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It wasn’t so long ago that I would be ashamed to admit feeling like my favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor, Chunky Monkey.
{For the girls of the night chat!} / Image via Flickr / Photo credit: cromatophobe
Food is an easier control for me than exercise. I know you need both, but a girl can only accomplish so much in a day.
{Eye on the prize - lol!} / Image via In This Week
I’ve attempted several popular DIY diet trends in their primetime, including Atkins and the South Beach Diet. Counting calories feels like micromanagement to me. Counting carbs is a little easier, though not by much. I’ve even used the GNC 7-day cleanse to jump-start healthy eating habits. Through it I learned to love soy milk and wean off caffeine, yay! [For the record: these are not endorsements, just sharing my trials.]
Herein lies the challenge—these programs are so darn hard to maintain beyond a few months. I slim down and then my enthusiasm wanes. Bad eating habits and lack of exercise slowly take over again and I’m back to where I started.
{’Nuff said.} / Image via Prime Physique
With W-Day looming only 8 weekends away, I’m lovingly telling myself that an intervention is in order. DIY won’t work for me this time. My goal is realistic and achievable, I just need assistance getting there.
AHA! Here’s the main life lesson reinforced to me through wedding planning: I don’t have to have all the answers and do everything myself. Whether it’s invitations or flowers or losing weight, it’s okay to ask for help and to allow other people to take care of me. Sweet relief!
So here I am with my fiancee fifteen, ready to take a leap of faith into the next level of weight loss program—the in-person commercial center. That’s right, I’m talking about Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig.
Image via Pusatlpse
I have no experience with a program like one of these, so Google suggested a comparison on livestrong.com:
“With Weight Watchers, the target dieter is someone who needs a more moderately priced way to lose weight, paired with the comfort and support of a large group to stay motivated. With Jenny Craig, dieters who will do best are those who want to lose weight without making special foods or counting calories. A one-on-one counselor provides support for someone who needs a more personalized plan.”
Alrighty then. I’m finding the basic difference to be group support and tracking calories through a point system vs. individual support and pre-packaged meals. As an introvert with no interest in counting calories, it seems my choice is clear.
Now it’s your turn to share…if weight management is part of your daily regimen, which program works best for you? Do you prefer to DIY, use the internet, or go the in-person route?
I’m totally on the DIY regimen, and at times, it sucks, but I’ve been sticking it out for several months now, and it’s working, so no complaints as of yet! I started slowly making changes to my diet and exercise, then kept adding to that. I also do use loseit.com to track what I eat, how much I exercise, and all the pounds I lose. Inputting the last is definitely my favorite, and I’m so thrilled that I’m less than 5 pounds from my goal weight!
Ill give you my experience with both. Jenny Craig is great for those people that despise keeping track of or counting food. The food isnt all that great though. I found that I had to keep adding spices to flavor the food. I did lose about 10 lbs on it though. But after 4 months I had enough of the bland food, but it was convenient.
With Weight Watchers they teach you how to eat regular food just replace some of the ingredients. Its more suitable for me and my lifestyle because I LOVE to cook. Im Italian and I cant give up my pasta’s. Weight watchers taught me to just take out regular noodles (replace with either wheat or smart taste) and subtract milk for non fat or skim milk. reduced cheeses and lots more veggies. Its more of a lifestyle change then a diet. You learn to read labels and check stats before buying the food.
It really all depends on your lifestyle and what you are comfortable with.
GOOD LUCK!
Weight watchers all the way. I lost 35 pounds and still ate my beloved pizza…..just less of it 
Thank you for sharing your trials and progress with us. I know you can do it - you’re motivated! Also, putting it in terms of “8 weekends away” scared the crap out of me, because I’m not many more weekends away than that!
Weight Watchers was one of my New Year’s resolutions this year. I’ve stuck with it all year and have lost close to 35 pounds. (I’m thinner today than I was on my wedding day — makes me wish I could have a Big Day re-do! ) It’s not so much a diet as a lifestyle change. I’ve tried almost every diet under the sun, and this one is the most successful by far. Good luck with the W-Day shred!
I absolutely love Weight Watchers! While it can be a pain to get used to the process of tracking your food/points, they have a lot of really great apps for any smart phone that will allow you to track your food, activity, and weight wherever, whenever! If you lost 2 lbs a week (which is healthy, and completely doable on WW), you could lose 16lbs by your big day!!! That’s 1lb MORE than what you desired to lose!! Either way, I’m sure you will be a gorgeous bride!!
I did Weight Watchers with a coworker. The meetings aren’t that bad. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. I think having some knowledge of the calories coming in via counting points is better than pre packaged foods. My weight watchers skills are especially handy when eating out in a restaurant or a get-together. I lost 17 lbs in a year.
I have no experience with either (although my usual diet plan is a lot like WW, just with calories instead of points - and I promise, doesn’t make me a crazy person - with my height and weight, I only burn about 1300 calories a day as my baseline rate [2000 per day is just an average, way more applicable to guys than girls], so going down to 1000 is not a huge jump and is within recommended limits), BUT just thought of one of my favorite bloggers who wrote a book that hilariously described her experience with both - it’s Jen Lancaster’s “Such a Pretty Fat” - I have maybe never laughed so much in my life!! for us introverts, also a great way to feel like someone else is there with us without, you know, actually having someone have to be there with us. Good luck!
My favorite new flavor of Ben & Jerry’s is Red Velvet cake. I am seruiously addicted!!!
