Jenny Craig Review 2024: All You Need to Know

If there ever was a popular and effective diet service, it has to be Jenny Craig. Their prepackaged meals are quite well-known for anyone on the weight loss journey. They provide you with the option of shedding those extra pounds in a healthy manner. All you have to do is check out the company’s long track record, and you should be rightfully convinced.

Jenny Craig’s happy customers have spoken highly of the easy-to-follow meal programs and the diverse, profuse food choices. Combined with cardio and weightlifting, Jenny Craig meals can really help you get closer to your ideal weight.

Even those who don’t do any extra physical activities for weight loss found Jenny Craig plans to be useful. That’s because this subscription meal delivery service eliminates the guesswork involved with counting carbs and calories.

Moreover, it’s a much, much healthier alternative to dining out. Meals on the menu are low calorie and perfectly custom-made for meeting individual weight loss goals. The approach here is not the traditional kind; rather, Jenny Craig nudges you in the direction to eventually start cooking meals on your own once you’re halfway through your weight-shedding journey.

Jenny Craig, Inc., generally referred to as Jenny Craig, is a US-based weight reduction, weight control, and fitness business. The business has over 700 weight loss centers in Australia, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. Their products and services are all about personalized weight loss recommendations with a menu of frozen meals and other items sold by its centers or delivered directly to clients.

Jenny Craig, together with her partner Sidney Craig, formed the company in 1983 in Melbourne, Australia, which started operations in the United States in 1985. Currently, Jenny Craig was purchased by HIG Capital in 2019 for an unspecified sum. Stores such as Walgreens began selling Jenny Craig weight reduction programs at nearly 100 stores.

Seeking to fill a massive gap in the fitness market, Jenny Craig provides high-quality and life-changing wellness programs designed to establish structure and full-on support to all its members towards a better life. 

Jenny Craig offers 40 different types of meals, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts, and bars. The premade meals are preportioned and prepackaged. All you need to do is heat the meals well and enjoy.

The singular appeal that makes Jenny Craig irresistible is that all their meals are designed to accommodate a weight loss diet plan. This means that their meals are low in calories and well-portioned to avoid excess calorie consumption.

At odds with the typical meal delivery service options, concerning flavor and diversity of the recipes, Jenny Craig is comparatively simple and effective. Her meals encourage customers to lose weight and maintain a balanced and nutritious diet lifestyle.

Jenny Craig’s meal recipes are compatible with commonly sought-after weight loss diets like calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, low-carb diet, low-fat diet, vegetarianism, etc.

Traditional recipes like waffles for breakfast, pasta for lunch, or chocolate chip cookies for dessert are prepared with a weight loss-friendly approach.

Imagine an otherwise high-calorie dish like a cheeseburger, which is known to have at least 350 calories; Jenny Craig reduces its calorie value to 250 calories. Their Classic Cheeseburger has a broiled beef patty, whole grain bun, and American cheese. The recipe boasts 12g fats, 28g carbs, 220 mg sodium, and 16g proteins.

The menu features two types of filters: meal type (breakfast, lunch & dinner, snacks & desserts, and bars) and a “Sort By” filter that lets you select recipes that are featured or arranged alphabetically.

What I found is that Jenny Craig’s menu plans are basic and delicious without a doubt, but there are no crafty and interesting flavors to look forward to. All the recipes you see you are much too familiar with already like Spaghetti with Meatballs, Loaded Baked Potato, Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, Pepperoni Pizza, Chocolate Lava Cake, and more.

If you’re picky and prefer a more varied palette, Jenny Craig’s menu wouldn’t quench your culinary appetite.

In much the same way, the recipes could be considered as family-friendly when reducing calorie consumption is the focus and not taste. You can eat family-favorite meals without the guilt of exceeding your daily calorie goals.

The meal plans of Jenny Craig simplify meal planning for those who either don’t have the time to plan meals ahead or dislike meal planning altogether.

The meal plans are divided according to cost as well as the number of meals that you can order.

The standard 2-week Jenny Craig plan features the following food items:

• 14 breakfasts
• 28 lunches/dinners
• 14 snacks/desserts
• 14 recharge bars

The meals are delivered every 2 weeks, so if you order 4 weeks, the meal order will be delivered in 2 shipments. For 6 weeks total, you will receive 3 shipments.

