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 four things 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) Audio Tapes
The tapes are pretty well the same sort of info as the classes above.
4) 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 or tapes, 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 went to Jenny Craig and while I was doing the interview my son called and asked me to pick him up from school.
So I told them I had to leave and that I would be back. The sales person told me to sign some documents and that they would take care of the rest when I returned. She never told me that I had 3 days to decide and that after that my money was not refundable.
When I found out I was charged almost $500 I went back and told her to please change my plan to cheaper $36 one. She stated that it had been past 3 days and that I can’t get a refund, that her hands were tied!!
I trusted them and actually believed they were interested in helping me lose weight, but it turned out to be a bunch of crap. It’s all about the money. I think they are bunch of thieves.
Thanks
I saw on an entertainment program that Kirstie Alley regained about 90 lbs! And she is no longer a spokeswomen for Jenny Craig. Of course, I learned this the day I joined Jenny Craig and finding this site today. Glad I only signed up for the 6 week program currently being advertised.
You all are right - the sales pressure is strong. They start with the most expensive program and then when you decline they tell you about the “special deals”. When the manager realized her pitch was ineffective on me, she backed down and quickly passed me to my weight loss counselor.
After leaving the center, I went home and calculated the cost of the food. For 6 weeks I will have to pay a total of $702 ($117×6) for Jenny Craig food plus the food I have to purchase from the grocery store. I’m single and my normal grocery bill is less than $60/ week. Needless to say, they won’t be seeing me again. I could kick myself for falling for Jenny Craig’s marketing.
I tried Jenny Craig on two different occasions. The first time was many years ago when I had put on a few pounds right after I got married. I have always stayed in shape and been very fit my entire life - with a great deal of work. Then, in my early forties I went through some serious health issues that required some steroid medication. I also went through two other serious traumas at the same time. Suddenly, it wasn’t a few pounds but 45 pounds I needed to lose. I decided to go back to Jenny Craig and see if they could help.
I was very excited at first. They wanted a lot of money down, but I quickly remembered that it is actually the food that is the most expensive. It also has very little variety - and even less variety for a vegetarian. If you try to cut the cost back, you are basically eating the same thing all the time. I also had to quit the program for a time to go out of state to help a sick relative, and the $300 I forked out was not refunded, even though they said it would be. This did not stop the weekly phone calls to my house asking me to re-join.
Additionally, with a medical background, and for someone who has worked out their whole life, I have more knowledge about diet and exercise than the counselors do. They should invest more money in training these people and less in pushing it on people. I also noticed the director of the center was super friendly to me before I signed up, after that she would barely say hello.
I love their ads on TV: If I was Kirstie or Valerie or Queen Latifa, it might be easier. If I was not only rich but had the program paid for by the company, we’d all be more successful. They not only misrepresent themselves, but their total lack of reality, professionalism, and compassion is sickening.