Anyway, I had vowed not to buy another box of Anytime Bars. I didn’t think it was worth it. But now, I blame them for my over-indulging. I’ve skipped the Anytime Bars for weeks (along with a gross number of fruit & veggie servings…oops), and every night I tell myself “I can have around 100 extra calories since I ditched the AT bar.” And every night that turns into 200 + extra calories of junk. It’s a snowball effect!

This week, I’m giving the bars a shot. So far, I still don’t like the taste, but I DO like the fuller feeling I get.  I’m hearing on the JC site boards that there are some civilian alternatives I could try instead.  Do you have a suggestion for an Anytime Bar alternative? Please leave it in the comments or send me a DM on Twitter

Look up Sara on Google, and you’ll find tons of before & after pics of this Eastwick star. Apparently, she (like most of us) falls victim to the yo-yo syndrome. I’m thrilled to see how she does on Jenny Craig. If she’s successful, she’ll be a great example of how even those of us who struggle with weight can lose and look great with the help of JC!

Good luck Sara!

Get more info on Sara here and here.

Good luck Nicole! We’ll be watching (not in a creepy way, but still). To keep tabs on Nicole’s journey through the JC, check out her blog.

Alas, I’m still on the JC, for that reason. I’ve spent too long cruising along in the bar car of the fat train. Even with this realization, I”ve still been drowning my sorrows with General Tso and Sam Adams. Today is a new day! I’m dedicated to Jenny, and I’ll not stray.

Part of this means really sticking to the plan. The holiday aftermath has left me with a couple additional pounds. After meeting with my JC counselor (lets call her M), I”m feeling ok about it. It’s progress, not perfection…right? She mentioned that real fat weight doesn’t go extremely fast, and I’m probably dealing with water weight. That’s good. Oh, and a vegetable here and there would do me good. hmm…the track is further off than I had realized.

Unfortunately the freedom comes with a total lack of routine & schedule. Personally, I like it. But Jenny Craig (and her scale) seem to frown upon my free-wheelin’ weekend ways.

During the week it’s almost impossible for me NOT to eat JC chow. I work late, so cooking dinner pushes my eating time back to 8:30pm (or later, depending on how ambitious my stomach feels). Just popping something in the microwave or toaster oven is a huge timesaver for my busy day. But when my schedule evaporates for the weekend, my routine goes to hell. While I’d love to say that I bring my JC food with me wherever I go, it’s simply not the truth. I don’t have the strength or humility to do that.

I lose control when I leave the house. I treat JC like my computer…I leave it at home. So dinners out, lunches with friends, errand-running-must-get-food-before-I-punch-husband food emergencies all severely damage my JC progress. Unfortunately, the last 2 weekends (approximately half my time on JC) have been filled with at least one of each of the former. I’ve paid for it with nice losses by Friday, followed by regains (and more!) on Monday…which is weigh in day. Not good.

My counselor told me that 1 off meal a week wouldn’t knock me too far off track. 3 – 4 in the space of 2 days does drop me off at the closest station though.

We’ll see how I do tonight. But I’m anticipating a gain and a lecture.

Hurdle 1: Sick
I caught whatever everyone was getting hit with on week 2. Exhaustion, fever, coughing, sneezing, aching…overall misery. So food – for once – was not on my priority list. When I did eat, I ate Jenny food. But extra salads, veggies, etc. did not really make it to the couch with me. Worse still – I missed my first weigh in! It was like missing the first day of school!! I knew I was doing ok though – my yoga pants (aka my sick outfit – it goes from bed to couch with just a few accessories!) were showing less lumpage. When I did don real clothes for attempts at going to work, I could feel the difference.
Week 2 Favorite Food: Fish & Chips – only when made in the toaster oven and some tartar sauce as a ‘limited’ extra
Week 2 Worst Food: Cheese Curls – Not bad, but not good enough to keep me coming back.

Hurdle 2: Beer & Cupcakes
Sounds like a party waiting to happen, no? Well, on the JC it’s both a beautiful dream and a nightmare rolled up into one (and topped with frosting). First, I was raising money for charity with a Cupcakes for a Cause fundraiser. That meant roughly 50 chocolate stout cupcakes littering my kitchen AND office for a couple days. Then, a tour of a brewery led to one (ok, four) too many beers in the tasting room. The result was a gain of about a pound when I weighed in.

My counselor told me to look at the weekend as a learning experience. The program has to fit into real life. She said that one off-plan meal shouldn’t slip me up, but a whole weekend of frosty brews and frosted treats will absolutely set me back. The fact that I wasn’t prepared at all also contributed.
Week 3 Favorite Food: Lemon Cake – the JC desserts are SO good they feel illegal. This makes me happy without questioning if I should really be eating it.
Week 3 Worst Food: Anytime Bars – I’ve decided I don’t like, nor can bear to eat, these bars anymore. They’re thick, hard to chew, and have some gritty texture that makes me crazy.

I’m back on plan in full force today! Let’s see if I can’t wipe that pound off the record.

It’s the biggest question about pre-packaged food diets (well, 2nd biggest – behind “How Much?”). If the food isn’t delicious, chances are you’ll be off the freezer food wagon pretty quickly. Luckily, the food on JC is pretty good. Some of it great, but the bad stuff drags the average down a bit.

The Good: The Chicken Fajitas were the high point of my week (taste-wise). It’s a frozen bag you dump into a pan with a mysterious seasoning packet. This gave me the opportunity to add my typical fajita flavorings to the mix without dragging the whole dish into fatland. I added some lovely Frontera Chipotle salsa (this is the closest to restaurant salsa that you can buy in a jar), some smoked chili powder, and a little garlic powder. The end result is 2 overstuffed fajitas.