While choosing from the menu, Jenny Craig gives you two options here as well; you can either choose Customer Favorites meals or go for the Customize Menu option that gives you the reins of selecting the meals.

The meal plans are dietician-designed and cater to specific dietary needs centered around a weight loss diet. On top of it all, along with your weekly shipments, you also get access to live one-on-one coaching which you can book an appointment for via their website.

Jenny Craig’s meal plans also put emphasis on a special food item that helps in shedding weight and increasing energy levels – these are the Recharge Bars which are absolutely free with one recharge bar a day.

So, with a 2-week plan, you will receive 14 recharge bars, one for each day, to encourage appetite control, reduce unhealthy food cravings, and boost fat burning.

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It’s possible to stick to a weight loss diet with the help of Jenny Craig’s meals. The way Jenny Craig encourages weight loss is by including meals that have fewer calories per serving. This includes not only main meals like lunch and dinner, but breakfast, snacks, and desserts as well.

I calculated the average caloric range of their lunch and dinner meals which falls between 200 and 300 calories per meal. Snacks, desserts, and breakfast items are much less, falling between 150 and 200 calories per serving.

Combine them all together, and you can stick to a modest 1,200–2,400-calorie consumption every day.

Numerous other factors like age, weight, sex, physical activity, etc. influence the effectiveness of a low-calorie diet. But it’s true that Jenny Craig makes weight loss much easier with the help of their meals.

Personal coaching right from the comforts of your home is another advantage of subscribing to Jenny Craig’s meal plans. To schedule a coaching session after you place your first order, go to the Dashboard, and select “Schedule Coaching.” You can book an appointment in a matter of minutes and receive all the important details regarding your appointment right away.

Jenny Craig offers a mixed bag of only a few vegetarian recipes and a high number of meat recipes – less than ideal for someone on a vegetarian or vegan diet.

As I’ve already mentioned before, Jenny Craig’s menu consists of traditional recipes that are family-friendly but not very diet-friendly except for weight loss.

Some vegetarian recipes on their menu include the following:

• Three Cheese Macaroni with Broccoli & Carrots
• Loaded Baked Potato
• Baked Ziti

The only way you get to enjoy Jenny Craig’s meal recipes is by ordering both vegetarian and meat recipes. For a strict vegetarian diet, however, Jenny Craig is not the ideal option, nor is it vegan-friendly with only plant-based ingredients – it isn’t at all.

There is no mention of the ingredients being organic either which is kind of a bummer considering that it’s a weight loss-friendly meal program.

There is another side to Jenny Craig that many health-conscious customers have pointed out that is not compatible with Jenny Craig’s health claims. This concerns the ingredients’ quality and the presence of undesirable ingredients like gelatin, modified food starch, maltodextrin, sugar, sodium bicarbonate, and more.

In every health plan, there are outstanding meals that people prefer or treat as their favorite. Here are Jenny Craig’s top three best-selling meals of all time:

1. Pepperoni Pizza

This dish is Jenny Craig’s take on the Italian classic, the Pepperoni Pizza. This dish showcases a delightful oval crust laden with butter, pepperoni, marinara sauce, and basil. It blends well with a salad dressed with a vinaigrette.

The JC Pepperoni Pizza has the following nutritional values:

• 240 calories
• 7 grams of fat
• 34 grams of carbohydrates
• 12 grams of protein. 

For a hearty dish, these nutritional values are respectable and certainly up to par with fitness standards. A single serving of this pizza contains three (3) packages in one container at 111 grams. However, you should not get this if you are allergic to milk, soy, and wheat.

2. Frittata Egg White Sandwich

This healthy sandwich filled with a thoroughly-cooked egg white in a French fashion makes breakfast better than ever. It comes with a turkey sausage patty and white cheddar, and the frittata itself has a healthy dose of spinach and Roma tomatoes.

The Frittata Egg White Sandwich is composed of the following nutritional facts: 

• 19 calories 
• 9 grams of fat 
• 5 grams of carbohydrates 
• 20 grams of protein. 

The increased amount of protein primarily comes from the turkey patty and dairy products. It comes in one (1) package of 133 grams – the recommended serving for an average human being. As for its allergens, it contains egg, milk, and soy.

