it back in 2003 and lost about 85lbs so I know it works. The food was really good in my opinion. If I remember correctly I did it for about a year..I can't even begin to tell you how sick I was of microwaved meals by the end

It was pricey but honestly it was well worth it to me. I was miserable with how I looked. I'm thinking about going on it again..I'd like to lose about 20lbs but I don't know how difficult it's going to be since I live with my FI now and we have junk food in the house all the time. I don't know how strong my willpower is. Back when I did it I lived alone so it was much easier for me..

[NYJen]

Ok, so I just got off Nutrisystem (did it for one month.) It worked, I lost 8 pounds in a month without exercising. But ALL the food is pantry food - very weird (too many preservatives.) I was going to join Jenny Craig since a friend of mine has done it and lost 30 pounds in 3 months. But I have to say, I like Weight Watchers. I've always done well on it and it's easy to stick to. You can get really creative with your points too. I guess if you try it for a month or so and see what you think. I'm glad I tried Nutrisystem, but I don't think it's for me.

[RaydensMama]

I know that I would not be able to do WW which is why I was looking into JC. My friend was on it and I tried to do it for a bit but all the point counting was just too much work for me so I just gave up. I really need someone to say "eat this at this time" When I have to use willpower I tend to cave!

 

And Stacy, thats AMAZING that you lost so much weight!!! And I know how you feel about junk food in the house. I never had trouble with my weight when FI and I lived on our own, but right now we are living with my dad and there is always crap in the house and he LOVEs to order out. Its so hard to say no when someone is offering to buy you tasty food!

[stacy75]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaydensMama I know that I would not be able to do WW which is why I was looking into JC. My friend was on it and I tried to do it for a bit but all the point counting was just too much work for me so I just gave up. I really need someone to say "eat this at this time" When I have to use willpower I tend to cave!

This is exactly the reason I loved JC. I need the structure...this is your food for the day and when you have eaten it all, you are done. I didn't have to worry about portion sizes because it was all done for me. I don't like to cook so the microwave meals were perfect for me. I've looked into WW but I don't think it would work for me as well as JC did. The idea that I would have to make my own food choices while I was losing weight is scary for me. I need to be told what to do. People argue that it's not a realistic way to lose weight...what happens when you go off the plan? Are you going to have people telling you exactly what to eat the rest of your life? It's not for everybody but it worked for me. I've gained about 15lbs back since I stopped JC in 2004. Of course I would have loved to have kept all of the weight off but they say maintaining your weight loss is much harder than losing it in the 1st place and I definately agree. I like to blame it on my FI though..it's his fault for having horrible eating habits that he brings to the relationship that I have unfortunatlely adopted.

[Nrvsbride]

First of all Stacey, congrats that is an amazing accomplishment! You should be on the commercials with Kirstie and Valerie!

 

I also did Jenny Craig but only for 3 months. I loved it. Okay I got sick of the food after awhile b/c I am a picky eater and I didn't love everything they have so I ended up eating the same meals over and over again. But if your not a picky eater and you like a wide variety of food its great b/c they really do have a lot to choose from. I have to admit most of their food is pretty good for frozen foods. The portions are teeny tiny. My first day was hell. But I swear to you after a week my stomach got used to eating the portions and by week 2 I found that I couldn't eat all the days meals.

 

They say you will lose 1 to 2 pounds per week, which I think is what WW promises as well. I exercised 4 to 5 times a week (just a half hour per day) and I lost 9 pounds my first week. Every week after that I was able to lose 3 pounds on average.

 

At first I would never go out to eat b/c I was terrified I was going to reverse all the good I had done. But slowly I started incorporating outside meals. I was able to still lose weight. What I found was that I had to eat things plain (no adding salt, sugar, dressings, etc) and I would still lose weight. Also I would not go near a carb. I would go to a steakhouse and eat half the portion of the petite steak and order lots of vegetables. I would order the fish at most restaurants and just ask them to make it grilled. And I would pile on lots of vegetables with all my meals. I was able to lose more than the basic amount per week b/c I only drank water and cut out carbonated drinks and caffeine.

 

I loved Jenny Craig b/c I am not a disciplined person and if I did WW I know myself, I would cheat. Whereas if I am paying money for something and there is someone telling me what to eat, I am more likely to set goals and be more focused.

[CaboDate]

For what it's worth.. Like Jen.. I'd recommend staying away from NutriSystem. I'm in the process of sending my remaining food back. LOADs of preservatives.. hurt my stomach. I'm going back to my way.. it was working.. just time consuming (planning meals.)

[RaydensMama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaboDate For what it's worth.. Like Jen.. I'd recommend staying away from NutriSystem. I'm in the process of sending my remaining food back. LOADs of preservatives.. hurt my stomach. I'm going back to my way.. it was working.. just time consuming (planning meals.)

All those preservatives would freak me out too! My sister was thinking of doing NS after her baby is born but when I told her about all the food being pantry food she freaked and is not going to do it. That just cant be safe for you!
Well Ive been checking out the JC site and they have tons of FREE useful stuff on it. I may give it a try, but Ill wait till closer to the date. Thanks ladies for all your help!

[*JillD*]

I've never done Jenny Craig, but have done WW. I like WW because you can eat anything as long as you count it, your not restricted. With that being said, I'm 7 weeks away from my wedding and have been trying to lose weight since I got engaged and because I'm a procrastinator I kept putting it off, so I'm now doing atkins. I know, I know, atkins is very controversial. I don't eat a slab of bacon everyday or anything like that. I usually have an atkins breakfast bar and an iced coffee. For lunch, a greek salad, or a salad with grilled chicken. Dinner some sort of protein, I've been doing fish a lot, salmon, haddock, or I'll have chicken or steak, and either another salad or some veggies. The first few days were hard, but its actually a lot better now, I'm so much less hungry and I lost about 13 pounds in the last two weeks.

 

The thing I hate about atkins is that its really hard to drink because all alcohol has carbs. But realistically on any diet you have to limit drinking if you want to lose.

 

So anyway, my goal was to lose 30 lbs. by my wedding, so if I can still reach my goal I'll be really happy!