Thank you Jenny Craig for sponsoring this post. Can a test help you learn how to best lose weight, based on your genetic profile? Try Jenny Craig’s most customized plan ever and learn more about how you can best work with your body to lose weight.
Week Before Jenny Begins
I can't believe I'm here again standing in front of my closet, mentally beating myself up because nothing fits. I cannot find a single pair of shorts to pack for my upcoming trip to Florida that won't overly magnify my muffin top or give me a perpetual wedgie. All my shirts now hug my torso enhancing every curve, every bulge, every piece of chocolate I've eaten over the holiday season. I don't even have an oversized t-shirt buried somewhere deep beneath the carefully folded piles of clothes that will make my love handles look a little less pronounced while also hiding the fact that my shorts are riding up my butt.
Can anyone else relate? I've always had this continual love/hate relationship with my body. I love it when it's tone and healthy and athletic looking, and I hate it when it's not. I'm not looking to be a supermodel, I just want to be fit and healthy and feel comfortable in my clothes. Is that too much to ask? But there are always a few things that prevent me from doing that:
1. I LOVE food. I LOVE going out and sampling new treats. I LOVE finding new recipes bursting with flavor. I LOVE grazing the appetizer table at get-togethers. I LOVE indulging in comfort food when I'm feeling down. Basically, I LOVE to eat.
2. I HATE to shop. Grocery shop, clothes shop ... I'm just not a shopper. What does this mean for my weight struggles? It means that I'm pretty healthy when I have the right foods in the house. My when I run out ... I tend to return to eating all the high calorie, high fat, highly processed foods that are left in my cabinets and forget about fruits and vegetables until I find the desire to shop again to get the healthy staples back in my house — which could take a few weeks.
3. I'm an "all-in" or "all-out" kind of gal. I'm either rocking the diet and exercise or doing the exact opposite. (Picture a disheveled, possibly unshowered woman in her pajamas on the couch with a bag of Bavarian pretzels and a glass of wine binge-watching the latest trending television series on her streaming device. Yup, that could be me when I'm all-out.)
I knew that since the holiday season I had adopted all of the above 👆🏻 into my current lifestyle. I was eating everything and anything comforting. I wasn't shopping for fruits and veggies and healthy meals. And my workout routine was non-existent. Something had to change, but that something couldn't be overly restrictive, have me running to the grocery store every other day for new provisions, and I couldn't be spending hours slaving over the stove. Seriously, if they had a diet plan that told you exactly what to eat, how much to eat and when and was delivered straight to your house, then that was the plan for me. If it gave me a little boost of motivation to exercise or provided me with some solid ideas for getting active again, too, then count me in.
And just like that — Jenny Craig came knocking, metaphorically speaking.
I was given the opportunity to try the new customized plan offered by Jenny Craig that uses a DNA test to identify 15 specific genetic markers that may influence your ability to lose weight to help create a weight loss program specific to your genetic makeup.
Now if you haven't heard about Jenny Craig, here's the appeal for someone like me:
- Jenny Craig creates your weekly meal plans for you! From breakfast to snacks to dessert your Jenny Craig consultant will create a menu just for you so all you have to do is look on your printout or your app to see exactly what you will be eating for the ENTIRE day. This is exactly what I need right now. Someone to make the decisions for me, while I re-learn what portion sizes and types of food are best for me. *mind blown*
- You don't have to shop! O.K. there is a little bit of shopping for fruits and vegetables and maybe some dairy here and there, but if you elect for the Jenny Craig at-home program, you get the majority of your food delivered right to your door (Berkshire peeps, this one's most-likely for you since we don't have a center close to us, unless you don't mind driving an hour and a half to get to one).
- It's quick and easy. Ready for breakfast? Pop it in the microwave and it's ready in two minutes. Got home late from a friend's house and your getting closer to 8 p.m. and you need dinner and/or a snack? No worries. You know exactly what you have left to eat and if it has to be heated up it only takes a matter of minutes, and most desserts are at the ready with no heating needed.
- I don't have to go anywhere to get support. I'm not a hermit, but I work from home and most days when I'm working I like to just stay here and get the work done with few interruptions. With my at-home program, my Jenny Craig consultant Norma will call me each week at a scheduled time and we will chat about highs and lows, changes to my menu, struggles sticking to the plan or obstacles and next week ... the results of my DNA test to see if I'm on the meal plan best-suited for the way my body processes food, the amount of sleep I'm getting and how my body responds to exercise. Norma and I can tweak my menus and food items, and she gives me the encouragement and support I need to succeed, all from the comfort of my own home.
I am really looking forward to seeing my results on this new Jenny Craig program, and I can't wait to get started and see how the first week goes. I'm getting back into those shorts before my Florida vacation in mid-March. Just you wait and see.
Yup, these are my BEFORE Jenny Craig photos |
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This post was sponsored by Jenny Craig but the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
