When's the best time to eat dinner?

After reading through my many Jenny Craig manuals, they specifically say that it is okay to eat after 8pm (not that I ever really followed that rule anyways). I used to eat dinner as soon as I got home from work because that was when I was hungry. Now that I eat a snack around 4 in the afternoon, I'm not as hungry when I get home at 6:30pm. I've been trying to push off eating dinner til a bit later, usually between 7:30 and 8, so that I'm less likely to snack afterwards while I relax and watch TV, surf the net, or play with my dog. It's definitely working! Now I typically eat my dinner later, and have my one snack/dessert afterwards. Occasionally I will eat another vegetable as a snack if I'm still hungry, but that's less often than I ever thought it would be!

So far I've found most of the Jenny Craig dinners to not only be tasty, but also pretty filling especially considering their size! Must be from all the fiber (I'm learning!) Here's my ratings on the dinner selections I've had so far:

Turkey Chili
Flavor: 5
Filling: 4.5
Overall: 4.75

Spaghetti with Meatballs
Flavor: 4.5
Filling: 4.5
Overall: 4.5

Chicken Carbonara
Flavor: 5
Filling: 5
Overall: 5

Meatloaf with BBQ Sauce
Flavor: 5
Filling: 5
Overall: 5

Cashew Chicken
Flavor: 5
Filling: 4.5
Overall: 4.75

Cheese Ravioli
Flavor: 5
Filling: 4.5
Overall: 4.75

Traditional Lasagna
Flavor: 5
Filling: 5
Overall: 5

Chicken Fettucine
Flavor: 2
Filling: 3
Overall: 2.5

Salisbury Steak
Flavor: 5
Filling: 5
Overall: 5

Turkey with Gravy
Flavor: 5
Filling: 5
Overall: 5

Penne Pasta
Flavor: 4.5
Filling: 4.5
Overall: 4.5

Even though all of the Jenny Craig Dinners are so good, I still miss cooking sometimes. Having the meals ready and prepared for me is great when I'm running late or don't feel like cooking, but there are other times where I wish I would have all fresh food that I prepare myself. I'm really looking forward to that part of the program where I can start incorporating my own healthy dishes that I create. I love doing that! I guess for now I'll have to stick with being creative when preparing my extra vegetable servings. Lately, my obsession has been adding broiled tomatoes to the side of my dinner plate. They are so yummy and really filling! All I do is slice a beefsteak or vine ripened tomato in half, sprinkle a little bit (and I mean a really small amount) of salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. Then I stick it under the broiler for 15-20 minutes. They are great tasting just like that, but if I'm feeling fancy i'll add a bit of balsamic vinegar for some extra flavor. They look really fancy too! Next time I'll take a picture and show you all my creation! I'll have to think of some more healthy ways to prepare my veggies. Any suggestions out there?

Work temptations at Lunchtime...

No matter when i've tried to lose weight in the past, a huge factor in my failures has been lunches at work. Many of my co-workers choose to eat out for lunch which adds temptations to eat unhealthy food. Who wants to order a salad with lowfat dressing when your friends are sitting across the table eating a hamburger and fries?

The Jenny Craig options for lunch have not only helped me enjoy the healthy foods I've been eating so I'm not tempted to go out, but I've been saving a ton of money. I know that people have been detered from joining Jenny Craig because they think the food is expensive, but I actually think I am spending less by eating the Jenny Craig meals.

Over the past two weeks I've tried to sample as many of them as I could to get a feel for the ones I liked versus the ones that weren't quite my favorites. Just like the breakfasts that I blogged about last time, I rated them based on taste and fillingness (is that a word?). Here's how they stacked up:

Cheesy Potatoes and Chicken

Flavor: 4

Filling 4.5

Overall: 4.25

Creamy Chicken and Corn Chowder

Flavor: 3.5

Filling: 4

Overall: 3.75

Zesty Tortellini Soup

Flavor: 3.5

Filling: 4

Overall 3.75

Rotini with Meatballs (one of my FAVORITES so far!)

Flavor: 5

Filling: 5

Overall: 5

Chicken Stuffed Sandwich

Flavor: 4

Filling: 4

Overall: 4

Swedish Meatballs

Flavor: 5

Filling: 4.5

Overall: 4.75

Meatball Stuffed Sandwich

Flavor: 5

Filling: 4

Overall: 4.5

Personal Pizza

Flavor: 3.5

Filling: 4

Overall: 3.75

Tuna Salad Kit

Flavor: 4

Filling: 4

Overall: 4

Beef Chow Mein (my other new FAVORITE!)

Flavor: 5

Filling: 5

Overall: 5

I have a lot more lunches to try still because there is so much variety on this program. When I try them I'll let you know what I think as well. Look for my next post when I talk about dinner selections (and probably how much I actually miss cooking sometimes)

Jenny turned me into a breakfast person...

