My Jenny Craig Experience

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I’ve never had a healthy relationship with food. I like to pretend I did, but the truth is, it’s always been one of my most toxic relationships. Food was not a necessity to live… it was more of a coping mechanism for me. When I was sad, I ate. When I was happy, I ate. When I was bored, I ate. In fact, I didn’t need a reason, because if there was food, I was eating it, no matter how fattening or unhealthy it was.

I remember when I was a teenager, my Aunt told me that I won’t always be able to eat the way I ate, without consequences. I laughed. Because, I could eat anything I wanted and I never gained weight. I was a size 2-4 for as long as I can remember. I remember putting on some weight in my early 20’s, but it seemed so easy to take off. I worked out, I went on various fad diets and before I knew it, I was back to my tiny self.

At 27, I got pregnant with my oldest daughter. I remember thinking how great it was that I could eat whatever and how much of everything I wanted, because I was pregnant. “Eating for two.” Isn’t that what they say? Once I got over the awful morning sickness, I found myself drinking caffeine free soda and eating all the ice cream I could consume. My cravings were often for tacos and anything packed with salt. At that final weigh in, the day I gave birth, I was 207 lbs.

5’3″ and 207 lbs.

I was mortified. I kept telling myself that it would be ok… I would give birth and lose that weight easily. I had convinced myself that I was giving birth to a 70lb baby apparently.

I was wrong.

As the years went by, my weight yo-yo’ed. Again, I turned to fad diets and went from the 150’s back up to the 190’s. And by the time my youngest daughter was born in 2012, I had pretty much given up on getting my body back. I started to accept the fact that I would be “fat” and uncomfortable in my own skin forever.

With that acceptance, came laziness. What’s the point of working out if it won’t change anything? When I would find any success in dieting and eating healthy, I would self-sabotage. If I saw weight finally coming off, I would test myself by eating a bag of chocolates or half of a cake. Eventually, I had gained all of the weight back and was more miserable than I was before. I refused to get in front of the camera. There are very few pictures of me at all, unless I had to do it for work reasons.

Just when I was ready to throw in the towel, I got an email. Jenny Craig wanted to work with me. And I thought….

What do I have to lose (besides weight, of course)?

So, I said yes. And for the last 12 weeks, I’ve been secretly following their Rapid Results program.

What is Rapid Results?

The Food

Let me be 100% honest. I was expecting to hate the food. I really was. When you think “diet food” you probably think flavorless and unappealing. I was very pleasantly surprised! Of all the things I tried, there were only a few that I wasn’t a fan of, and that was only because it contained something that I’ve never liked (like swiss cheese).

My favorites were the chocolate lava cake, chicken street tacos, slow cooker carnitas, breakfast burritos, french toast sticks and the cheeseburgers.

Jenny Craig supplies everything you need except for fruits, veggies and yogurt (though you can get extra shakes instead of yogurt if you prefer).

My Jenny Craig Consultant

I was assigned to a weight loss consultant. She called me once a week to get my weight, my orders and find out about any challenges or triumphs I had each week. She was incredibly helpful and always made me feel at ease, which isn’t easy when you have to get personal with a complete stranger. I didn’t realize how much I needed it, but she always gave me an extra push on our phone calls, like a subliminal “keep going, you got this.”

My Challenges

I won’t tell you that this was an easy 12 weeks for me, because, like most people who are trying to lose weight, I am still working on my relationship with food. Yes, the convenience of having my meals ready was wonderful, but since I have anxiety, I have good days and bad days. I found myself making bad decisions on the bad days and I didn’t exercise, like I wanted to. Had I just pushed through and done it, I could only imagine how much better my weight loss results would have been.

My Results and What I Learned

Now here we are, at the end of my 12 week program. I lost a total of 12lbs* and went from a size 16 to a 12 (a size I haven’t been in since before my youngest was born). I can see the changes in both my body and mind. I’m not at the weight I wanted to be, but I’m proud of how much I did lose in 12 weeks. I want to take what I learned about portion control and incorporate it into my regular schedule.

Honestly, it’ll be hard not having everything already prepared and ready to go, but I’m planning to go back to meal prepping which should help with convenience. It’ll be nice to eat what the family is eating and incorporate healthier options and portions for them as well. I often forget that they are watching me and pick up on my habits (good and bad).

I’ve learned a lot in the last 12 weeks, but the biggest lesson of all is that I can get my body back. I don’t have to settle for what I thought life had dealt me. There are options and I choose me.

Time to Choose You

If you’re ready to choose you and see what Jenny Craig can do for you, now is the time to start! 

*Typical weight loss on the Rapid Results program is 11.6 pounds in the first four weeks and 1-2 pounds per week thereafter.

This post was sponsored by Jenny Craig but the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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