This article reviews the Jenny Craig Diet program, discusses the associated costs and its overall effectiveness. I would like to say "Thank You" to my clients that provided input and shared their experiences with the Jenny Craig Diet program for this article. Without your input this article would not have been written.
The Jenny Craig Diet Program
A calorie reduction weight program that uses portion controlled pre-packaged meals to promote weight loss. They offer 1500 calorie and 1200 calorie plans. The Jenny Craig program requires a membership fee to join yet is currently running a promotion "20lbs for $20 plus the cost of food". There is a catch to the promotion as you have only 3 months to achieve the 20lb loss of weight then you will have to join the Gold ($200) or Platinum ($300) Membership to continue. If there is a Jenny Craig center near you, then you can have a weight loss coach help you face to face otherwise you get the standard phone support. To achieve 20lbs in 3 months works out to 0.22 lbs per day or 1.6 lbs per week. When starting out on a diet program, these loss numbers should be achievable by everyone. Normal weight loss of 2-5 lbs/week is expected from many programs within the first 12 weeks. Jenny's food comes in around $90 to $110/person a week. At 1.6lbs per week, that works out to $56.25 to $68.75 per pound of weight loss and that does not include your initial $20 to join. After three months you will have purchased in the range of $1170 to $1430 for Jenny's food.
What did my clients experience with Jenny Craig?
Many of my clients that used this program commented that they hit a plateau within 5 to 6 months and then were put on the 1200 calorie plan. Within another 3-4 months they hit another plateau then the coach tried making changes to your food purchases and eating programs to keep them on the program but with little results. When they failed to continue to lose weight, the lifestyle coach accused them of not following the program correctly (cheating).
Clients Pros with Jenny Craig:
- Food is easy to prepare and the taste is not bad
- Plan is well laid out and easy to follow
- Nice to have a lifestyle coach to help you through the hard times
Clients Cons with Jenny Craig:
- Cost of the food
- Cost of the membership
- Lifestyle coaches are more like salespeople instead of a helping hand
- Exercise is not part of the program
- Phone support is difficult as you do not get the same coach each time
- Food can be salty at times
- Still required to purchase additional food from grocery store
If you stay with the program for 6 months and you will have lost between 25-40 lbs plus have spent in the range of $2340 to $2860 for the food, the initial $20 and either the $200 or $300 to continue. That works out to $3180! Now you see how Jenny Craig can afford those celebrity endorsements.
It is my opinion that this is a company that is using the "Weight Loss" umbrella to market and sell prepackaged diet meals. To be truly successful, the Jenny Craig diet needs to add TWO very important components to their program:
- Add a tiered exercise program to help in the burning of excess calories and make your existing muscles healthier. Healthy muscles burn calories even when you are not active.
- Teach clients how to eat using EVERYDAY foods from the grocery store. This is something that you can take with you were ever you go even if you go out to eat at a restaurant.
Like I tell each of my clients that are considering any product of this nature, "Pre-packaged food diet programs do not work for sustainable weight loss because you are not learning, you are just eating".
Finding a proper balanced diet program can be difficult, especially one that will not bore your taste buds with the same meals over and over again. One meal program that my clients have had excellent success with is called Strip That Fat It allows personal customization of over 40,000 meal combinations giving as many unique diets as you want. Print shopping lists for the diets and go shopping at your local grocery store, it could not be any easier. A professionally designed program that allows you to become accustomed to healthy eating. It is a complete program with guaranteed sustainable results.
BONUS Get a FREE copy of my Beginner Exercise Programs for Fast Weight Loss. It is designed for those just starting out or needing that little extra calorie burn for faster weight loss.
Thank you for reading and all the best you and your family!
Eat Healthy, Exercise and live a happier, longer life!
John Roberts
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_J_Roberts
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