Help me out please-------Nutrisystem vs Jenny Craig vs EDiets

[chrismiss56]

Hi

I am posting on this forum because it sees a lot more activity than the Wish Board.....Thanks for letting me post here.

I need something to jumpstart my life and losing weight. I know that once I get going I will be fine.

So I have been researching both Nutrisystem, Ediets and Jenny Craig and am looking for opinions.

Jenny Craig seems more expensive but reviews say their food is good.

Nutrisystem doesn't seem as costly yet it doesn't get as high marks for food.

I know the least about Ediets but it gets good reviews.

Has anyone used any of these and what has been your experience????

CONFUSED

Thanks!!!

Have a Magical Disney Day!!

 

[sherry7]

In my opinion, neither.

You need to learn to eat healthy "real" food, not the prepackaged stuff that Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig sell. A lot of people lose weight doing it, but gain it back as soon as they start eating real food again.

If you really want an organized program, I'd recommend Weight Watchers. You use regular healthy food that you can buy from a grocery store. There are thousands and thousands of healthy Weight Watchers recipes on the web, and they are things that both you and your family can eat. Weight Watchers does work, but you need to follow the program even after you lose the weight. This doesn't mean that you need to continue to pay for meetings, as long as you can keep up your motivation on your own.

If you'd rather do it on your own, buy the South Beach Diet book.

Have you tried keeping a food log? TheDailyPlate.com is free, and it's very good. I've been tracking my intake there for several months, and I'm very happy with it.

 

[disneystacy]

Weight Watchers and excercise. You need to change your way of looking at food.

 

[MelanieC]

I think you should concentrate on real foods - Try using www.sparkpeople.com (it's free) and when you sign up it will tell you how many calories you need to lose weight based on questions you answer.

Then just eat healthy whole foods. Try cutting out the sugary and processed foods. Take it one day at a time and really listen to what your body is asking for.

 

[DMickey28]

I second WW. I want to try sparkpeople but I am worried about counting calories vs. points.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

I joined Nutrisystem on Friday. I'm waiting for my food to be delivered. I've done weight watchers a million and one times. I'm still fat. There are some nutrisystem forums. You might wanna jump over to them and browse through some of them. There are alot of people on the boards over there that have lost weight with nutrisystem and are currently in the stage of maintaining their weight loss with regular food.

I personally need something a little more strick than weight watchers. I'm a mom to two young children, work full time, and go to school part time so I'm extremely busy and don't have a whole lot of time to be cooking in the kitchen. I think nutrisystem will help me with that aspect of my life.

I should add too that the Jenny Craig program is a wonderful program too. My mother lost over 50 pounds on it.

 

[LoraJ]

It depends on your lifestyle. Do you have the time to buy and cook and prepare the healthy foods? If you work, are these foods accessible?

Sparkpeople.com is great for tracking your calorie intake and exercise every day.

However, my setbacks are my long commute and being busy at work and not being able to think and plan my meals. I have done Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem and they both have worked for me, but I find Jenny Craig to be much better. I go to a center and meet with someone face to face every week (when I am being good). Helps keep me in check. The Jenny meals are much lower in sodium than Nutrisystem. They are also lower in sodium than Lean Cuisine's.

I took a nutrition class last quarter and had to track my nutrition levels for a week while I was on Jenny Craig and I did a report on low carb diets and found that the Jenny diet met the daily guidelines of the food pyramid much more than the low carb diets did.

When I gain weight back on, it isn't the diet's fault. It is mine. I have learned what portion sizes I should be eating. What to eat when I am hungry as "free food" etc. But I am a stress eater, and no diet out there can help me with that.

I say try Jenny out. See if they have a special going on or a money back guarantee if you do not like it. It can't hurt. For me it is cheaper than eating on my own because I would eat out a lot.

 

[disbridemimi]

Nutrisystem is cheaper but the food is not good! ANd no matter what you order they send whatever they want. They say it was out of stock or whatnot, i think they use it as a means to get rid of the gross stuff.

They kept saying send it back, and they will fix it, so I would pack it all up send it all back and then get another box of stuff I didnt want. It was an awful pain in the you now what, and got stuck eating yucky stuff. You never get exactly what you request. ANd they never actually fix the order.

Jenny Craig is incredibly expensive, but the food is much better. And no hassle with returning stuff.

Both work if you stick to them. It was harder to stick to the one with gross food.