3. Chicken Piccata with Spaghetti

The third most popular item in the Jenny Craig menu is another take on a classic Italian dish – spaghetti. This dish comes with succulent white meat chicken, tomatoes, and semolina pasta. It complements well with lemon butter sauce and capers.

This irresistible dish has the following nutritional values:

• 260 calories 
• 10 grams of fat
• 24 grams of carbohydrates
• 19 grams of protein content

Like the sandwich, this pasta dish comes in one (1) package containing 201 grams as its recommended serving size. However, you should stay away from this dish if you are allergic to milk and wheat.

Taking a look at the food items other than lunch and dinner, Jenny Craig offers a bunch of interesting add-ons, such as breakfasts, snacks, desserts, and bars.

These add-ons are a part of the whole Jenny Craig diet experience. And the best part about all of this is that you do not have to pay a dollar extra for the add-ons. These will be included in the meal plan you select.

In fact, the recharge bars come absolutely free of cost when you order for more than 2 weeks which is the minimum order requirement.

Snacks like Blue Corn Tortilla Chips, Cranberry Almond Barscotti, Organic Popcorn, and Baked Cheese Curls are fun and appetizing.

Desserts include classics like Waffles, Blueberry Pancakes, Cinnamon Rolls, Cinnamon Coffee Cake, Chocolate Lava Cake, and more.

The recharge bars come in different flavors like nut and honey, pecan, macadamia nuts, almonds, and chocolate.

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If you select the Simple Meal Plan on Jenny Craig, you get only breakfast and lunch priced at $6.49 per portion (for 7 days, so 14 meals in total). It’s the minimum order and the lowest price per serving.

Then we move on to the Max Up Weight Loss Meal Plan, which includes lunch, dinner, breakfast, bars, and snack/dessert (5 meals total per day), where the cost per meal is $7.50.

There are Jenny Fresh meals as well that are incredibly healthy dinners – $6.80 per portion (7 dinners, below 350 calories). These can be added to your weekly order along with the Jenny Craig weight loss meals.

Also, there’s the gigantic $29 shipping fee if your delivery address is outside the local area, while for local deliveries, it’s $14.99 for delivery. And if you want to completely eliminate paying any shipping charges, then head to the nearest Jenny Craig center and pick up your meals on your own.

So, to sum it up, here is the breakdown of Jenny Craig pricing:

• Simple Meal Plan: $13.99 per day
• Essential Meal Plan: $21.99 per day
• Max Up Weight Loss Plan: $29 per day

The shakes, snacks, dressings, etc. have to be purchased separately. Just to give you an idea of the cost of these food items on the Jenny Craig menu, here they are:

• Breakfast: $3.49–$7.29 per serving
• Entrees: $6.09–$9.39 per serving
• Desserts and Snacks: $2.89–$3.89 per serving
• Recharge Bars: $10.99–$18.99 per box

Dressings and Syrups: $0.95–$0.99 per serving

The total price you pay for Jenny Craig’s ready-to-eat or heat-and-eat meals per month depends on which meal plan you choose. If you go for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, you could be spending around $170 on a weekly basis, and this includes shipping. So, an entire month’s cost can be anywhere between $500 and $800.

To put it simply, Jenny Craig is everywhere in the Western part of the world. There are 42 physical locations globally that are available to receive inquiries and assist customers with one-on-one support.

The Jenny Craig locations in Canada are in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. There is one location in Puerto Rico as well.

The United States has the most physical locations. They are in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Being the United States having the most physical locations of Jenny Craig centers, it is evident that most of the market base comes from this country. If you want to find the nearest Jenny Craig Weight Loss Center near you, you can find a Google Maps geolocator or browse through the city or zip code in the search bar on top of it. Deliveries are available via third-party courier service providers such as UPS, USPS, FedEx, and 2GO.

Delivery estimates may be as early as 1 up to 3 days from the placement of your order, and that’s usually the maximum. For instance, if you ordered on Saturday or Sunday, you will receive your package on Tuesday or Wednesday. However, for weekdays before 10:00 EST, you will receive it in 1-2 business days. Meanwhile, if you ordered after 10:00 EST, expect your package 2-3 days after order placement.

