I called Jenny!

My trip to being back on track was somewhat successful. I managed to get off the pounds that had crept up, but our lives in general were in an upheaval and the stress had me reaching for snacks and comfort food more than I care to admit.

Through it all, I did manage to maintain my workouts and that's something I think has definitely kept me on track. I have a trainer to keep accountable to and if I start to slip she knows how to get me back.

Now that the kids are back in school and my youngest is in daycare I have some breathing room again to write and work on the house, organizing and preparing for the winter. I have always been curious about Jenny Craig, after trying Nutra System two years ago after the birth of my son I was leery. The Nutra system seemed simple. I figured I would use it to get back on track and kickstart a ten pounds loss. I was struggling because I wasn't cleared for exercise yet and I wanted to make sure I got my portion control back in check.

The food arrived and nothing was refridgerated, that should have been my first clue. I dove into the reading materials and decided I would give it a go. I selected some sort of cranberry loaf as my breakfast, I bit into it and felt something hard in my mouth - it was one of those food preserving packages that states "DO NOT EAT". The bread was dry and it tasted like the box it came in. Not yet wanting to give up, I tried a snack instead, some sort of chips. Again, it tasted like the packaging, I contemplated eating the box from the previous meal instead. Lunch rolled around and I heated up some sort of pasta dish. One bite and I gagged, it smelled, looked and tasted like dog food. (And I know the taste of dog food thanks to my older brother telling me it was tasty when we were kids. Lesson learned, don't trust your brother and don't eat nutri-system!)

When I looked at the Jenny Craig website I thought about the chance I took on the NS food, and the expensive waste it became because I didn't return it in time to get my refund. Regardless I read over the message boards and support forums and picked out my favorite foods. Then, I called Jenny! Of course you don't speak with Jenny but the staff member on the other line was very enthusiastic, supportive and interested in hearing my story. We ordered the food and I received instructions on when my food would arrive (just a few days away), and that I would have a meeting each week with a consultant over the phone.

Thursday the food arrives and it's packed with dry ice - very interesting. Dry Ice can burn your hands so you have to handle it with thick gloves and tongs as they suggest. I only had one small piece in a bag leftover so it just stayed at the bottom of the cooler to evaporate. I unpacked cheesecakes, cheesy potatoes and chicken and pancakes with breakfast sausage. Overall the food looked pretty decent albeit very small. I was intimidated by a box of food. After I spoke with my consultant we discussed goals and any obstacles I might face this week. So far, none that I can think of - except maybe the cake decorating class I took - how can I not try some of the cake I made?

I could go into great detail about the plan but what I can say for it so far is that it is very well thought out, planned and so far I'm not starving. Portion control, spacing, making the most of your meals - they actually encourage you to add items from the "free foods" list to each meal to bulk it up. So if you have a pizza for example, you can add your free veggies to it and make it personalized towards what you like. This makes me very happy, because I like to try new things and keep it interesting.

So why would I toot about eating non-processed foods and then switch to a program with just that? Well, I'm at a point where I want to make a change, I've been losing weight for a very long time and currently I'm at a plateau with my weight. I've maintained the same weight for an entire season which is a huge triumph but also a bit of setback at the same time. I want to keep losing and I definitely need a reality check on portion control and healthier eating. This program enforces eating a fruit with breakfast and a glass of milk - something I don't always do, heck I sometimes don't even do breakfast.

So far today I have eaten...

Blueberry Pancakes & Veggy Sausage Patty with light syrup

Peanut Butter Honey Bar (full of vitamens)

Apple

Glass of Milk

2 Glasses of Water

1/2 cup of peas

Cheesy Chicken & Mashed Potatoes

Later on I'll have a piece of fruit for my snack, up to two more free foods from the list and my dinner and desert with a glass of milk. To me it sounds like so much food, but it's all portioned out and healthy. If I chose the portions you can bet I'd have eaten three times as much at lunch because I wouldn't have had a filling breakfast and I'd be ready for a big meal.

My teeth that derailed my weight loss success are finally coming out. Two teeth just did not take to the fillings one dentist did and rather than go through Root Canals, I opted to have them removed instead of two other teeth that would be pulled for my upcoming braces! I haven't worn my twin bloc in a couple of weeks and I actually miss it. My teeth certainly do, and I am looking forward to having some progress once more.

I am back to running almost 6k now! Very excited about that, and since it's fall I'm more than ready to return to Hot Yoga & some Wii Fit games to keep me active when I'm not with my trainer.

The kids are napping so I'm going to take advantage of that and have a nice long hot shower and prepare myself for a relaxing evening with my family. Tomorrow I'm attending a cake decorating class and I can hardly wait. :) Pictures to follow!