Top 15: Jenny Craig Diet

Jenny Craig is a well-organized diet program centered around prepackaged foods designed to control calorie intake, manage fat content, and regulate portion sizes. This approach aims to foster healthy eating habits, encourage an active lifestyle, and facilitate behavior modification for sustained wellness.

Dedicated personal coaches accompany members throughout their entire journey, providing continuous support, motivation, and guidance from the outset. The company assures that you'll receive assistance in understanding appropriate portion sizes, achieving balanced meals, and applying this knowledge to effectively manage your weight. By adhering to the plan, individuals are anticipated to experience a gradual weight loss of up to 2 pounds per week.

• Low-fat. The diet encourages moderate consumption of healthy fats – monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats – and discourages unhealthy fats, such as saturated fats. Less than 30% of total calories in this diet come from fat.

• There are several Jenny Craig plans to choose from, all of which include breakfasts and lunches. 

• Your diet ranges from 1,200 to 2,300 calories a day and is designed around your current weight, age, gender, height, goal weight and fitness habits.

• Simple Meal Plan. Seven breakfasts and lunches.

• Essential Meal Plan. Seven breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

• Max Up Weight Loss Meal Plan. Seven breakfasts, lunches, snacks and desserts and recharge bars, plus activity plans and personal coaching.

Max Up Plan

Short-Term Weight Loss

• A 2021 study published in the scientific journal Nature found that individuals following the Jenny Craig Max Up program experienced significant weight loss and improvements in blood sugar levels after eight weeks.

• A 2017 study published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism randomly assigned 133 sedentary, overweight women to follow Curves, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem or their normal diet for 12 weeks. The researchers found that Jenny Craig participants lost an average of nearly 12 pounds, which was slightly more than the other three commercial programs.

Long-Term Weight Loss

• A 2015 review of 45 studies in the Annals of Internal Medicine compared commercial weight-loss programs – including Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem and Medifast – and found that Jenny Craig participants lost the most weight over 12 months, with almost 5% more than a control group that was given nutrition education and counseling. 

Weight Maintenance and Management

• In a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in 2013, among 417 women who were overweight or had obesity, researchers measured blood lipids, glucose, insulin, C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation) and cardiopulmonary fitness at baseline at 12 months and 24 months. Body weight, waist circumference, C-reactive protein, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein ("good") cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol levels were significantly reduced after 24 months. Total cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol decreased after 24 months, regardless of the amount of lost weight. The other factors only decreased among those who lost at least 10% of their body weight. The authors concluded, “Our data extend the results from short‐term weight loss trials and suggest that the magnitude of weight loss and baseline values for risk factors are associated with improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors even after 24 months.”

• A systematic review published in April 2020 in BMJ evaluated more than 120 studies, comparing 14 named and three controlled diets. Among popular named diets, Atkins, Zone and DASH had the the largest effects on weight loss and blood pressure in comparison with usual diet. Jenny Craig scored among the “most effective” in terms of six-month weight loss alone, reaching nearly 17 pounds. However, at one year, overall weight loss diminished for all diets.

• A randomized controlled trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2010 looked at weight loss and maintenance among 442 people who were overweight or had obesity and participated in one-to-one counseling. All of the women received prepackaged meals and either in-person at a center or telephone counseling.
  
  Women in the center-based group lost an average of 22.22 pounds by 12 months and maintained an average of 16.28 pounds lost at 24 months. Participants in the telephone-based group lost a mean of 18.7 pounds by 12 months and maintained an average of 13.64 pounds at 24 months. By the end of the study, 62% of the center-based and 56% of the telephone-based participants had a weight loss of at least 5%, compared with only 29% of the usual care participants. More than twice as many participants in the center-based and telephone-based groups lost 10% of their starting weight at 24 months compared to the usual care group. However, this study had a much lower dropout rate than most weight loss studies. This was largely due to the economic savings – all food and clinic visits were free of charge for participants. Also, it is likely that people who agree to participate in a randomized controlled trial are more motivated than the general population.

• Simple Meal Plan. $13.99 per day.

• Essential Meal Plan. $21.99 per day.

• Max Up Weight Loss Meal Plan. $28.54 per day.

What Costs Are Related to the Jenny Craig Diet?

• The weekly cost of your food and shipping costs. 

• The cost of your groceries (mainly dairy, fruit and vegetables during the initial phase).

• Look for fruit and vegetables that are in season. 

• When you’re making your meals, cook large recipes and freeze unwanted portions for later. 

• Learn how to make a few meatless meals that you enjoy, which tend to be cheaper to prepare than meat-based dishes. 

• Stock up when foods are on sale, but don’t buy more than you can eat or freeze before it goes bad. 

• Don’t shy away from frozen or canned fruit and vegetables. 

• Choose canned tuna or salmon.

• Children under the age of 13 cannot participate since they are still developing. Once 13, they can sign up for the Jenny Craig Classic menu if they have no health conditions other than asthma or seasonal allergies. Their parent’s permission is required.

• People who are pregnant cannot sign up. 

• Individuals with allergies – such as milk, soy or wheat – can't sign up.

• You can participate in Max Up if you are 18 or older. However, Max Up is not an appropriate program for you if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or have diabetes and are on insulin. 

• Those with diabetes on insulin can sign up for the Jenny Craig for Type 2 program. 

• Breastfeeding mothers can participate once their babies are six weeks old. The calorie level for nursing mothers is based on the child’s age and how often they’re breastfeeding.