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 9 weeks ago and have lost a few pounds and bought the food every week. Today when I went in for my weigh in, I wanted to try something different for the week. I told my counselor that I wanted to buy just the lunches and would measure my own cereal and make a normal dinner.
I was immediately confronted by my counselor telling me that if I didn’t buy the food that I could not come back anymore. I questioned the validity of that and was told that I needed to buy the food. She then called in an area manager to tell me / seemed like aggressively sell me on buying the food. I questioned why I was paying about $120 a week to loose 1.5 pounds and I could tell I struck a nerve because of the push back I got.
I agreed to buy the food for the week and then left. I highly doubt I will be back because they made me feel worthless and that I was treated like a baby because I wanted to try something different for one week.
I am very disapointed.
I am currently a Jenny Craig consultant and very irritated by all of these negative reviews!
I do agree that the food is overpriced, as an employee we get 50% off and I still can’t afford the program! I also agree that the consultants are a little pushy when it comes to selling product, but guess what people, IT’S OUR JOB!
Just like any other company they have to make money, right? I have been with the company for 3 years now and it still pisses me off when a lady who weighs 270lbs comes into my office with a pissy attitude, like it’s my fault she weighs that much and judges me because I only weight 127lbs…
Do you people really think that people who are skinny are just naturally that way? Hell no! I have just lost 20 lbs, and let me tell you, that was that hardest thing i ever had to do! It’s not just a quick fix, you have to really change your lifestyle. If someone comes to me and they need to lose 5 or 10 lbs then I treat them just like someone who has to lose 50 or 100lbs! I take my client’s weight loss personally and really do want to help them.
I am sorry to those who have had bad experiences with Jenny Craig, but if you want to lose weight and really keep it off, quit making stupid excuses for yourself and really do it. Don’t blame your consultant or the company, blame yourself, because that is who you are really mad at!
I just went to Jenny Craig to lose 25lbs of babyweight. I can honestly say that I know a lot about nutrition & exercise, I just needed a motivator & food plan b/c of my hectic schedule.
The counselor was completely uninformed about nutrition & exercise and I completely agree with the other comments that I just sat in on a sales pitch. I only paid the $20 - 20lbs promotion but was still hit with a $139.00 bill for the first week! During my session (before purchasing the food) the counselor said that their food was competitively priced averaging only about $10-$12.00 per day..this was simply not true.
I am going to complete the week b/c I paid so much for the food & intend to go back and give them my critique but will not return. I agree that Jenny Craig is just a food retailer.