When evaluating weight loss plans, you may be wondering, does Jenny Craig work? Take a look at the details of the diet and see if the Jenny Craig diet could work for you.
About the Jenny Craig Diet
How does Jenny Craig work? There are two components to the Jenny Craig diet plan. The physical component is a diet plan that brings about weight loss through calorie, fat and portion control. Jenny Craig clients purchase pre-packaged meals - mostly frozen - and then follow personalized meal plans based on caloric and nutritional needs. Because the meals and snacks are pre-packaged, there is no need to estimate calories or portion sizes, which is often the downfall of dieters. Meals can be purchased at the Jenny Craig center, or ordered online from the Jenny Craig website. If ordered on the website, meals are delivered to your front door.
The second component of the Jenny Craig diet is mental/emotional. Jenny Craig clients work one on one with a Jenny Craig counselor, who helps customize an eating plan. The counselor provides emotional support as dieters encounter typical diet hurdles and frustrations, such as plateaus or loss of motivation and willpower. The Jenny Craig counselor is with the dieter every step of the way providing one-on-one sessions either in a Jenny Craig center or over the telephone.
Does Jenny Craig Work?
Satisfied Jenny Craig customers would answer that question with a resounding, "Yes!" An objective look at the evidence shows a great deal of anecdotal evidence as to the efficacy of the program; however, there is also anecdotal evidence of dietary recidivism. In other words, people report losing weight on the diet and others report gaining it back.
There are many celebrity spokesmen who have experienced very public weight loss on the Jenny Craig diet. Kirsti Alley and Valerie Bertenelli lost weight in the public eye while on the Jenny Craig diet. Jenny Craig has also used other spokesmen - "real people" (read non-celebrities), who have lost weight on the program. Surely, this is evidence that the Jenny Craig diet, when properly adhered to, can and does result in weight loss.
Reasons the People Succeed at the Jenny Craig Diet
Many who have had success losing weight and keeping it off on the Jenny Craig diet have several things in common that have helped them to be successful.
- They made the decision to lose weight because they were ready and wanted to improve their health.
- They followed the diet as outlined.
- They took advantage of the counseling as a way to learn to make healthier diet and lifestyle choices so that when they lost the weight, they were able to have effective strategies for maintaining weight loss.
- They developed healthy lifestyle habits like exercise and proper nutrition.
- They didn't return to their old habits once the weight was off.
- They realized that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight was a lifelong choice - not a temporary path.
- They took advantage of the social support component of the Jenny Craig plan through support groups and Internet communities.
Reasons Why People May Fail at Losing Weight on the Jenny Craig Diet
Just like those who are successful at the Jenny Craig program have things in common, so do those who have failed to lose or keep off the weight.
- They may have embarked on the diet for an occasion or because someone else wanted them to lose weight.
- They didn't follow the plan developed specifically for them.
- They didn't learn how to adapt the healthy lifestyle changes as they transitioned off of the diet and into maintenance.
- They didn't take advantage of counseling to help emotionally get beyond the inevitable roadblocks that come with weight loss - such as plateaus or loss of motivation.
- They didn't develop healthy lifestyle habits or learn to make healthy choices.
- They viewed weight loss/maintenance as a temporary fix, and returned to old habits once they lost the weight.
A look at the pros and cons of the diet can reveal answers to the question, does Jenny Craig work? From the evidence presented, it appears that the Jenny Craig diet does, indeed, work for many who are willing to make the commitment to follow the Jenny Craig plan as a way to take off the weight and keep it off