It's unbelievable but it's true! Jenny Craig has turned this not-so-morning person into a breakfast eater! I've always like breakfast foods, but never the waking up early to make them. I'm the kind of person who leaves herself JUST enough time to shower and get ready for work and get there. There's rarely time for me to even eat cereal with milk. Before Jenny Craig, the extent of me eating breakfast, if I ate breakfast, was a granola bar, dry cereal, or sometimes a yogurt; but most often I just skipped breakfast.

I know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that it kick starts your metabolism daily, but for some reason I still skipped it...well, not anymore! Thanks to Jenny Craigs yummy breakfasts, I've converted into a breakfast eater. Now, instead of running out the door empty-handed, I grab one of the Jenny breakfasts and take it with me to work! I guess it's a good thing that I work at a desk!

Since I've been on the program for over two weeks now, I've had a good sampling of the food so far and thing it's time I let you all know what's what; what's good that is! Below I'm listing the breakfast items I've tried, how I think they taste, how filling they are, and an overall score (average of the two). Have you tried any of them? Let me know if you agree!

Oatmeal Breakfast Square

Taste: 3.5

Filling: 3

Overall: 3.25

Banana Nut Mini Loaf

Taste: 4.5

Filling: 3.5

Overall: 4

Blueberry Mini Loaf

Taste: 4

Filling: 3.5

Overall: 3.75

Cheddar Cheese Omelet

Taste: 5

Filling: 5

Overall: 5

Blueberry Pancakes and Veggie Sausage

Taste: 4.5

Filling: 4.5

Overall: 4.5

Breakfast Scramble

Taste: 4.5

Filling: 4

Overall: 4.25

Frosted Oats Cereal

Taste: 4

Filling: 4

Overall: 4

Sunshine Sandwich

Taste: 4.5

Filling: 4.5

Overall: 4.5

Stuffed Breakfast Sandwich

Taste: 5

Filling: 4.5

Overall: 4.75

French Toast with Berries

Taste: 5

Filling: 5

Overall: 5

Look for my next food reviews of the Jenny Craig Lunches!

Second time's a charm...

It's been a busy week for me between school, work and attempting to have a social life! Needless to say food has been the last thing from my mind lately; but I guess that's a good thing! This morning was my second time getting up on that scary thing we call the scale. The thought of it has been the bain of my existance because even though I have been losing weigh, I don't really feel it yet. This kind of makes me weary of weighing myself on weigh-in day because I'm always afraid that I won't lose anything, or worse, I'll gain weight back.

Luckily for me I was suprised this morning. I lost another 2.4 pounds! I'm sure this number might have been a bigger victory had I not have splurged over the weekend. My food consumption was great! I was able to eat out socially with friends but I was confident that I made healthy choices because I planned them in advance with my Jenny Craig consultant, Hillary. Where I lacked a little discipline was the "adult beverage" category. I know, I know, all drinks contain calories and I'm better off sticking to water or diet soda, or tea...but what fun is that?! I'm definitely not the person to go out and binge drink, but being able to drink socially with friends is what I like to do! I don't want to give that up! I did my best by mixing clear liquors with diet sodas and sugar free fruit juices, and one of the nights I just stuck to two glasses of white wine. I'm sure I could have cut it back more, but I was happy that I thought about it instead of just ordering a usual vodka and cranberry juice (sounds good but so full of sugar!)

I mentioned last week that I was looking for a new gym so I can start adding exercise to my weight loss plan. So far I've narrowed it down to two. I plan on taking advantage of the free week pass that both gyms offer so I can see which one I like better, and also see which offers a better deal! I'm all about saving money too! (I guess that's what working at Consolidated Credit Counseling Services does to me!) For now though, I'm sticking with walking with my dog Jack, who definitely doesn't mind the extra time outside...until it gets too hot!

It's been another great week on the program full of surprisingly yummy food! Next time I'll be sure to give you guys a review of the meals I've tried so far. I'm definitely forming a few favorites!

44.6 pounds to go!

~Anessa

With loss comes learning...

Why is it that the minute you try to do something good, so many things go bad? I'll I've wanted to do lately is stick to the program and lose weight. I know that there will always be temptations out there and things getting in my way, but so far I haven't had much luck avoiding the situations. I do however, think I've done well overcoming my obstacles so far.

Something I forgot to mention on my weigh-in day post was that this past Sunday, on Mother's Day, my neighbor passed away after being in a large car accident. At first I didn't realize how much it might affect me, but especially after going to the funeral yesterday, I realized how sad I was that I would never be able to walk my dog with him and his two dogs every morning like we used to. Of course it's not like losing a family member, but it's sad nonetheless. This morning my dog even tried to pull me up to his house and started wimpering. Poor puppy. He misses his friend.