 

[KMZOB]

I am on Jenny Craig. I find it no different than Weight Watchers as they teach you how to live a lifestyle. After the 1st 4 weeks you don't have to follow their menus and food. Using their food helps you learn portion control because you can see how much a serving is...that's all. You can do meals on your own...they tell you how many meats, grains etc.

I tried WW, but I am not good about planning my food out and measuring it and stuff...i get lazy...it is a flaw I have, so I like that I can get Jenny Craig portion controlled food to start.

This is the second time I am on it...I was on it for 9 months last year and just started up again...so I have been off of it for 7 months and did not gain the weight back...so for PP who said that you just gain it back, is not true...if you follow what they tell you, it is no different than what WW teaches except that I don't have to measure my food.

However, if you are not going to put in the time and learn what they teach you, then I agree it would not be a good choice because if you don't continue with the healthy choices and guidelines, you are going to put the weight back on...this is to be said about WW and JC.

As far as cost...It can be costly, I choose to pay because of the convenience. If you are good about measuring food and counting points, WW would do the same thing and be cheaper. JC food is very good. There are a few things I don't like, but that is because I am a very picky eater!

Just my two cents!

 

[Rora]

My friend lost about 20lbs on Jenny Craig.

Honestly, I think counting calories and pumping up the excercising does just as good though!

Good luck!!

 

[LoraJ]

I second WW. I want to try sparkpeople but I am worried about counting calories vs. points.

I gave up on WW because I found the point calculating difficult. Calorie counting is much easier. And sparkpeople has a huge database and now it searches users own data they have input so everything I have looked up in teh last few weeks is already in there and I do not have to input a thing. What could be easier? Plus, it tracks much more than weight watchers does. Such as vitamins and minerals. Even all the new Jenny Craig food is in there which has been great for me to make sure I am within my calorie limits since I don't follow the JC planned menu.

 

[disneystacy]

I do Weight Watchers but I don't count points. I do the core or filling foods program which is what they call in now. I lost 60lbs(all my baby weight and then some) and have kept it off. It is really easy to follow, no measuring and no counting(other than snacks and stuff that isn't core).

 

[chrismiss56]

Hi

Thanks for the information

I find sparkspeople.com to be too confusing......I have a hard time navigating the website.

Yes, eating good healthy food is the answer and that is why Weight Watchers is successful, however I need a stricter way of thinking right now so for my own reasons I am looking at JC, Nutrisystem or Ediets.

Anyone use EDiets?

Thanks!!!

Have a Magical Disney Day!!

 

[fall08CP]

One of my co-workers tried Nutrisystem and while she lost some weight, she hated it. She was over 350 lbs so she lost weight by watching what she ate, but she would always bring supplemental foods like chips and other junk food because she was starving all the time! I think she lost 3 dress sizes and gave up because she felt so deprived.

 

[Principessa1284]

My old manager was on jenny craig, and she loved it and said the food was great. Yes, you can change your attitude about food, blah blah blah, but if you're someone who HATES to cook, buying all those fresh fruits and veggies and PLANNING on making healthy, home cooked means usually doesn't last very long. She lost a TON of weight, but she was also doing a ton of exercising and lost it too fast (who heard of such a thing?) and gave herself gallstones.

I also recommend weight watchers. I've done it twice, and both times lost weight, but then each time, life got busy and I lost interest in doing the points counting and such. I also think a little public recognition (they would reward you in front of the group for different weight-loss milestones) and being with people going through the same thing you are, does help. I never met one person there who was anything but helpful to me - even if I had gained that week. It's a very supportive environment.

 

[MainStMandy]

I am a former Jenny Craig Center Director so I thought I would throw my .02 in

I loved Jenny Craig. The program is awesome, the food even better!! The program is great because in the beginning you eat nothing but their food, which helps you focus on getting in physical activity and not having to "think" about your diet. Then they gradually teach you how to eat correctly. It is expensive, but only in the beginning. Once you are off their food you only go in once a month to meet with your consultant to keep you on track.

Feel free to pm me if you have questions.

 

[quasar4legs]

The best thing I did was to see a dietician so that she could help me devise a life long healthy eating plan.
In order to have success in the long term you need to find something that fits in with your life and I knew I didn't want to eat frozen meals reheated in the microwave.


Good luck on your journey to health.

Trish

 

[chrismiss56]

Anyone ever try Ediets?

 

[MoniqueU]

My dogs would litterally not eat the food from nutrisystem. My DH who will eat anything and left the rest he gave up on where the dogs could get it and they got into it and gave up.