Each year for the past five years, NextAdvisor.com conducted a tasting blind test of our best diet delivery services to determine which has the best tasting food. Jenny Craig has taken the No. 1 spot in our Taste test diet 2015. Although the taste is certainly one of the most important elements of a successful diet, there are other factors that go into choosing whether a regime of service is good for you. We decided to try Jenny Craig for a week to see if the food was up to its taste test ranking in the "real world." As our resident food expert, I signed up for an account, ordered a week of food and monitoring the program. What was my verdict
Registration and meet my counselor
Jenny Craig offers two options to customers :? Jenny Craig All Access and Jenny Craig As You Go . All Access is designed for those who are committed to a weight loss plan long term and intends to stick with the program for months, even years. The cost of this option is $ 19 / month plus a registration fee of $ 99, and you must sign a service contract (if you can cancel at any time). It offers unlimited consultation and support in depth. As a bonus, members who join the 12-month plan will be able to renew thereafter for $ 49 / year. Jenny Craig provides support for those who have weight to lose, and those who want to maintain their weight, so that the design of All Access to provide an incentive for those who stick with the program for the long term. As You Go is a month to month plan designed for those who want only diet for a month or two. You will get a weekly consultation with As You Go plan. The monthly cost is a little higher with this option - $ 39 / month -. But there is no registration fee or agreement Service
The two plan options allow you to choose how you want to interact with your advisor Jenny. You can visit a Jenny Craig center to meet a consultant face-to-face and buy food, or you can receive support by phone and order your food to be delivered via FedEx. Decide which plan is best for you will depend on your personal weight loss goals. It might be prudent, if you are not sure, start with As You Go rates and sign up for a membership All Access once you are sure you want to make a commitment to Jenny Craig for the long term. Anyway, you have to pay the monthly subscription fee plus the cost of the food you buy.
Jenny Craig pricing options
Because I was planning to test the service for a week, I chose to pay the price and As You Go enjoy Jenny Everywhere to plan my weekly phone consultation. As suburban trains, the opportunity to take the phone call during my evening trip instead of visiting a center was quite convenient.
After you pay for your membership, someone will reach out to you by phone to schedule your initial consultation. This initial consultation is also offered free of charge to those who are on the fence to join, so you can always make a call and speak to a consultant (or visit a center and speak to someone in person) before turning on your money. Your consultant urge you to order food for two to three weeks at a time, I avoided ordering food online me for a week before planning my consultation. If you want to test the food before engaging several weeks at a time, you can order the three-day sampling kit -. Sending three breakfasts, lunches and dinners and snacks to give you a taste
Unfortunately, I ended up having to reprogram my first visit because I do not get all the materials that I should have when I registered. It was a little frustrating, but my consultant was kind enough to send me the PDF versions of the membership guide and meal planning menu and for them to be shipped to me in person.
Eat food
Breakfast: Florentine breakfast pizza, milk and fruit
I placed my order for the food a week and a half in advance for when I wanted to start Jenny Craig. Ideally you want to start an immediate diet program, which is probably where visiting a center would help. I am pleased that, unlike delivery services such as bistroMD or Diet-to-Go, which send you a set amount of meals each week, Jenny Craig provides a basket of purchases. You can buy individual items and place an order for a full week (or more) of food by selecting from several preset menus. It's easy to order food on your own, however, your adviser will push for you to place the order through them using a special order form they help you complete.
One advantage to place an order through your advisor rather than on your own is the ability to know in advance whether an item is out of stock. For example, when I ordered "Week One" Jenny Craig menu, it was supposed to come with a pepperoni pizza dish. My food delivery arrived with a note that he had been out of stock and exchanged for pizza margarita instead. If you order by a consultant, he or she will be able to help you decide which product you want to replace if something you want is not available.