Jenny Craig packaging checks all the boxes when it comes to eco-friendliness. The cardboard boxes are 100% recyclable. Additionally, there are 100% compostable insulation liners used. Also, the packaging is water-soluble.

Jenny Craig’s meals are cooked keeping in mind that they have to fit the needs of a low-calorie diet. However, other than the fact that they’re portion-controlled and low in calories, there is no reliable information about the sourcing of the ingredients whether they are free from GMOs, preservatives, additives, or fillers that are considered unhealthy.

So, in order to dig a little deeper, I combed through some of the more popular recipes on their menu and found that all of them contained preservative-like ingredients:

• Modified wheat starch
• Palm oil
• Potassium chloride
• Modified food starch
• Maltodextrin
• Cellulose gum
• Sodium nitrate
• Corn syrup
• Methylcellulose

So, while the meals are low in calories, the abovementioned ingredients may deem the meal unhealthy for people who are health-conscious. Keeping away from preservatives or any processed ingredient is the number-one priority for many people on a weight loss diet.

Because Jenny Craig cooks and flash freezes the meals before delivery, certain preservatives are added to protect the flavor and texture of the food. This means the meals can be stored in the freezer for weeks without spoiling.

What you gain from eating a low-calorie diet might seem satisfying at first, but when you consider the actual quality of the meals, it might be counterproductive to your weight loss goals due to the presence of processed ingredients, preservatives, or additives.

The one food item that does not contain any artificial fillers, sugars, preservatives, etc. is the Jenny Craig recharge bar. It is healthy and filling but without any conclusive proof that it’s a scientifically proven weight loss-friendly and fat-burning snack.

From start to finish, Jenny Craig meals take only a few minutes to heat. But here’s the dig – since all their meals are frozen, you have to freeze the meals yourself once they arrive.

This means thawing the meal first before popping it in a microwave or oven for heating.

My suggestion to you would be to thaw a meal by keeping it in the fridge for a few good hours before heating the meal. It yields better results than keeping the frozen meal out in the open to thaw at room temperature.

There is also a possibility that Jenny Craig meals may taste just like premade frozen foods that you buy at the supermarket. I found that a dish like pasta or pizza tasted similar to other frozen pizza slices I’ve bought on a whim at a fancy supermarket for a quick weeknight dinner.

These are not actually meals, but they are the healthiest items on Jenny Craig’s menu – recharge bars. No freezing, thawing, or heating is required. Store them in a perfectly dry and cool place.

Jenny Craig is accessible via website and app. Not so much for placing orders, their app is good for people to keep up with their weight loss diet. You can track your meals and calorie intake, book appointments with a personal dietician, and get weight loss tips easily.

On their website, you can do all this plus conveniently place your first order.

Here’s how to go about it:

• The first thing anyone should ever do when browsing a new meal delivery service is take a quick peek at their menu. Jenny Craig doesn’t draw the curtains for newcomers to know exactly what to expect from the menu. All the meals, snacks, desserts, and bars are up for grabs on their menu.
• If you find a meal that you like, click on it to get additional information like nutrition facts, ingredients list, and preparation instructions.
• Once you’ve gotten a good idea of how their meals are, the next step would be to place an order. It’s just as simple as browsing their menu.
• To get started, select how many meals you want to subscribe to. Jenny Craig gives you the following options:
  • Pay for 2 Weeks with 14 free recharge bars & free shipping = $22.14 per day
  • Pay for 4 Weeks with 28 free recharge bars & free shipping = $19.64 per day
  • Pay for 6 Weeks with 42 free recharge bars & free shipping = $18.39 per day
• You will also be asked whether you want to go with the Customer Favorite meals (best for first order) or Customize Menu where you select the meals of your personal choice.

A unique feature of Jenny Craig is that you can even place your first order as a guest if you don’t want to create a new account just yet. You’ll have to follow the same process of making the payment and entering your delivery details.

To reap more weight loss benefits, their Android- and iOS-friendly mobile app gives you more information about their weight loss program. It’s also where you can do more stuff like track your calories, get weight loss tips on the go, etc.

As someone who looks for the easiest and most convenient meal delivery service, it’s completely natural to have to consider the possibility of skipping meal planning not only for yourself but your family too.

