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Day one on Jenny Craig… …again!
Okay, dear readers, my last post was bemoaning how difficult it is to get moving again after metaphorically “falling off the wagon”. To continue that theme, let me tell you how the last couple days have gone for me.
Thursday, I went to the Jenny Craig Center for the first time in almost three weeks. I work second shift on Mondays, Noon – 9p, so I had been going on Mondays during my dinner hour for my weekly weigh-in and to get my week’s food for the coming week’s menu. I’ve missed several weeks though because my work situation though has interfered; we’ve been very very busy at work and I’ve not been able to get away to dinner at a consistent time on Mondays.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday, I called the Jenny Craig Center and compared calendars and discovered that they had a Thursday opening at 6:30p. Since I get off work at 6p on Thursdays that works great. And since I have no dance rehearsals or lessons scheduled on Thursdays, that means I can go straight from work, to the Jenny Craig Center and then straight to Whole Foods where I can then shop for other food items I need to complete the menu for the coming week and then straight home to put everything neatly away! Go Team Tony! 🙂
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Counting up the Small Victories
![Man weighing himself on a scale [CC]](https://txcowboydancer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/weigh-in-time.jpg "Man weighing himself on a scale [CC]")
Ok, confession time… …I’ve not exactly been a “good boy” since coming back from Worlds. So, this past weekend, I got myself moving again, figuratively speaking.
I also have let you know that it is TOUGH getting moving in a positive direction after after falling back on old habits! Yes, friends and neighbors, breaking a downward spiral is tough. Really tough. I found myself thinking today “Gaining weight and getting out of shape is easy; loosing weight and getting into shape is hard. Very hard.” [Watch for a coming post on the difference between “being overweight” and “being out of shape”. They often are used synonymously but they are actually two different things.
So here I am, looking at the numbers this week on the scale and NOT feeling great about the numbers I’m seeing. I track both weight and body fat by weighing twice a day. For body fat, I use the TBF-531 Body Fat Monitor/Scale by Tanita. It uses the electrical impedance method of measurement.
I also use the Omron Fat Loss Monitor HBF-306. I take two measurements in the morning, one from each device and then average the numbers. And then I repeat the measurement in the evening, giving me four measurements per day. I weigh in twice a day and average those two numbers as well.
Well, that’s how I track my progress when I’m actually *ahem* tracking my progress and I haven’t been regularly *AHEM* tracking my progress (or lack thereof) since Worlds. Which brings me back to my original statement at the beginning of this entry “I haven’t been a good boy since Worlds” *SIGH*
So. Hello mild depression. Glad to meet you, let you introduce you to my good friend “mild frustration.” Oh you two know each other? I thought you might. *SIGH*
So what to do? Read the rest of this entry
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The Week in Review or… “Ya gotta have a bag-o-tricks”
For the first trick of the evening: Being Strong without even trying…
I have to share a “moment” from this week from where I work I’m surrounded by a group of folks who like to bring in food and leave it on the break room table for everyone.
This is sweet and nice and generous, and it does foster a sense of community at the workplace, HOWEVER, for me those little offerings of friendship are sneak attacks! They are land mines on the way to a healthy me! They are evil incarnate! Basically they kinda suck eggs.
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Some More Jenny Craig Tips and Tricks
Ok, here’s a couple more tips and tricks that have helped me so far. Check out my earlier tips by clicking on “Jenny Craig Tips and Tricks” under the “Diet and Fitness Drama” up in the header at the top of this page.
Buy some nice dishes. The Jenny Craig entrées are designed to be easily and quickly microwaved, part of the reason that I like the program so much. But once the nuking is done, they are not the most attractive things to eat out of. So, buy some nice plates, bowls, forks, knives and spoons.
You don’t have to spend a lot. I found mine at the Goodwill store. Once you get the Jenny Craig entrée on the plate alongside your veggies and/or salad in the dishes the visual effect is quite nice. I’m no gourmet and I’m certainly no psychologist, but when I see the food on a nice plate it does something positive in my brain.
