35 replies to this topic

[xgirl]

Sorry to post everyday but I seem to have a question or an issue everyday. Tomorrow is my fist WI and I will be ordering for the next week, right? So my question is, do I have to buy the Soupetizers? I really didn't like the one I tried (I think it's the Ministrone). I mean, I've had them all week but I feel it doesn't do much for me and when I saw what I paid for it, I was horrified.
What about the snacks? They are pretty pricey but is there anything I can sub them for? I know another way I might save is not buying the Anytime Bars but I actually like those and I like the convenience of the Jenny dressings. I have no interest in not buying/substituting any of the meals right now.

Thanks in advance, you ladies are great!

[I Called Jenny]

Hi XGirl!
Feel free to post as often as you need to. That's why we're all here to help each other.

No, you don't have to do the souptizers or the Anytime bars for that matter. You can substitute a piece of FF string cheese and a multi-vitamin for the Anytime bars and you can also find Pria bars online and in health food stores and they are much less costly than the Anytime bars and tastier! But if you like them, stick with them.

And as far as the snacks are concerned, you also can substitute any of the 100 calorie snacks you can find in the grocery store. Basically if you stay away from sugar and keep it under 130 calories, you should be fine.

Now having said that, while it's best to stick with all JC food, if you're trying to stretch your budget, the Anytime bars, removing the souptizers and subbing snacks is probably the best way to go.

Hope that helps!

[xgirl]

Thank you! That is very helpful. I think I will start with not buying Soupetizers this week. Is there a substitute you know about?

[I Called Jenny]

xgirl, on 25 January 2012 - 06:27 PM, said:

Thank you! That is very helpful. I think I will start with not buying Soupetizers this week. Is there a substitute you know about?

You can always make your fresh veggie soup with greens and low sodium chicken or veggie broth or just has the broth I guess. Personally, I didn't use them at all, so I can't tell you. I was more of a veggie juice person (V-8 or Motts but I prefer the Motts) when I wanted something quick to fill me up.

[xgirl]

I Called Jenny, on 25 January 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

You can always make your fresh veggie soup with greens and low sodium chicken or veggie broth or just has the broth I guess. Personally, I didn't use them at all, so I can't tell you. I was more of a veggie juice person (V-8 or Motts but I prefer the Motts) when I wanted something quick to fill me up.

I love V8! So does that count as a limited free too?

[mindymdc]

hi xgirl - i have lost 15lbs in 15wks using just jenny lunches and dinners, and 1 afternoon snack. It is slow going and it would probably be faster if I was following 100%, but it's too expensive right now for our current lack of disposable income. Anyway, for breakfast I have 1cup of cereal with 1cup skim milk (1/2 plain cheerios and 1/2 kashi go lean) plus my fruit. I have a dannon light-n-fit yogurt for a mid-morning snack. Then a jenny lunch volumized with fresh veggies (with fresh lemon and lots of cracked black pepper). I eat raw veggies for an early afternoon snack, then a jenny popcorn every day around 4:00 (I crave something salty every day at that time and that's my favorite jenny snack). Then a jenny dinner and a green salad w/ 2T lite dressing.

(Some mornings I have 1/4 cup egg beaters on an Arnold sandwich thin with salsa, and on those days I have a greek yogurt instead of light-n-fit for extra protein.)

I am pretty much lazy and don't exercise enough, and I love a glass of wine here and there. Thankfully, I don't crave or need sweets, so I don't eat any of the jenny desserts/sweet snacks. And I'm looking for fun ways to burn calories, so on the advice of others on these forums I've ordered a couple of Wii games.

I'm amazed that even though I'm only buying 7 lunches, 7 dinners, and 7 popcorns...I'm still spending $100/week at jenny. I'm only a few pounds to half-way and will be substituting some Lean Cuisines and Healthy Choices at that point to save a few more dollars.

Good luck!!!

[StevenLW]

Hi, I don't use the soupetizers either, because of cost. V-8 or Tomato juice is a great substitute. I also boil up some veggie broth and add a lot of diced up veggies, and before you know it, I have a pretty decent substitute. I also am thinking that I don't want to use the Anytime bars every week. I am on week 5, and I bored with them. So thinking of just having some more veggies instead, at least for a week or so.

And I'll save some money. This can be a pretty expensive exercise.

[cascarole]

Hi!

I started Jenny almost a year ago (2/8/11) and have been on maintanence since August,

I only bought the soupetizers and anytime bars the first week, because I didn't like them AND I didn't realize they weren't mandatory. Most importantly, they added significantly to the weekly cost!. I ate small fat free yogurts (70 calories) in place of the anytime bars, and added a veggie mid day snack in place of the soupetizer. The only breakfasts I ever bought were the Jenny Muffins, because they were the lowest priced breakfasts. I used my own low fat/high fiber cereal in place of Jenny's on the other mornings. I also often bought Jenny lunches and added a lot of veggies to them and ate them as dinners. The lunch portions on some of the meals (like the asian chicken and the chicken teriyaki) are the same size and calories as a dinner, but cost 1.00 to 2.00 less. I would say my average week was around 75.00-80.00. On a week where I had to be more budget conscious, I ate lunches for dinners (and volumized) and ate monster salads for lunch. I still ate around 1200 calories a day, and wrote everything down.

Now I only buy the muffins and cheesecakes. (basically as breakfast/treats/dessert)
I know that this 5.25 a day, prevents me from "straying", so it's well worth it! Your JCC should be able to help you stay "on plan" without breaking the bank. Even though her job is to sell you food (this IS a business after all) she should also be sharing in your success, The longer you stay (even if you spend less weekly). the longer you'll likely be her client! Good wishes and health to you! The program does work!!

