Jenny Craig Diet - How Much Does It Cost?

During January of every year you see celebrities touting and endorsing the popular diet programs. One of the ones most advertised is the Jenny Craig Diet. Just how much does the Jenny Craig Diet cost?

You basically have two options in the Jenny Rewards system. One is $399 and the other is $359. Each are a 12 month program that includes weekly one on one counseling, motivational information, and individualized menus based on preferences.

The food is offered at a discount and averages $12-$18 per day depending on your selection. Most of the food is frozen, so you better have plenty of freezer space. The food is is typical low cal food, not bad. but not as tasty as regular food.

You can visit the local office each week for your counseling session and pickup your weekly low call food selections or they do have an in home option that delivers your food (which you pay for) and counseling can be done over the phone.

The program basically starts with low calorie food, then moves to normal food, and then recommends a healthy eating and proper exercise regime. Not unlike most low calorie food diets. Their goals are to show you how to lose 1-2 pounds per week.

So let's say you want to lose 20 pounds. And you are successful based on their goal of 1-2 pounds per week. So that would be at least 10 weeks on the diet, but we'll cut you a break and say 12 weeks. It's easy to miss one or two week's goals of 1-2 pounds weight loss.

So if the food averages $12-$18, we'll use midway of $15 cost per day. 12 weeks would be 84 days so your food cost would be $1260.00. And then add the $359 for the initial fee. And keep in mind that this does not include any off the menu items like fresh vegetables or fruit.

So the total cost would be $1619.00, so divide that by 20 and your cost per pound of weight lost is $80.95. This example is based on you losing the 1-2 pounds per week, which may not happen every week. Many people fall off the wagon for a week or two.

And if you look at the weekly cost of approximately $150.00 per person, that's a good chunk of change. Even with today's higher cost in food, that kind of budget would feed a family of four quite well.

Did I mention that the counselors have no formal training or are required to have any nutritional certifications? And that they really are commissioned sales people, and from what I've read, very good sales people? Is the counseling based on dieting advice or keeping you in the program?

The number one complaint about the Jenny Craig Diet is that people don't feel they got their money's worth in both results and service. I'm not sure how you put a value on weight loss by the pound, but over $80 per pound does sound a little high.

But if you need help in losing weight and want an easy to follow menu with low calorie food this program could help. I'm sure that Valerie Bertinelli and Queen Latifah didn't worry about the cost and it worked for them.

The low cal frozen foods in your local grocery store are priced about the same so I don't see a big difference in going that route. What you are paying for on either one is the convenience. Of course you could just buy the food and fix it yourself which would cut the cost well over 50%.

So it comes down to a personal choice, and what your budget may determine. The problem with the Jenny Craig Diet or any low call food diet is when you stop eating the low calorie food, you have a good chance of gaining the weight back.

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The content on this site is presented only for informational purposes and does not replace medical advice from a practicing physician.