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What Dose A Jenny Craig Garden Salad Consists Of

Jenny Craig: The Basics

We had to pay a $36 fee for a six-week Jenny Craig membership—this was the only plan we tested that required a membership fee. (Note that membership prices and offers for the plan are constantly changing, so what we paid may not be representative.) After joining Jenny Craig, we called for a personal profile to determine the details of our plan and the number of calories we'd be allotted per day. Then we ordered the minimum allowed amount of food on the Jenny Direct home delivery plan—two weeks' worth of frozen and dry breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks, which we were supposed to supplement with dairy products, fruit, and vegetables. Also included in the plan are two types of Jenny Craig–branded supplements (with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants), which participants are supposed to take daily. For the first two weeks, we were sent the "favorites" from the plan—if we had chosen to continue, we would have been able to customize our meals by choosing from a personalized menu planner.

A day of Jenny Craig food, with items supplied by participant in parentheses: frosted oats cereal (1 cup nonfat milk); Anytime Bar or MultiPlus vitamins (6 oz. nonfat yogurt, if choosing MultiPlus); tuna salad kit, Jenny's dressing (garden salad, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese); (snack: one orange); chicken fajitas, MultiPlus; cookies and cream cheesecake (www.jennycraig.com)

Plan Extras

Membership includes one-on-one weekly phone consultations with a Jenny Craig representative to discuss obstacles, motivation, exercise, etc. We also received a "Success Manual" with tips on dining out, exercising, dealing with lapses, and lots of warm and fuzzy motivational "affirmations" and messages ("It's not about judgments—it's about new choices"). In addition, there are many online support components, such as forums, newsletters, an interactive online journal with goals, a weight tracker, menu planners, and more. All in all, this plan offers the most hand-holding—it's sold as a lifestyle rather than a diet, and appears to be marketed almost exclusively to women.

Packaging and Delivery

We received all of the food in boxes, bags, and cans in one shipment via express mail. Items were packaged well and kept sufficiently cold with ice packs.

Preparation

All meals were ready-to-eat (such as cereal, energy bars, and tuna and chicken salad packs) or microwavable. Some could be heated in a conventional oven.

Portion Sizes

Most servings were small, some shockingly so: The "Tuna Salad Complete Lunch Kit" consisted of 2.9 ounces of tuna salad (about two tablespoons), six small crackers, and a small cup of sugary diced peaches. Even with the addition of a garden salad and two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, it was far from satisfying.

Specific Foods and Flavors

This plan features America's favorite "naughty" foods, such as cheesecake, chips, tortellini, meatballs, "cheesy" enchiladas, chicken fettuccine, and beef chow mein. Breakfasts included hot items such as French toast and egg dishes, as well as muffins and cold cereals. Most of the lunches were hot entrées such as a turkey burger, pizza, or burrito, which you pair with make-your-own salad or veggies. Dinners were also mostly hot entrées: cashew chicken, turkey with gravy, meatloaf with barbecue sauce. There were also a lot of sweets, including cakes, cookies, and the Jenny Anytime Bar—basically a fortified candy bar.

While nothing looked all that fresh (it was frozen food, after all), we didn't encounter anything on this plan that seemed past its prime and there were some bright, colorful veggies. Flavors were simple—the "Chinese" food was all about soy, while most "Italian" dishes featured supersweet tomato sauces—and dominated by sugar.

Best Dishes

Chicken fettuccine and mac and cheese were saucy and comforting. The Southwestern-style chicken burrito was nicely spiced and had colorful, crisp pieces of corn and peppers and creamy pepper-Jack cheese. Cookies-and-cream cheesecake had a good chocolaty flavor and was rich, creamy, and decadent.

Worst Dishes

The Sunshine Sandwich consisted of squishy eggs on a dry biscuit. Chicken Parmesan pasta had small gristly bits of chicken and a gummy, overly sweet sauce. The turkey burger had a spongy texture and mysterious "natural flavors" in the ingredient list. The "cheesy" enchilada was covered in a gooey, pasty white sauce.

Epi's Assessment

The personal consultations were the best thing about this plan—the Jenny representative was empathetic, helpful, and had useful tips (for example, she suggested those of us who eat out have the waiter pack half of our meal to go before serving us so we wouldn't be tempted to eat too much). But ultimately, the subpar quality of the food would deter us from this plan: A few things were better than the equivalent frozen meal you could buy from a grocery store, but not enough of them to justify the expense.

Ideal for

Sugar lovers; people who like a lot of personal support.

The Nutritionist's Take

"About one third of the calories in this diet come from foods you supply (nonfat dairy, fruits, and vegetables), says Monica Reinagel, chief nutritionist for our sister site NutritionData.com, who analyzed all of the meal plans for us. "The foods you provide are definitely the healthiest part of this diet plan.

"The overall plan is very low in fat (about 15 percent of calories—which is too low, in my opinion) and way too high in refined sugar. The sample menu provided 70 grams of sugar—almost a quarter of the total calories! Experts recommend that you keep sugar to fewer than ten percent of daily calories.

"The meals were also very low in fiber, providing only about eight grams per day. Everyone should aim for at least 25 grams of fiber per day, which reduces risk of several kinds of cancer and helps prevent constipation. But fiber also plays a big part in how full you feel—especially when you're cutting calories.

"The meals are quite low in calories (fewer than 300 calories for most). Without much fat or fiber to keep your blood-sugar levels steady and your appetite in check, you'll be chewing your arm off 90 minutes after every meal.

"The ingredient lists were also unimpressive, dominated by additives, artificial ingredients, added sugars, and hydrogenated oils (i.e., trans fats). Vegetables, when there were any, tended to cluster way down on the bottom of the list.

"Perhaps the best thing this plan has going for it is convenience and built-in portion control...but I wouldn't be surprised to see you at the candy machine by 3 p.m. If you follow this diet, you'll probably want to take a fiber supplement."

What Dose A Jenny Craig Garden Salad Consists Of

Source: https://www.epicurious.com/archive/healthy/news/dietdelivery_jennycraig

Posted by: wisehumpertle.blogspot.com

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