Thank you Jenny Craig for sponsoring this post. — Get serious about losing weight with Jenny Craig!

I recently shared my 2017 goals with you guys – one of which was to achieve and maintain my ideal weight. That’s really an ongoing goal for me, because it feels like something I’m constantly working on. No excuses, but as you know, with age comes a slowed-down metabolism. Plus, as a professional writer, I spend most of my time behind a computer, so I’m constantly trying to balance work with getting on track to a healthy, active lifestyle, which is a challenge.

So I was super excited when I was invited to try the Jenny Craig program. It seemed pretty straightforward and simple, which is exactly what I needed to fit into my busy life. I wasn’t looking to diet, but rather, to change my lifestyle to a more consistently healthy one. When I had my first phone call with my consultant, Trina, I was happy to learn that that was exactly what I should expect on the program.

Trina, aka my healthy lifestyle cheerleader, excitedly described the program to me (“It’s not a diet; it’s a lifestyle”) and we discussed my weight loss goals as well as a bunch of other preliminary questions to get me set up. We talked about the types of food I typically like to eat, and how the Jenny Craig program worked. Basically, it’s all about portion control and making sure you eat (a right-sized portion) every three hours. To help me get started, she went over the custom meal plan that was created for me, and all of the food and drink that I should be eating my first week.

I received a HUGE shipment of food in the mail. It was an extra-large cooler packed with protein shakes, countless breakfast, lunch and dinner meal options, plus energy bars, snacks and desserts. I learned that Jenny Craig has more than 100 menu items, made by 40 professional chefs. The foods I received contained a wide range of everything I love, including pasta, Chinese food, breakfast casseroles, tacos, turkey burgers, cupcakes, frittatas, pizza bites, lemon cake, etc. you name it. It’s part of the Jenny Craig menu. I was happy to see such a wide variety of food options, since I’m a very finicky eater, and never know what I want from day to day. Although my menu was predetermined, Trina told me that I could eat my daily meals in any order, so it was good to know that I had some flexibility.

I started off my week with having a protein shake for breakfast, followed by a protein bar with a bottle of water, a few hours later. I was happy to learn that I could still have my daily cup of coffee too (just not a sugary latte or something like it). For lunch, I had a protein-filled meal – like Jenny Craig Chicken Street Tacos, a Turkey Burger, or Cheesy Mashed Potatoes and Fried Chicken. I had a Jenny Craig snack or two throughout the day, watching my calories to make sure I didn’t go over 1200 a day. That was the biggest challenge, to be honest. I didn’t realize how much I typically ate, until I had to watch my portion sizes and calorie counts. The first few days I felt hungry – not because the Jenny Craig meals weren’t satisfying or sufficient, but because (I realized), I typically ate too much!

Jenny Craig members lose an average of 1-2 pounds per week, which is in the healthy weight loss range. Unfortunately I didn’t keep track of my weight the entire week because I had a death in my family, so I got a bit off track. It temporarily derailed my eating plan, as I had to travel immediately and either wasn’t really eating, or eating improperly while dealing with my grief. But I’m getting on track again next week, and I will keep you posted on my results!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.