Questions I get about Jenny Craig

People are curious.  That is a good thang.

(Editor’s note:  For English speakers outside of the Southern region of the United states…  “Thang” is the way in which Southerners, particularly those from the region known as “Texas” pronounce “thing” — We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post.)

I get a lot questions about “Jenny Craig”  So, in the interest of edumacating the general POP-u-lus, …

(Editor’s note:  Again the writer is using non-standard English grammar and spelling to emphasis a particular point.  In this case by deliberately misusing and misspelling the word educating, and stressing particular syllables through the use of incorrect capitalization and punctuation, the writer displays his expert writing skills, his expansive knowledge of proper grammar, and his mastery of the spell check software feature, thus he cho0ses to pasquinade those who might be colloquially referred to as “grammar snobs.”)

…I’m going to answer some of the more common questions I get from friends and people reading this blog:

“Is the Jenny Craig food any good? How does it taste?”

Well, friends, neighbors, and dearest readers, all 12 of you who actually follow this blog, “Yes, the food is good.”  It is real food and it is very very tasty.

Trust me, if the food didn’t taste good then I would not stick with the program.  There are even deserts and snacks.  My favorites are the Triple Chocolate Cheesecake and the Key-Lime Pie. Both VERY Yummy!

The only “Jenny Craig Food” that I really don’t care for on the Jenny Menu is the soups.  The Jenny Craig soups taste very bland to me.

The chilli is good, but the soups–not so much.  I buy my soups from the regular grocery store.

“How much food do you get to eat?  Are you ever hungry?”

Goodness! There is a LOT of food.  I am very very very RARELY hungry.  In addition to the foods I buy at the Jenny Craig Center when I go for my weekly weigh-in and pep-talk, I get lots of fresh fruits and vegetables from the supermarket.

Also, as I mentioned in the previous question, there are some Jenny Craig foods (very few of them) which I don’t particularly care for, so I get the supermarket equivalent of those foods instead of buying them from Jenny Craig.

“How expensive is Jenny Craig?”

Unfortunately the answer to that is “it depends.”  Because in addition to the Jenny Craig food, you also buy food from the supermarket.  Here is an answer that may help.  “I spend abo0ut 10% more on food when I’m on Jenny Craig, then when I’m not buying the Jenny Craig food.” 

How do I know that?  Well, I track everything I spend in Quicken.  So, I can with just a few clicks, do reports on how much I spend on just about anything, including food.  Before going onto the Jenny Craig program, I, as a single bachelor kind of guy ate out at fast food joints and restaurants a LOT.    Face it, when the staff, all the staff, at Domino’s Pizza knows you by your first name, you’ve been eating there too often.

So…while “eating out” may be easy, convenient, and yummy, it AIN’T cheap!

(Editor’s note: “ain’t” isn’t a word.  I begin to fear that the writer is not displaying his skill with the English language but really talks the way he writes.  I shall reserve judgement.  We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post.)

So… “how much does it cost?”  The answer is “I spend pretty much about the same as before I went on Jenny Craig.  BUT… the money that used to go toward fattening fast food, now goes toward much healthier choices.

Of course there are some foods that Jenny Craig offers which are cheaper to buy at the regular supermarket.  For details check out this blog post: Ways to Save Money on Jenny Craig Food.

“Why did you decide on Jenny Craig?”

I looked at Weight Watchers, Medifast, and others like Jenny Craig; and of course I’ve tried “doing it on my own.  Several things went into me deciding to join “Jenny”

1. Just before I joined, I talked to two different acquaintances, both of whom were on Jenny Craig and both of whom gave it good reviews and both of whom were loosing weight, visibly loosing weight.
2. At the time I joined Jenny Craig, the closest Jenny Craig center was only four blocks from my “day job” at the library.  Now that the “day job” is gone, that particular center is still convenient because I do my dance practices with my dance partner near that location.
3. When I joined Jenny Craig, they were running an introductory offer which made joining financially sensible.
4. When I did my research online I discovered that the basic concepts behind Jenny Craig matched up with what I knew about health, fitness, nutrition, and eating sensibly.

