This is a review from a good friend of mine. It summarizes what I hear from most people about Jenny Craig. (Also, take a look at my video post, Jenny Craig vs. Nutrisystem, where an independent reporter investigates and compares both diets.)
My sister and I have struggled with our weight for our whole lives. Like everyone else, we had tried diet program after diet program. I clearly remember the day when we finally decided to do something about it and go to Jenny Craig. I’m not sure exactly why we chose Jenny Craig.
Maybe it was the Jenny Craig ads on TV with famous spokeswomen like Kirstie and Valerie (heard they just added Queen Latifah). Maybe it was the skinny people contrasted with pictures and videos of their former fat selves (”Results Not Typical” hmm). Or maybe it was just desperation because we had tried and failed at so many other diets: Weight Watchers, Atkins, and endless diet pills.
When we went to the center they put us through the drill. We watched a video, talked to the manager/sales rep, got weighed and got measurements taken. Very simple stuff which was all filled with sales pitches about how great the program is and how much weight we can lose. The whole initialization process didn’t fill me with a lot of confidence in the program, but I looked at it like it was a ritual that I had to perform to get to the nugget of the Jenny Craig program. The nugget that we believed would solve my sister’s and my problem. We were so excited about what we thought Jenny would help us do.
Jenny Craig supplies the following in exchange for your hard-earned dollars:
1) Counseling
Basically, the counselors were a joke. None of them had any insight or understanding of our struggle. Most had been thin all their lives. Some were 10 or 20 lbs. overweight and were far from masters of fitness and didn’t really understand us. On top of this the staff was untrained. They knew way less about weight loss than we did. If you want to know what the counseling was like imagine this:
Imagine your average decent woman from the street who has never really struggled with her weight. Imagine her sitting down with you and giving you advice on how to lose weight. Whatever pops into her head. Whatever skills she has come to the table with her and that’s it. Then she gives you an expensive menu that you must buy from and she whisks you off.
I guess there are a few good counselors peppered throughout the Jenny Craig organization, but, according to my experience, the counselors are generally less than useless. They’re counterproductive. It made me feel worse having some mega thin Barbie (who had always been thin) or some semi-pudgy “counselor” rush me through the session and ask me if I drank my water or ate an extra bar.
2) Classes
If you’ve ever read a book on basic nutrition and a basic diet book then you can skip these. I don’t know if they’ve changed them in the past few years, but they were entirely lame when I went. Nutrition and behavior modification courses taught by people who knew very little about either.
3) Expensive Food
Some food was delicious and some was unbearably disgusting. I loved the bars. The menu was repetitive. There was about a week or two’s worth of different food which is redistributed over the menus for as many weeks as you’re on the program. I was on the program for a long time (8 months).
Here’s the real meat of the deal for Jenny Craig. From my experience it quickly became obvious that Jenny Craig was just a diet food retailer. They’re not really about counseling or classes, because the quality is way too low. I think it’s just a front. So, to compensate for the added overhead costs of all those diet centers, counselors, and marketing, they overprice their food. Pretty slick huh.
The Bottom Line:
As with any diet, you can have success losing weight with Jenny Craig, but at what cost? Strip away all the fluff and at Jenny Craig’s core is a company selling overpriced diet food, twice as much as their competition. Save your money and stick with better choices like Nutrisystem or Medifast.
Hi, I'm a dietitian with experience in hundreds of weight loss programs and fad diets. When forming my list of the
Jenny Craig is not a good program.
1.The food has a lot of fiber so it expands in your stomach to make you full.–This could even enlarge your stomach so when you get off of the program you will need to eat more to fill your stomach. This is how people often gain weight after they stop the program.
2. The food looks nothing like the packaging. They show you a visual picture of how thing look and when you take them out of the package it looks nothing like the picture.
3. They add extra ingredients onto the food, ie onions. I the turkey burger, you would expect the burger to have only turkey. They put a whole bunch of stuff in there.
4. About them lying it is all true. I got completly different answers to the same questions when I asked two different workers.
5. Would not allow me to return the food even though it was just bought and still in the closed packages.
I have read most of the comments for the last two weeks and I am so glad I found this site. I have to lose 25lbs. Medical reasons and I was looking to Jenny Craig to help. Like a lot of people I don’t have the money to waste and if it is that costly, I would expect the counselors to be working with me through the entire plan. Doesn’t sound like they do. Thanks again, I’ll check out Nutrisystem.
Incompetent thieves and liars at JC, BEWARE!!!
I recently tried this plan out. Got on to the 2 weeks at a time food shipment plan. The first shipment came in fine on time, everything looked good and the food was great. I don’t think I lost any weight due to the food though; I lost 3 pounds because I was exercising 1 hr a day for 2 weeks. Big Whoop!!!!
The consultations were so quick I didn’t even know what we talked about. The consultant would just rant stuff about stuff and hang up on me. And I never got my assigned consultant because they never called on the decided time or date. Quite annoying when you have a job and a life!
Lastly, after my second consultation I told them they sent me some beef items in my shipment inspite of putting it on the “no list” the first time. Then I waited for 20 days and I’m still waiting for my second shipment of food. I have called them a zillion times with a new story each time. First somehow my order was cancelled and they didn’t notice! Then after my first call, I was told they will ship out my order in 2 days, didn’t come. After a series of calls, it was discovered that the new order fell through the cracks and was never placed. Wednesday night some manager calls me and assures me they will ship the order next morning and I should get it Friday latest. Nothing comes in again. Another call later, I am told that the order has been shipped on Friday morning and the courier service delivers till 8 pm so I should wait. I do and guess what, nothing even then.
The best part is these incompetent A—–holes can’t track the shipment or what happened to it but they keep telling me the food has been shipped when it’s not. Finally at my wit’s end I speak to a supervisor and ask them to just refund my remaining amount and that I would like to put in a formal complaint with someone up there. But apparently you cannot get beyond a freaking supervisor and now the ball is in their court and they will do whatever they need to without any updates to me. Meanwhile I gained 5 pounds without any diet food, thank god I was still exercising otherwise it would be more and I keep waiting on these f—kers for the food. RIDICULOUS!!!!! Good riddance. I’d rather live my life and eat my own food than get harassed like this.
Thanks JC for nothing! The refund takes 4 weeks to be processed I guess it is coming from Timbuktu. Do not trust what they tell you , they have no clue!