Lunch: Quesadilla chicken Baja style, salad, vegetables and fruit
In addition to the food Jenny Craig sends you, largely frozen and prepackaged meals, shelf-stable snacks, you will be asked to buy additional food from the grocery store. This adds to the overall cost of the plan with Jenny Craig, something that is good to keep in mind. My trip to the grocery store to pick the fruit, vegetables, dairy products and other items (such as almonds for my "healthy fat" requirement) cost me $ 55. When added to $ 140 I paid for my food Jenny, the total for one week on the Jenny Craig diet has exceeded $ 200. Not exactly cheap! It is good to keep in mind that prices in Silicon Valley are on the expensive side, so depending on where you live, you might spend less. I also do not use all of the extra food that I bought, so probably the cost for future weeks would drive a bit.
Every day is structured with three meals and three snacks. It was a little confusing at first because I was given a menu online calendered to work from, but my consultant also provided a paper menu which I fill to follow what I ate. There were some differences in these menus, which led to some confusion as to whether I was eating the right kind and amount of food. I chose to see the menu online in doubt. Jenny Craig provides a manual with tons of nutritional information, including "free" food lists that you are allowed to eat unlimited amounts of all day - all non-starchy vegetables, such as beets, mushrooms, leaves salad and even low sodium vegetable juice. Although I never felt hungry with so much food, I also do not always feel that the Jenny Craig food was satisfactory on its own. Complementary products, especially fruit and dairy products, were what I was looking forward to eating the most.
But what about support?
The area in which Jenny Craig stands out from the competition is the level of support provided to customers. Not only will you have access to a range of online tools - including an in-depth tracking device for what you eat and your activity and body measurements - but you are given a consultant to guide you through the process. After your initial phone conversation, your consultant will work with you to find a time once a week for an ordinary phone call. I found my consultant to be friendly, courteous and encouraging. However, the consultant also seemed to be following a script during our conversation -. Whatever it was reluctant to depart from
When I asked during our first phone meeting about strenuous exercise, she told me that if I wanted to start exercising it was very good, but she could not tell me about the exercise until our third meeting. As someone with fitness and nutrition experience, it was a bit frustrating. But one of the ways Jenny Craig works is to guide customers step by step. The program is configured not to overwhelm those who have no experience with diet and exercise, and those who need structured guidelines to follow will greatly benefit from this type of methodical and structured approach.
food online activity and tracker measures
The online tools are great, especially the mobile application that allows you to see your daily menu, as well as keep track of your food, activity and measures on the go. The application is available for Android and iOS devices. Your dashboard on the Jenny Craig website can be customized to show different characteristics, including recipes, in-depth analysis of your daily progress, newspaper and online articles about healthy living. A community online bulletin board lets you connect with other dieters Jenny, which can be great for those who can not get to a center, but want to feel like part of a team.
Was it easy to cancel?
Whenever you sign up for a service, it is good to know that you can cancel if things do not work. To cancel your subscription Jenny Craig, you must call a toll free number and speak to a representative. Although I must not attend a waiting 10 minutes I listened to the cheerful descriptions of the successes of several members Jenny, once I'm connected to a representative of the cancellation process was quick and painless. He asked why I canceled, but pushes me to reconsider. When you cancel, you'll be able to continue to access your online tools and order food until your monthly subscription has expired. The representative will also check to see if you have any orders, in case you want to undo those as well.
Does Jenny Craig deserve to be at the top?
My experience with Jenny Craig was mostly positive. Although I personally do not need structured support level the program offers, I appreciated the dedication of my consultant and the many tools at hand. The food was not bad, but the force-feeding, for me, came from extra food, I added to satisfy every requirement of meals. My only concern is the absence of a strong fitness component but Jenny Craig is pushing customers to be active and provides a way to track this activity. The focus is on the food and the development of healthy eating habits in a supportive setting. If you are looking for a program that is more hands-off, this might not be the best choice for you. Although the monthly subscription above the cost of the food behind the cost up, it might be a good price for someone who is looking for a food service that provides the total package.
If you are interested in trying it for yourself, visit the website of Jenny Craig to learn, or read our full review Jenny Craig for more information on diet service better taste.