Jenny Craig vs Nutrisystem, personal experience?

[Rafiki31]

I will be living in corporate housing for 6-8 weeks and working crazy hours. I have decided that Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem would be my best bet to keep on track with minimal prep or effort. I am looking for personal experience about how the food tastes and how hard it is to keep up with the program. I am guessing like any diet I will be hungry the first week or two and then get used to it? Oh and how much freezer space do you need?

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

I wondered this myself just a week ago. You do know that Nutrisystem is not exactly "real food", right? Most everybody who replied to my post said the Nutrisystem food was awful ( probably because so much of it is soy based, as I was told..... and I am not able to eat much soy ).

 

[Agri]

I really enjoyed Nutrisystem when I did it and if my life was a bit less crazy I'd do it again in a heartbeat. The trick is to only order the things that sound tasty to you - I ate their pizza for several meals because I liked it. LOL

I had great results and it really helped me learn portion control for myself. I only did it for about a month and a half and the portion control stuck with me when I ate out - the small steak meal that I'd consume in one sitting lasted me 3-4 meals!

(That is until I dated a guy whose family thought it was rude when I didn't clear my MASSIVE plate of food at dinner and things sort of went downhill from there...)

I'm still working on portion control, but I'm having a much more difficult time of it without the ease of Nutrisystem. (I usually have a lot of trouble with the diet programs because they have a lot of chocolate desserts and I can't eat chocolate.)

 

[LoraJ]

I have done both and Jenny Craig is definitely much better. It's also more expensive. Jenny Craig requires more freezer space than Nutrisystem. Most Nutrisystem food does not even need refrigeration and I think that's what makes the JC food better quality.

Will there be a Jenny Craig location by you, or were you going to do mail order?

 

[Rafiki31]

There is a Jenny Craig very close to where I am going, Nutrisystem would be via mail order. How much is JC? It just says "plus the cost of food" which is not specific. I tried to call and they would not give me an answer which makes me nervous. They danced all around it and insisted I come in, even though I repeatedly asked directly how much is the food, how much is the range for a week of food etc. Annoying. With both I also have to buy fruits. veggies & dairy.

Maybe I should just fill my freezer with Lean Cuisines and buy all the produce.

 

[LJRJR]

Last year I lost about 30 pounds on Jenny Craig. I am trying to lose the last 10, which has been difficult because I have not been as careful as I was in the beginning. The food is great, most of it I love, and I could eat it forever! Most of their items need to be frozen, they dont take up alot of space. I would say they are about the size of any other low calorie frozen meals. At times I have thought to start to replace some of my meals with WW or Lean Cuisine but I noticed that the Jenny Craig meals can be almost 100 calories less than the WW or LC meals. As far as price, breakfast can be any where from 2.00 per item (cereal, breakfast bar, coffee cake) up to 5.50 an item (french toast, omlette). Lunch and dinner are probably about the same which would be between 5 and 6 dollars an item. I have been told that prices are regional, and I live in New York City, so prices here tend to be higher than elsewhere. You can cut down on some items, such as just buy your own healthy cereal and have that a few times a week. Once you get to know their products you can find similar ones here and there to cut the cost and change things around. The consultants at Jenny Craig are not pushy and have never made me feel as if I was not purchasing enough. Its a great program, I just wish I could finally lose my last 10 lbs. Good luck with whatever you chose!

 

[joviroxx]

When I started my weight loss journey, I began with Jenny Craig and lost my first 60 pounds. I thought it was great. I did the mail order JC and had my weekly phone consultation.

When I got to the point that I wanted to lose the last 20, about a year later, I tried Nutrisystem because it was cheaper. HATED IT! Couldnt do it and never got results.

IMO, Jenny Craig might be a bit more expensive but it is worth it.