“How does Jenny Craig ‘work’?”

Conceptually, the program is actually is very simple:

(Editor’s note:  while monitoring the percentage of correct grammar and the use of complex sentence structure and multi-syllable words, it has been determined that the writer is indeed skilled, knowledgeable and capable of intelligent discourse.)

After all, if weren’t darn tootin easy a feller likeun me’s wouldn’t be able to do it fer meself, now would i?

(Editor’s note: upon further review, the editorial staff have unanimously thrown up their hands in disgust.  We’ve decided that the writer must be a Native Texan.)

And I’m durn proud of it too!  Texas after all was an independent nation at one point ya know!  Psssttt…  I’m kinda suspicious of this here “Editor feller”  Kinda glad to see his hind end heading out tha door.  But I digress…

So…  “How does Jenny work?”

• Six meals a day (some tiny, some bigger)
• Balance of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.
• Lots of fruits and vegetables.
• Exercise is part of the “plan”

What I like best about being on Jenny Craig is that it is “easy.”  I don’t have to cook… …I just heat things up.  I don’t have to worry about whether I’m getting the right kinds of foods and whether they all add up to the daily recommended nutrition and vitamins and protein levels and all that other mumbo-jumbo that I know I should really pay attention to; all I have to do is read what’s next on the menu, nuke it or heat it up on the stove and *presto* I’m done.

“Heat and eat”  That’s my motto!  It is like I have my very own personal cook, dietitian, and nutritionist all on staff to take care of all that science techno gadgetry wizardry.

“What exactly is on the Jenny Craig ‘menu’?”

Rather than explain, I’ll show you.  Down below are some links to PDF files that will show you exactly what is on the menu.  These are the same sheets that I use every week to “follow the program.”  As I eat an item, I scratch it off.  No strain on the brain… …just eat what is listed when it says to eat it.

About those different calorie levels:.  Depending on your gender, your activity level, and how much you need to loose, Jenny Craig puts you on different daily calorie allowances.   I’m on 2,000 calories a day right now because I have over a 100 lbs to loose.

Your support guru at the Jenny Craig center monitors your weight and rate of weight loss and switches you from one to the other at the proper times.

As for why there are different menus for Canada and the United States… Canada has its own version of the “Recommended Daily Food Allowances” for nutrition called the “Food Guide” so the Canadian files are set up to match those guidelines and the US files are set up to match the recommendations from the Food and Drug Administration.

(You’ll need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the files — It’s Free — Download it here. )

United States
1200 Calorie Menu .. Week 1 (PDF) Week 2 (PDF) Week 3 (PDF) Week 4 (PDF) ..	1500 Calorie Menu .. Week 1 (PDF) Week 2 (PDF) Week 3 (PDF) Week 4 (PDF) ..	1700-2300 Calorie Menu .. Week 1 (PDF) Week 2 (PDF) Week 3 (PDF) Week 4 (PDF) ..
Canada
1200 Calorie Menu .. Week 1 (PDF) Week 2 (PDF) Week 3 (PDF) Week 4 (PDF) ..	1500 Calorie Menu .. Week 1 (PDF) Week 2 (PDF) Week 3 (PDF) Week 4 (PDF) ..	1700-2300 Calorie Menu .. Week 1 (PDF) Week 2 (PDF) Week 3 (PDF) Week 4 (PDF) ..

Jenny Craig Menus — Image Files

If PDF files are not your style then here are the same sheets as images.  To keep this page from taking forever to load, I’ve made the images small thumbnails.  Click on the small image to see the big one.

United States – 1200 Calorie

United States – 1500 Calorie

United States – 1700-2300 Calorie

Canada – 1200 Calorie

Canada – 1500 Calorie

Canada – 1700-2300 Calorie

See ya on the dance floor!