Avoiding temptations was difficult, especially with the family inviting neighbors over to share the food brought over by others as a thanks for all of the caring and support (I live in a very friendly community). I'm proud that I avoided the temptations and stuck to my Jenny Craig meals and left the food for the family and well, anyone else who wanted some. Score one point for me and my will power!

It's really tough to lose someone, be it a friend, or a family member. I was speaking with a friend of mine yesterday about my weight loss goals and she said something that really stuck with me. When we were talking about how I put weight on after my grandmother's passing because I didn't know how to deal with the loss, she said that was excusable; as long as I didn't let it happen again. The important thing is that now that I have experienced it and begun to overcome it, I can't go back. The next time I am faced with a loss like this, I now have some experience in dealing with it and can hopefully prevent it from having a negative effect on my life, like gaining weight. Definitely a good lesson to learn.

My first weigh-in day...

So before I tell you of either my success or failure, I just want to explain my skepticism with this program that I felt this morning before I took that dreaded step onto the scale. I was finding it hard to believe that I was really losing weight. This entire week I've felt full. I've never felt like I didn't have enough food or for that matter didin't have enough good food to eat. I know that you're probably thinking that I'm only thinking about when I ate off of the Jenny Craig program, like on Mother's day or celebrating my sister's birthday, but I'm talking about all of the other days! I found myself sometimes leaving out snacks because I just wasn't hungry for them; especially the ones between breakfast and lunch. Maybe this eating breakfast idea was a good one. Before starting Jenny Craig I was the type to skip breakfast more often than I ate it. This isn't because I don't like breakfast food. In fact, I LOVE breakfast food; I'm just not a morning person, and my old ideal was that by skipping breakfast I could sleep more every morning before work! Thanks to Jenny Craig, and all of her fabulous frozen and prepackaged breakfast entrees, I can take them with me when I leave and eat them when I get to work! So much easier!

I know that if you've been following my blog so far you're probably most interested in my first weigh in and patiently waiting until I reveal my results. It's worth the wait! I had almost forgotten it was weigh-in day this morning when I got out of bed. Luckily I remembered as I was getting ready for work. I took a deep breath and stepped onto the scale...I lost 3 pounds! THREE WHOLE POUNDS! I almost didn't believe it! In fact, I stepped on and off the scale at least seven or eight times just to check. If I could be this full and satisfied with my food choices and lose three pounds, what on earth had I been doing for so long?

Then, it dawned on me. I definitely ate "off-plan" this weekend when attending my celebrations. Does this mean that had I eaten on plan (like I was supposed to, I know) I might have lost even more this week?! That's definitely the motivation I needed. Now it's really on! Only 47 pounds to go! Wish me luck!

Back to work...

Well I survived my first weekend on the Jenny Craig program. It wasn't easy being both Mother's Day and my sister's birthday, but I found ways to make it work.

At my sister's birthday party I managed to get away with eating only one slice of veggie pizza and filled up the rest on the veggie tray (with fat free ranch dip of course!). Okay, I admit it, I had a small slice of birthday cake, but it was totally worth it! Birthday cake is definitely my weak spot. Always has been, always will be. All in all it wasn't such a bad "off-program" night. I'm proud of myself for not overindulging.

As for the Mother's Day/Birthday dinner at Timpano's Chophouse I don't think I did too bad either. I split both an appetizer of skillet roasted mussels with my dad (and skipped the butter sauce cause they totally didn't need it) and also shared a spinach salad. For the main course I shared a 12 oz filet with my sister and we were able to have the kitched make a side order of pasta with marinara sauce. Way better use of carbs than butter loaded mashed potatoes; especially at an italian restaurant! Instead of getting a large dessert my dad ordered the cheesecake lollipop tree which is super cute when they bring it to the table. Unfortunately these delectable treats make it easy to overindulge, which I did by eating 3 of them! Okay, not so good, but I swear I'll be better throughout the week! I had a moment of weakness! I guess to my advantage, they are tiny so hopefully they didn't do too much damage to all of my hard work.

This week I plan on researching some local gyms. Currently the gym I am a member of does not offer aerobic classes, which I really enjoy, and even though I can go to the Nova gym for free, they don't offer many classes in the evening. Any suggestions would be more than appreciated! Hopefully I can find a gym that offers kickboxing, spinning, and other kinds of aerobic classes. I think it will be worth the investment...as long as my foot heals ( I sprained my foot 2 weeks ago and it isn't quite healed yet).

I have to say I'm very happy that my finals are over and my stressful snack cravings will hopefully come to a hault. I'm proud that I didn't give in to too much temptation. I'm actually looking forward to my first official "weigh-in" on Tuesday morning. I'll be sure to update you all with the results! One thing that I have to say is that I haven't been as hungry as I thought I would on this program. I have a newfound love for fruit and want to try as many new ones as possible. Maybe I can find a farmer's market in the area....that would be cool!

It's still all or nothing....and hopefully less than 50 pounds to go!

~Anessa