Saturday, 31 December 2011

New Year's Resolution Part 3 : Jenny Craig



Well, I've already told you about parts one and two of my three point New Year's health kick, with my blogposts about the Thinking Slimmer SlimPod (here) and the MuTu System (here). Well, the third part is a trial of the Jenny Craig programme with their diet food delivered to your door.

Jenny Craig is a daughter company of Nestle that specialises in healthy food, weight loss and weight management. The programme combines prepacked menus with personal counselling, promising to help people establish a pleasant, healthy lifestyle while maintaining their ideal weight. The menus are varied and completely personalised so if you have any allergies or preferences (even halal or vegetarian), or have specific targets that you would like to meet, this can all be discussed. Because the entire programme is so personal, it's essential to have a phone call with your own consultant every week, to keep you motivated and give you helpful advice for staying on track.


The website explains : "We don’t just send you the food – we guide, support and motivate you all the way along your weight loss journey and beyond. We will teach you how to regain control of your eating so you’ll never have to diet again. We’ll also advise you on the best way to stay active. The Jenny Craig programme really can change your life. Our unique approach comprises three key elements: Mind - A dedicated consultant will give you personalised support every step of the way, as well as motivating and encouraging you.Your consultant will help you understand your own particular issues around eating, giving you tailored advice on how to lose weight and keep it off for good. Food -
We’ll deliver breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks – it couldn’t be easier or more convenient.
You’ll be able to lose weight without giving up the foods you love – no weighing, measuring, counting or meal replacements. Body - Your consultant will work with you to find a fitness level that suits you, gradually increasing your activity to maximise your weight loss." The full Food, Body, Mind programme costs £10.50 a day.
I've got a couple of teething problems to iron out for this one. Firstly, the hamper of Jenny Craig food arrived at my parents' house just after we'd headed back to France so I'll have to wait until they next come over towards the end of January to start. In some ways, this is good, because it will give me a chance to evaluate the MuTu system alone before adding in the Jenny Craig.

From my initial chat on the phone with someone from Jenny Craig, I like the sound of the programme. It's real food, not meal replacements, so it's a healthy eating plan, not a diet, and the hamper contains everything you need except for fresh fruit and vegetables.

Trying to fit in a weekly phonecall is a bit of a constraint, I must admit, as I'm usually at work or running around after the kids sorting out homework, bathtime and dinner until they go to bed. Finding a peaceful ten minutes a week to schedule in a phone call may not sound that hard but ask any mum of several under tens, it can be !

I also had a problem confirming my account details online. It asks me to fill in my birthdate and phone number but when I type in my birthdate (28th October), it comes up as 22/88/1010 and no amount of deleting and retyping can get around this ! I'll give it a few days and try again !

I'll keep you regularly updated on the Jenny Craig programme once that's kicked off properly too.

Good luck to anyone else on a bit of a health kick for the New Year. Let me know how you get on !

for more information : http://www.jennycraig.co.uk/

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

4 comments:

  1. I really wish I could find a diet that works for me. Soemthing like this Jenny Craig plan sounds great but unfortunately they never seem to cater for odd dietary requirements. I'm veggie by choice and coeliac by necessity so trying to find a diet that can cope with both of those and be slimming too is practically an impossibility. I always say I should be stick thin because I don't actually like food very much and can quite easily go without for long periods. In fact I drive my friends mad because when we are out for the day I forget to stop for meals and they are drooping from lack of nutrition :-) I think my problem is that I actually don't eat enough so my body stores the food it does get (which, to be fair tends to be mostly jacket potatoes!) I can confirm though that there is truth in the slogan 'you are what you eat' because I do bear a stunning resemblance to Mrs Potato Head :-)

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    1. Jenny Craig do customise the menus to suit your dietary requirements so I'm sure they could help. They definitely do a veggie option and probably have gluten-free too, I would think.

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  2. I'm not sure I like the idea of having to speak to someone on the phone once a week, I know it's probably a good idea but like you say with young kids it can be hard to grab a quiet 10mins, especially as my 2 year old always tries to grab the phone out my hand because he thinks I am taking to his nanny! Also have you seen the Jenny Craig advert with Mel B, that has put me off because it's so annoying!!

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  3. I have to admit, I'm keeping my head down over this one - because I was delayed with the start of the programme, I was supposed to phone them to arrange the phone consultations but - ahem - I never did so I've avoided those. I really didn't fancy them either but having spoken to a lot of other bloggers who are trialling Jenny Craig, they all totally unanimously say that their consultant is really lovely, positive and encouraging and that they really look forward to the weekly chat on the phone, as if it's an old friend they're talking to. I do agree that it shouldn't be an obligation though - or maybe an email chat instead.

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