9 replies to this topic

[StillTrying2get2Goal]

I need help! I am so bored with the daily routine of JC. I am so sick of eating salad every day with lunch & subbing out tomatoes with cucumbers doesn't cut it. Eating the beef chow mein for lunch right now & it is all I can do to choke down this salad I added some broccoli & carrots to the beef chow mein to try to be more filling. I had no idea when I joined that it would be the same thing every single day, every week...no change. The food is ok & there are some foods I just can not eat..some of it is just not good and substitute Weight Watcher or Lean Cuisine dinners to get by. I started on this back in Aug. & am down only 14 pounds in 2 1/2 months...really thought the weight would come off alot quicker. Have a bad back, so only exercise I can do is walk and I walk 2 miles 4 times a week. Last weekend we attended an evening wedding...ate JC food for breakfast & lunch...I ate the sit down meal at the reception (prime rib, veggies, rice pilaf, salad & the meal was served to us, so I did not help myself at a buffet, so the servings were not very generous) had 1 small piece of wedding cake & stayed away from the open bar. Sunday I ate JC for breakfast & for lunch we ate at a mexican restaurant & I counted out 8 chips & ate 1 fajita with no sour cream & no margarita...then had a WW dinner that night...drinking, drinking, drinking water. Back on regular menu on Mon. 2 days later when I went in for my weekly weigh in, I was up 2 1/2 pounds! I was livid! Takes 2 or 3 weeks just to lose 2 1/2 pounds & 2 meals out made me gain! Seems that others are substituting WW meals & other foods instead of eating JC for all 3 meals & snacks....I am just really frustrated as I don't feel I sway too much from the plan...like this morning, instead of eating the JC Sunshine Sandwich...I had the WW Egg McMuffin, 1/2 grapefruit, 1 cup milk....11:30 ate 1 Oatmeal Raisin Anytime Bar...and now I just ate the beef chow mein (where I added some broccoli & carrots to) & trying to get the rest of this salad down as I am soooo sick of salad. For supper instead of eating the JC Mesquite chicken meal....I will eat a 3 oz. skinned chicken breast with some terikaya sauce on it, asparagus, zuchinni, squash medley sauteed in olive oil Pam and buttered flavored Pam, 1/2 cup brown rice. To me I am not eating too much....I have to sub in other foods like WW's or Lean Cuisine because I can afford them & can not afford to spend $140 a week on myself for just the JC food...I see others making substitute & doing fine...trying to figure out what I am doing wrong as I am either down a pound or up a pound. I also do not eat JC cereals because for the handful you get the sugar grams is very high, so I eat cereals with no more than 6-7 grams of sugar per serving. Ok, I will hush now as I am just fussing and rambling. I know no 2 people lose the same, but I do not feel I am "cheating" & just frustrated & bored with eating "tv dinners".
Would love it if some of you that sub in foods along with using JC food could post what you eat for your 3 meals & snacks for about 3-4 days so I can see what I may be doing wrong...I am still on the 1200 calorie plan. Thanks!

[happineff]

Sorry to hear about your struggles with the menu! I've heard some people here on the forums talk about how they can eat the same food day after day after day, but I don't know how they do it! I make sure to keep every week interesting by customizing my own menu and sticking to only the things that I like. It seems to be enough to keep every week different. Have you tried everything JC has to offer at least once? I know it can be frustrating to take a risk on something you might not end up liking, but how else will you find out exactly what is good?

As far as the salads go, I'd say again that variety is key. Instead of the exact same salad every day, try to make them slightly different day to day. In addition to my green leaf lettuce, spinach leaves, red bell peppers, onion and carrots (which I eat almost every day) I alternate by adding 1 extra thing. I either add a tablespoon of fat free shredded cheese, a tablespoon of raisins, OR 1 serving of low-fat croutons. But never all 3 things at once! Maybe you should try some other low-calorie salad dressings?

It sounds like you are doing everything else right! But you're right, no two people lose weight the same way, so just know that you are still learning how your body responds to the diet. No sense in comparing yourself with anyone else. And you've already lost 14 pounds, that is awesome! Keep it up, I know you can do it, and we are all rooting for you here!

[StillTrying2get2Goal]

happineff, on 10 November 2011 - 12:21 PM, said:

Sorry to hear about your struggles with the menu! I've heard some people here on the forums talk about how they can eat the same food day after day after day, but I don't know how they do it! I make sure to keep every week interesting by customizing my own menu and sticking to only the things that I like. It seems to be enough to keep every week different. Have you tried everything JC has to offer at least once? I know it can be frustrating to take a risk on something you might not end up liking, but how else will you find out exactly what is good?

As far as the salads go, I'd say again that variety is key. Instead of the exact same salad every day, try to make them slightly different day to day. In addition to my green leaf lettuce, spinach leaves, red bell peppers, onion and carrots (which I eat almost every day) I alternate by adding 1 extra thing. I either add a tablespoon of fat free shredded cheese, a tablespoon of raisins, OR 1 serving of low-fat croutons. But never all 3 things at once! Maybe you should try some other low-calorie salad dressings?

It sounds like you are doing everything else right! But you're right, no two people lose weight the same way, so just know that you are still learning how your body responds to the diet. No sense in comparing yourself with anyone else. And you've already lost 14 pounds, that is awesome! Keep it up, I know you can do it, and we are all rooting for you here!

[CMECRZN]

I have been having a can of the low sodium V-8 juice at lunch instead of a salad. I agree with you that the salad gets really old. You can really have any type of veggie. If you like stir fried veggies, for example, stir fry up enough for lunch the next day when you are getting your evening veggies prepared. Then stick a portion into a tub for lunch the next day. When you are grabbing your lunch supplies the next morning it is there ready and waiting.