The Bad: Pesto Pizza was the biggest let down for me. I’m a huge pesto fan, and I’m an american, which means I place Pizza in its own block in the food pyramid. The idea was promising – pesto, “fresh” tomatoes, cheese. The result (after being prepared in a microwave using the hot pocket-style crisping plate) was like eating a styrofoam plate with green paint on it. It was completely tasteless and unsatisfying. Hopefully the other pizza selections (I believe there are 4) on the JC menu are better.

There are over 80 meal choices on the JC plan. I’d say we’re at a 80% good rating.  So far anyway.

So I finally decided to jump in. I stopped by after work on a day that I felt I could hold my head high. A positive, optimistic outlook is fairly key to day 1 of a diet program. One has to have hope in this situation! So on a day I felt strong enough to not care who saw me walking into the Centre (their spelling, not mine).

Walking in was a little awkward. I walked in without an appointment, which seemed to displeased the one woman waiting (also a newbie), and then one woman again on the way out (who mentioned 3x that she called ahead…making her superior to me apparently). The receptionist handed me 2 forms to fill out (medical jazz/health history and my eating habits quiz). I waited, and a friendly young woman approached and introduced herself, then led me into an office. She was in my general age bracket, and I’m assuming she arranged it to speak to me while the other potential client was taken by an older counselor. A sales tactic I’m sure, but it made me more comfortable. I did LA Weightloss about 5 years ago and totally got the stink eye from the older, heavier counselors there, so I really appreciated the match up.

So my counselor asked me a bunch of questions about my mindset, why I wanted to lose weight, was there a moment when I knew it was time to make a change? I told her none of my work pants fit (she was unmoved), and I’m going to be 30 in January – it’s a milestone I’d like to look good for (that one she liked).  Then she asked if I’d had success on other programs. I told her I rocked Nutrisystem and I’d done Weight Watchers (I didn’t go into the embarrassing number of other diets I’ve been on).

My answers apparently qualified me for the program. She took me through a presentation about the JC program and how it’s about more than just frozen food. The counselors are supposed to coach you through – judgement-free – to live life as a smaller person. That means getting you thinner, then weaning you off the JC Chow, then teaching you how to maintain your new hot bod (I’m paraphrasing, but you get the idea). I totally latched onto the whole idea of transitioning off the JC chow. That’s where I fell with NS – after a while I just stopped and ate normally. Not the best idea for my wardrobe.

We talked about what I want to do more of, and I explained that I wanted to be more active. I’m fairly active, I like exercise, I’d like to be able to do more fun-based exercise…Hiking, biking, skiing and the like. As I explain this to her, I realize I’m making myself out to be a super-outdoorsy athlete. I’m not. I’m a cube-dweller who loves cheese. Who am I kidding? I fail to correct myself, allowing the thought of a thinner me trekking through the woods hang in the air.

She counsels on, explaining ‘Volumetrics’ – the act of bulking up your JC chow with extra veggies and whatnot to make it more satisfying with the fewest amount of calories possible. Even though I’m sold, the made-up word makes me cringe. I shudder further as she lays down  2 glossy sheets outlining my plan options.

Ugh. Here I am again. Begging to lose weight, willing to shell out cash to get the chance. I’ve been here before. I feel like a failure. Embarrassed to have more weight-loss literature piled in my lap, explaining trademarked tactics and cute food names. Volumetrics. Soupatizers. Anytime Bars. I swallow my pride, chose my plan (wow – a discount? didn’t see that coming) and sign the paper. My counselor keeps her optimism shining bright and takes me to a little room to be weighed, measured, and photographed next to an “I Can Do It” sign. We discuss goals – realistic ones, for me that equals about 26 pounds. Then the fun part.

Food! I get to pick from delicious sounding food! Turkey burgers, breakfast sandwiches, pizza, potstickers…all my good friends are here! I ask if things are good (everything is…surprise!) and make up a menu. Then I’m giving my official JC freezer bag filled with goodies, and a JC reusable grocery bag (which, has shapely lady curves btw – they never stop with the inspiration). Before I know it, I’ve agreed to purchase a pedometer (it’s marked with an unmistakable Jenny Craig logo. Crap!), have promised to work out 2x this week, and committed myself to buying myself new shoes as a reward for completing my first week.

It was a long ordeal – about an hour and a half – but I think it might work out. Now all I have to do is get the glossary down.

This week, I took the leap into the land of Jenny Craig (aka The JC). Why would I do such a thing? After so many semi-failed attempts? First of all – I firmly believe that every diet plan works. It just might not work for you (or right now). My last big success was on Nutrisystem. You’ve seen the commercials – order up a box of chow and you’ll lose weight. And I did! But life went on and sure enough – the weight crept back up (over a couple years, mind you).

So I found myself trying to figure out what to do. Each plan I’ve attempted this year only shined a spotlight on one fact: I cannot be trusted.

No matter what plan I would go on, I’d make the wrong choices. Sure, I’d be within the limits of my plan, but it didn’t change the fact that I wasn’t eating right at all. Take Weight Watchers for example. I’ve done it with some success before, but this time I found myself gorging on 10 points of dessert on a regular basis. Clearly not what the fine folks at WW had in mind when they developed the Points system. So I needed something to severely limit my choices (and chances to go buck wild).

So here I am, on the JC. I’ll be writing about the whole shebang as it unravels. I’m interested to see if it works for me. Aren’t you?