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’ve been on the Jenny Craig diet for 14 weeks now. I too have seen a large turnover in their staff. They seem to get frustrated with me more than trying to help.
I also agree with others that their food is very expensive. I’ve spent over $2000 and am not at all happy with the results. I’m going to quit this week and go back to Nutrisystem.
Roland
At first I thought Jenny Craig was great. As time went on, I noticed whenever I missed a meeting or didn’t follow the “Jenny Craig” plan or substituted my own foods, my JC sales rep would get frustrated and kept emphasizing how important it was to purchase their food…..(she is a very nice person outside of Jenny Craig so I’m not going to put her down.)
The food is very expensive! I agree with the other reviews that Jenny Craig seems to go up on their food around twice a year. I paid around $500 to get started and still had to pay over $100 weekly for food!!
Even worse was showing up for my scheduled meeting with a counselor and waiting forever in the lobby. Why make an appointment if you can’t stick to the agreed upon time?…. Jenny Craig really is about the money first and the customer second. All the counselors ever talk about is reaching their sales goals. uggh!
I want to scream and throw a brick at my T.V. whenever I hear “thanks Jenny” because I know it’s a giant lie!
I joined, went through the typical ritual and then got my food. When I noticed all the sugary deserts they were trying to feed me, I told my counselor that I am diabetic and cannot eat that. Her response was “this is doctor approved, we have lots of diabetics on this program and they are fine” How many doctors do you know that will approve sugar for a diabetic?
I quit Jenny and went to Nutrisystem. I ended up losing 25 pounds and did not have to eat one ounce of sugar…hmmm. Jenny is nothing more than expensive crap that harms instead of helps. Don’t ever join, run for your life to the nearest competitor who really does care for their clients.