Jenny Craig, taking this into consideration, may not be the ideal choice for a family. Though the recipes are classics like spaghetti and meatballs, cheeseburger, tacos, etc., they won’t satisfy the needs of many.

The meals are also portion-controlled to reduce the number of calories per serving. So, they may not fill the tummies of people with large appetites. And eating a tiny portion could lead to sudden unhealthy food cravings a few hours after the meal.

After eating some of the Jenny Craig meals, you might still feel hungry, especially kids because they are sometimes more active than adults during the day. Plus, they require more calories per day than an adult who is on a weight loss diet.

One way to make Jenny Craig suit the needs of a family is by preparing side dishes like salads, on your own, to go with the meals. You can stir-fry different types of veggies like carrots, green beans, mushrooms, broccoli, or mashed sweet potatoes to boost nutrition.

No weight loss plan is considered universally suitable for everyone. To start, you need to find a diet that matches your personal weight loss goals which, on its own, is not an easy thing to do without professional help.

That’s where Jenny Craig comes in with its one-on-one personal coaching assistance. Their in-house nutrition experts will assist you in identifying the ideal weight loss strategy – not based on what is considered “healthy” for everyone but on what’s effective for you based on your age, physical activity, and health requirements.

Jenny Craig dishes are specifically designed to be low calorie and low fat and served in small portion sizes. But their meal plans may not be the best solution for a long-term, consistent diet. If your goals are to learn portion control and get simple, delicious meals delivered every two weeks and expert nutrition coaching for weight loss tips, Jenny Craig is the right choice.

However, consider other options like Nutrisystem, Diet-to-Go, and WeightWatchers if you want a more structured and wholesome meal plan for weight loss.

Nutrisystem

Where Jenny Craig is personalized weight loss diet coaching, Nutrisystem encompasses complete and more diet plans. So, it’s only logical for the Nutrisystem menu to offer a greater menu variety. They, unlike Jenny Craig, also have menu filters for common allergens like tree nuts, wheat, eggs, and more.

But both prepared meal delivery services cater to weight loss needs, and that’s the best part. However, Nutrisystem is the more affordable option – it’s $8–$9 per serving of Nutrisystem vs. $13–$14 per serving of Jenny Craig.

Diet-to-Go

Even Diet-to-Go is a weight loss meal delivery service for ready-to-eat meals; thus, they have a lot in common with Jenny Craig. But the difference is that Diet-to-Go will give you more menu choices as well as they accommodate more dietary restrictions (keto, gluten-free, etc.).

WeightWatchers

Here’s one of the very few main competitors of Jenny Craig, WeightWatchers. Both are certainly on the same level when it comes to their per-portion costs and overall plan pricing.

How it works with WeightWatchers is through their points-based system, which allows different values to drinks and foods depending on their fat, fiber, and calorie count. The primary theme is meal customization and individualization. Jenny Craig, however, is a more straightforward and simpler premade meal delivery service without any point-based calculations and hassles.

But sustainable diet programs for weight loss are a part of both WeightWatchers and Jenny Craig, plus online community support.

Just like any reputable fitness company, Jenny Craig takes pride in its top-notch customer support. On their Contact page, you are greeted with a message while provided with extensive options to contact them and address your inquiries.

If your concern is not in the FAQ section, you may call them through their toll-free number 1-800-536-6922 or send a physical mail through Jenny Craig, 5770 Fleet Street, Carlsbad, CA 92008-946. If you prefer to do this online, you may send a ticket on the same page by inputting your subject of concern, your name, email address, and your comment. Just click submit after filling up the form.

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Jenny Craig has worked out to be a healthy weight loss-oriented meal delivery service. Their heat-and-eat meals comprise well-balanced nutrition, and the Jenny Craig menu gives you a wide variety of options to pick from.

To shed weight and then to do weight management after that, both processes can be really difficult. You have to take so many factors into consideration, such as how many carbohydrates, fats, calories, and even protein and fiber you’re consuming per day, apart from getting enough sleep, hydrating properly, and working out regularly, of course.

With that in mind, Jenny Craig’s every meal incorporates the correct amounts of nutrients that are welcoming of weight loss and management. Their diets supply sufficient levels of carbs, protein, fat, fiber, and also calcium. On top of that, there are Jenny Craig consultants to guide you through your journey of nutrition and fitness.