You can gain during a week for a LOT of reasons. The food you ate off plan may have been full of sodium and so you were retaining water. You could have been a bit constipated..... not to get too TMI... but that can happen and then you will be heavier at your weigh in.... Make sure you are getting your water in to flush some of that sodium and hmmm.... other stuff out of you!!

I'll betcha your next weigh in you will be back down to where you were.... and beyond!!

[StillTrying2get2Goal]

I have tried all the foods except for the seafood meals as I am allergic to seafood. You only started a week before me and you are down almost 36 pounds! Do you eat just JC food only? Do you sub in any other foods?? I add veggies to all the dinners & from time to time I eat 1 cup of Healthy Choice or Progressive Light soup before my dinners to try to fill up. The soupitizers are not good & very watery.

[StillTrying2get2Goal]

CMECRZN, on 10 November 2011 - 12:30 PM, said:

I have been having a can of the low sodium V-8 juice at lunch instead of a salad. I agree with you that the salad gets really old. You can really have any type of veggie. If you like stir fried veggies, for example, stir fry up enough for lunch the next day when you are getting your evening veggies prepared. Then stick a portion into a tub for lunch the next day. When you are grabbing your lunch supplies the next morning it is there ready and waiting.

You can gain during a week for a LOT of reasons. The food you ate off plan may have been full of sodium and so you were retaining water. You could have been a bit constipated..... not to get too TMI... but that can happen and then you will be heavier at your weigh in.... Make sure you are getting your water in to flush some of that sodium and hmmm.... other stuff out of you!!

I'll betcha your next weigh in you will be back down to where you were.... and beyond!!

[StillTrying2get2Goal]

I am drinking water all day long and no problems in the "plumbing dept." eating all these fruits & veggies...feel I go too much! My JC consultant said I HAD to eat the salad every day when I told her I was having to choke down the salad at lunch & she was no help in what else you can have...she just suggested trying new dressings. I also did not know about not eating more than 3 bananas a week until I read it on here...was not told about it nor could I find it in all the reading material they give you when you join. But that was back after I had been on the program for 6 weeks...so I only eat 2 bananas a week now. Have been to my dr. for a checkup and all is ok there, so no medical problem to prevent me from losing...just trying to figure out why I am so slow in losing!! That is why I was hoping someone would post their menus for about 4 days to compare what I am eating....as basically we are all eating the same thing week in and week out & I don't see where subbing in WW dinners is sabotaging myself.

[happineff]

The only substitutions I've been doing have been breakfast cereal and snacks. I've maybe had a meal out at a restaurant only 4 or 5 times since I started. So I'm sticking pretty religiously to my Jenny foods.

And yes, I've lost a LOT more weight in 2 1/2 months than the average JCer! Everyone will tell you there are different factors playing into everyone's weight loss journey, and for me I think I'm losing faster simply because I'm younger. I'm 27, and started Jenny Craig at the same time as my mom. To give you an idea of how that's going, while I've lost 35 lbs, she's lost closer to 12 lbs. Unfair, right? But I just keep encouraging her to keep going and to not give up! Slow and steady wins the race!

[CMECRZN]

happineff, on 10 November 2011 - 03:08 PM, said:

The only substitutions I've been doing have been breakfast cereal and snacks. I've maybe had a meal out at a restaurant only 4 or 5 times since I started. So I'm sticking pretty religiously to my Jenny foods.

And yes, I've lost a LOT more weight in 2 1/2 months than the average JCer! Everyone will tell you there are different factors playing into everyone's weight loss journey, and for me I think I'm losing faster simply because I'm younger. I'm 27, and started Jenny Craig at the same time as my mom. To give you an idea of how that's going, while I've lost 35 lbs, she's lost closer to 12 lbs. Unfair, right? But I just keep encouraging her to keep going and to not give up! Slow and steady wins the race!

That is the point I was trying to make.

[I Called Jenny]

StillTrying2get2Goal, on 10 November 2011 - 12:50 PM, said:

I am drinking water all day long and no problems in the "plumbing dept." eating all these fruits & veggies...feel I go too much! My JC consultant said I HAD to eat the salad every day when I told her I was having to choke down the salad at lunch & she was no help in what else you can have...she just suggested trying new dressings. I also did not know about not eating more than 3 bananas a week until I read it on here...was not told about it nor could I find it in all the reading material they give you when you join. But that was back after I had been on the program for 6 weeks...so I only eat 2 bananas a week now. Have been to my dr. for a checkup and all is ok there, so no medical problem to prevent me from losing...just trying to figure out why I am so slow in losing!! That is why I was hoping someone would post their menus for about 4 days to compare what I am eating....as basically we are all eating the same thing week in and week out & I don't see where subbing in WW dinners is sabotaging myself.

First, the thing about bananas (per my JCC) is that they have more sugar than most fruits and less fiber.

As for the WW meals, well, you really need to check the nutrition labels between the JC meal and the WW version. I was surprised that they often vary WIDELY in sodium, carbs, calories, etc. Not always, but more often than I would have thought.

The same is true for Lean Cuisine and that's also made by Nestles who also happen to own JC. So go figure.

As for the salad, no, you don't have to eat that. It's mostly done for "volumizing."

They do want you to eat some veggies for the fiber but it's a misnomer about the salad...which found out months later. So if you want to skip the salad at lunch, fine, but make sure you get in more veggies during the day.

And you MIGHT want to think about switching your JCC. She doesn't sound like she's working with you but is more of a "this is what it says so this is what I'll repeat" kind of person.

Anyway, just for a week or two, cut out the bananas completely and if you want, do your own breakfast and 100 calorie snacks (but watch the sodium on those too) and try to stick to JC for at least lunch and dinner and see if that makes a difference.

It's worth a try, isn't it?

Phyllis