[anticipating2011]

My new JC counselor the other day suggested that I make the original cabbage soup with low sodium chicken broth to help volumize and curb those hunger pains I was having. I went straight to the grocery store after looking up the receipe and bought everything I needed right after. I made a big batch of it to last all week! Talk about amazing! Yesterday and today was the first day I really felt full! And even better, my 4 year old daughter couldn't get enough of it either! We shared a big bowl of it! Lol, so to answer your question, no you don't have to get the soupitizers. I couldn't stand them. Best of luck to you!!

[Susanjt]

anticipating2011, on 25 January 2012 - 10:10 PM, said:

My new JC counselor the other day suggested that I make the original cabbage soup with low sodium chicken broth to help volumize and curb those hunger pains I was having. I went straight to the grocery store after looking up the receipe and bought everything I needed right after. I made a big batch of it to last all week! Talk about amazing! Yesterday and today was the first day I really felt full! And even better, my 4 year old daughter couldn't get enough of it either! We shared a big bowl of it! Lol, so to answer your question, no you don't have to get the soupitizers. I couldn't stand them. Best of luck to you!!

Can you post the recipe or point us to a place it's posted?

Thanks!

Susan

[I Called Jenny]

xgirl, on 25 January 2012 - 07:13 PM, said:

I love V8! So does that count as a limited free too?

No, low sodium veggie juice is a free free - meaning have as much as you want. Just make sure it's the low sodium variety or you'll have potential issues with retaining water.

[jenniferintexas]

Hello Im new to JC so can you tell me where I find what everything cost? I got my second week of food and it was $145.00 WOW....I need to cut back....also, Im not cheating at all and working out but only lost 1.4 pds the first week and this am my scAle said I was up .5 pds....I was verrrrry sad about that! Help...

[happineff]

I've never actually purchased any Soupetizers. In fact, my very first week they were not included in my food order and I was so confused trying to follow my menu. "What the heck is this, I didn't get any soupetizers! Waah!" I came to the forums looking for answers and learned it is totally optional and in fact most people thought they were bland and pointless. Some people like them to help them fill up before meals, but I never had a problem feeling full. So if you don't eat 'em, no problem. It should not affect your weight-loss, didn't affect mine!

There are LOTS of grocery substitutes you can make for the Jenny snacks, from sugar-free chocolate pudding to Nabisco's 100 cal pack cookies and snacks. I used to buy the 100 cal packs of Baked Pringles but haven't been able to find them in my new grocery store. Skinny Cow makes some yummy low-cal ice cream treats too.

After my first few weeks I began making substitutes of my own, including my own breakfast cereals and about 1/2 my own snacks. It helped cut down some costs and didn't hamper me at all. You can do it too, just be sure to stay close to your calorie limits!

[xgirl]

Thank you all so much for all the tips!

[drsboland]

Wow this is news to me. I was under the impression that you have to eat Jenny food only. I've even eating it but I find there are some foods that I have never considered to eat like the muffin loafs for breakfast. I would rather cook my own eggs rather than zapping them. I think its time for me to start think of replacing some of the jenny foods.

[I Called Jenny]

drsboland, on 28 January 2012 - 11:16 AM, said:

Wow this is news to me. I was under the impression that you have to eat Jenny food only. I've even eating it but I find there are some foods that I have never considered to eat like the muffin loafs for breakfast. I would rather cook my own eggs rather than zapping them. I think its time for me to start think of replacing some of the jenny foods.

OK, TECHNICALLY, to achieve the best results, you ARE supposed to eat only JC food. However, as many of us have discovered, in order to bring down the costs, there ARE substitutions (like those Hannah pointed out) that you can replace things with. But you have to be careful and make sure that you're checking labels so that you're not getting extra servings of things like fat or salt that could slow down your weight loss journey.

So, it's a trade off, but there is SOME leeway and you can still see the weight drop off if you do it carefully.

[LisaKay]

I just received a Price List from JCC last week. I scanned it and it's in .pdf format. If someone can tell me how to attach a .pdf file, I will be more than happy to post the price list.
Lisa Kay

[happineff]

LisaKay, on 29 January 2012 - 06:59 AM, said:

I just received a Price List from JCC last week. I scanned it and it's in .pdf format. If someone can tell me how to attach a .pdf file, I will be more than happy to post the price list.
Lisa Kay

The best way to share your own files is by first uploading it to a different site and linking us to it. (Kind of tricky, but I do it all the time) www.Photobucket.com is a free site that will host images, so if you could first convert your pdf into a jpeg that would work.

Or if that sounds like too much trouble, just email the pdf to me and I'll do it! happineff@gmail.com

[alissa018]

I have never in the current or past times i've done jenny, bought those anytime bars. they just taste like yuck to me. I was looking to cut costs this time but I did buy snacks in addition to all the other meals. it's just a personal decision I made based on convienience and control.

I do save money on grocery items by couponing, however. I can get yogurt, fruit, vegetables, and other stuff pretty darn cheap with coupons. I high recommend it if you've never tried it. I figure, I can't control the price of jenny food, but I can manage to save tons on everything else i buy to make up for it. there are always coupons for frozen veggies and fruit which are the staples we have outside of the meals.

[Blessed4Life2]

happineff, on 29 January 2012 - 06:35 PM, said:

The best way to share your own files is by first uploading it to a different site and linking us to it. (Kind of tricky, but I do it all the time) www.Photobucket.com is a free site that will host images, so if you could first convert your pdf into a jpeg that would work.

Or if that sounds like too much trouble, just email the pdf to me and I'll do it! happineff@gmail.com

Thats a great idea Hannah, b/c we def need an up to date price list on the boards now.