You are right, you can only accomplish so much in one day I don’t have any personal experience with either plan, but I’ve heard good things about Weight Watchers from others that used it with success. Good luck, I know you’ll reach your goals!
I have been doing Weight Watchers since last November and love it! I think it is the best choice because it teaches you how to eat smart it the real world, it’s not really a diet more of a lifestyle change. I mean what happens when you get tired of ordering the Jenny Craig meals or you can’t afford them anymore? I bet you end up putting back on the weight! Plus Weight Watchers is more affordable and a lot of Health Insurance’s will help out with the cost of it (my health insurance lets me go for free as long as I turn in my weigh in booklet every 12 weeks and don’t miss more than 3 meetings in 12 weeks).
Lost my 30 pounds with Jenny Craig in 3 months. Follow the program exactly as they tell you to and it works. Be sure to actually eat your snacks and use ‘volumetrics’ when you start because you will be hungry the first few days (I know I was!). The food really isn’t that bad, in fact I found I really liked a few specific meals and just tended to get more of those and add veggies to them. Oh and still drink obscene amounts of water.
I lost 65 lbs on Weight Watchers. Tracking is annoying, but it becomes habit after a while. I love the accountability that comes with going to a weekly meeting. It keeps you on plan.
I’ve done both and kept off almost all of the weight I lost. I’d suggest first doing JC to lose the weight (it’s EXPENSIVE though, so beware!), and then WW for tricks and tips you’ll keep forever to keep it off. I still use their high fiber/protein/lower fat guidelines to keep the weight off and feel full. They both work, just in different ways. JC is easier (though the food isn’t the best–except the cheesecake!), but WW has more lasting value.
I love weight watchers…however as a cost cutting measure I now use MyFitnessPal.com - it allows you to track you eating and its free.
I invested in some Jillian Michaels DVDs and have a schedule on the fridge so FI can keep me accountable!
Thats my $50 plan!
Chunky Monkey is my favorite ice cream of all time. I’ve managed not to think about it since we started planning. Crap!!! 
I love WW! I started it May 2010, and lost 35 lbs by Thanksgiving, and have kept it all off since! Because of WW, I am able to fit in my friend’s wedding gown, which she in turn gave to me for my wedding. Yay for a free PoB-Melissa Sweet gown!!!
I really enjoyed eating regular foods and just tracking them, and noticing exactly how much I truly ate. I can’t afford to buy special meals, so the low cost thing was great too.
I love the group atmosphere, and the online/ipad tracking is some of my favorite things about it.
Good luck with whatever you do!!!
Along with most of the ladies on this thread, I really respect weight watchers, here are the reasons…
1. I need structure and accountability, WW gives me that through weekly weigh-ins and meetings. It is also a very supportive environment celebrating your accomplishments and helping you through your struggles.
2. I am a VERY picky eater and not interested of much of anything that comes premade in a box. WW really does let you eat whatever you want, but all in moderation. (They sell products like snack bars too if you want them.)
3. This is a great time to be eating fresh fruits, veggies, and berries and the WW points plan totally works with that (most fresh fruits and veggies are ZERO points hence you can eat them to the point of satisfaction with no disadvantage to later meals) to establish healthy eating habits that will last, even as gimicky enthusiasm declines.
I have been a lifetime member for nearly 4 years (since gaining my freshman 15 at my amazing company that takes us out to lunch and provides free snacks and sodas in the breakrooms) and I am still sticking to the plan, and staying accountable to the group.
Good Luck Miss Teacup!
I know people who have had great success with both Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers–it seems like a very personality-dependent choice to find method that works for you; I would have gone the one-on-one consultation route with the way my mind/body works. Good luck, Teacup!
Count me in the WW bandwagon.
Why? Sustainability.
I love the no-brainer approach of Jenny Craig, but first of all, food is expensive. In addition, if you have to eat their food at every meal, you can never eat out with friends or family and that’s a deal breaker.
Plus, there’s no way to do it yourself with JC. You have to eat their food to be successful…so you’re stuck with it forever. 
I like WW b/c as so many have said, it’s a lifestyle change. I did both the last version of the program and the current version. Many were really resistant to the change (myself included), but I’m really happy with it now. It encourages you to make smarter choices…a banana for 0 points versus a 100 cal snack pack for 4 points…where htey used to be the same.
I did WW originally in 2006 and lost 25lbs. Since then, I gained back 22 lbs. I started WW up again on Jan 1 and have lost 16 of those pounds again. (Sounds slow, but I am a weekend eater and have fallen off the bandwagon.)
I started out doing the in-person meetings and weigh-ins and since I moved in with FI, I haven’t found a local meeting I really like. So I’m doing the online version these days.
JC might be a good choice for pre-wedding shedding…but I really think WW will be a good choice for anyone in the long run.
Good luck!
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Mrs. Teacup, Santa Cruz Age and Occupation: 34, Pharmaceutical Sales Fiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Ditto! (For a different company) Engagement Date: October 1, 2010 Wedding Date: October 2011 Venue: ceremony in our family's Catholic church in Watsonville; reception at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk About Me: I’m learning to embrace my true spirit as GIRLY GIRL after previous careers in the Navy and consulting for the government. My favorite hobby is SLEEP, with dancing HULA a close second. An INTROVERT in extrovert clothing, I’m questing to UNDO 34 years of TYPE A conditioning. Constantly processing the details of our upcoming nuptials, peek into this late blooming bride & groom's roller coaster ride to the altar. Giant Dipper required, sold separately.
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