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
I joined Jenny Craig at the Seattle Northgate location, and spoke with Sophia, the Mgr. I told Sophia that I was concerned that the food would not be quite right for me because I needed to monitor severe hypoglycemia (a prediabetic conditiion).
I was uncomfortable joining a program that did not provide nutrition information (amount of salt, amount of fat, amount of sugar, or refined carbohydrates, which I have to monitor. She insisted that the program would work. I left with a weeks worth of food, but when I got home and read the lables, I realized, and my doctor agreed, that it would not be the right program for me, the food is high is sugar, high in salt, and refined carbohydrates. My doctor decided that I should work with a Registered Dietician instead.
I join on June 10, 2007, on June 12, 2007, I returned to Sophia and asked for my money back, minus the food, which was not returnable. I told her my doctor had decided that I should work with a Registered Dietician instead, and mentioned that the food is food of ingredients that I have to avoid. She said she would refund me my money, minus the food, which she could not take back. I said okay, just refund me for what I can be refunded.
Today is July 27, 2007, and I have yet to receive a credit to my credit card. NO REFUND YET. When I called the Center to talk with Sophia (on June 25,2007), she was not available, but I was told by the attendee that Corporate Headquarters is very slow about giving people their refunds. I asked that she have Sophia call me about what happened to my refund and I have yet to get a call back from Sophia (who is the Mgr at the location), regarding my refund.
Petra
JC food is not lactose free and it contains too much sugar…e.g., the sweet sticky strawberry breakfast bar which repeated on me. I got a refund on on the sign-up fee, but not on the food. I was able to lose slowly by counting calories, eating healthy food, eliminating sugars and fats, and writing down everything I ate. (1200 calories per day) We need to watch out for that sugary food provided in the JC diet — there’s too much sugar in the American diet already. That’s why so many people have Type II diabetes. I found the counselor completely inadequate at the JC place I went to. She had no empathy and no expertise.
I just wanted to give you feedback about my experience with Jenny Craig. HORRIBLE! I don’t know how anyone with taste buds stays on this diet. And MOST annoying is, things you THINK you’ll like (i.e. I love tuna) that turn out to be NASTY cannot be returned if you buy MULTIPLES of this cat-food like substance. Your website caught my eye because of someone’s comment about Jenny and I wanted to add my two cents.