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For a single guy like me, they are absolutely necessary to manage leftovers and to use when packing my lunch.
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See ya on the dance floor!
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My first batch of ‘Jenny Craig Tips and Tricks’
Whenever I learn a tip or trick about making the Jenny Craig Program more personalized, successful and less expensive, I’ll share it with you here on this blog.
I’ve never been in an “organized” diet program before. I’ve always tried it “on my own”. Today marks the end of the third week. A total of 21 days on the program and I’ve lost 8.25 lbs on the program. Yay me! I’m very happy so far with the results. Not so happy about the amount of money that I’m spending on food, but…it is worth the price.
The link to all the tips and tricks I list will always be above, just below the header of this blog. Look for “Jenny Craig Tips and Tricks under the “Diet and Fitness Drama” menu. Whenever I add a tip, I’ll post it here on the main blog page and it will always be available as a category under the “Diet and Fitness Drama” menu.
Here’s the first batch of tips:
Don’t buy the Jenny Craig Cereal The Jenny Craig cereal is tasty and convenient, but on a cost per serving basis, it is VERY expensive. It is much cheaper to buy your own. I bought four different kinds that are low sugar, all natural, all organic and I made sure they all had long shelf lives.
When the Jenny Craig menu calls for “cereal” I just pull out one of the boxes, letting my taste buds be my guide as to which one and then I carefully measure out half a cup of cereal. Easy. Cheap. To help them stay fresh and tasty, I bought some plastic airtight cereal containers and transferred the cereal into those.. I wrote the name and expiration date of the cereal on a post-it note and taped it to the side of the container.
Wear the same clothes each week to the Jenny Craig store when you go for your food and your weigh-in. At the end of week 3, I wore my work clothes. On my first and second weeks, I wore “work out clothes”. I discovered to my horror how much those work clothes weigh!!!!
According to Jenny Craig I gained weight 3/4 of a lb, but, according to my home scales I lost weight, 2.75 lbs. Eeek! Who knew that my clothes weigh almost four pounds!!! For me, wearing the same clothes to the Jenny Craig Center, means taking a change of clothes with me to work on my “weigh-in day” but to ensure that I’m getting accurate weight measurement, it is worth it.
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Don’t buy the Jenny Craig Soups or Soupitizers. It is cheaper to buy your own at the supermarket. Be sure to pick up some plastic storage containers at the start of your program because most cans of soup are multi-serving sizes. You’ll have extra left over that you’ll need to put in the frig.
Also, be sure to go for the broth based soups and go for low salt and organic as well. Avoid the ones that are “cream of…anything “. The cream based soups are higher calorie and don’t match up well with the nutritional and calorie levels of the ones you get from Jenny Craig.
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Buy only a few of the “individual dressing packets” Jenny Craig has only two regular varieties: “Ranch” and “Balsamic Vinegar” and occasionally has some other ones. You can get lots more variety for a cheaper “per serving” cost by buying your own bottles. I went to Walmart and picked up some very tiny condiment sized plastic storage containers.
So when I pack my lunch each day, I pour 1 oz of dressing into the container and then toss it into my lunch bag. I do have a few of the Jenny Craig Packets in the pantry for days when I’m in a BIG hurry in the morning or for when I’m going out to lunch or dinner and want to make sure that I have a “lite” option with me. Usually I don’t have to use it in those cases but it is there as a backup..
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Don’t buy the Jenny Craig “Salad Kits”. You can get the same thing at half the price at just about any grocery store. Check on the “canned meats” aisle. They come in a variety of meats: chicken, ham, and tuna are the ones that I’ve seen. And usually you can find different brands with different spices.
Be sure to look at the labels and avoid the ones that add lots of sugar or mayo and thus up the calorie count. I use the Bumble Bee Sensations line a lot. They come in three flavors: Lemon & Pepper, Sundried Tomato & Basil, and Spicy Thai Chili.
I hope that these tips and tricks help folks out there who are on the Jenny Craig program. 🙂
See ya on the dance floor!
5-6-7-8 Dancing My Way to a Healthy Me! 