Thank you Jenny Craig for sponsoring this post. — Get serious about losing weight with Jenny Craig!
It’s been a little over four weeks since my weight loss journey began on the Jenny Craig program. Last year, I gained about 15 pounds by turning to comfort food to help ease the pain of a nerve injury. I really struggled with controlling my appetite. All I wanted was a box of cookies or a bag of chips to help take my mind off the pain.
Identifying My Eating Style
Over the past few weeks, I’ve worked with my amazing consultant Samantha to identify and overcome my emotional eating. The first step was clarifying my eating style. The Jenny Craig Getting Started Guide mentions the following:
Uniformed Eater: Confused about what really works for them and rarely stays committed to one approach.
Social Eater: Struggles with self-control when dealing with a variety of people, places and events.
Emotional Eater: Resorts to food to calm, soothe or even squelch feelings.
Unconscious Eater: Misses meals, grazes throughout the day or eats food just because it’s there.
After discussing these styles with Samantha, we agreed that I am an emotional eater. When I am in pain, feeling sad or stressed, food becomes my best friend.
Tips to Help With Emotional Eating
The Jenny Craig goal for an emotional eater is to cope with emotions without turning to food. One of my favorite new ways to deal with stress is taking a bubble bath. Turns out this helps relieve my nerve pain too! Other ideas include:
- Taking a walk
- Talking to a friend
- Writing in my journal
- Listening to music
I’ve also learned to be aware of triggers that Jenny Craig calls “H.A.L.T.” The goal is to make sure that I don’t let myself get to Hungry, Angry/anxious, Lonely/sad, or Tired/board.
Having the prepared and portion-controlled Jenny Craig meals and snacks make it easy for me to make smart food choices instead of grabbing comfort foods that are high in sugar and calories. A few of my favorite dishes include the Cinnamon Swirl French Toast, Turkey Burger, and the Southwest Style Chicken Fajita Bowl.
The best part is that I don’t feel deprived. I make sure to reward myself with a Jenny Craig treat like Kettle Corn or Lemon Cake each night after dinner.
Emotional Eating and Travel
Family vacations and business travel can also side track my weight loss goals. I worked with Samantha to come up with a plan for two business trips and an upcoming family vacation. Having a plan in place helps me feel confident that I’ll succeed even when circumstances seem out of my control. This reduces the stress and emotional triggers of my eating style.
My Travel Plan:
- Pack shelf stable foods like snack bars, cereal, popcorn, soups, etc.
- Picture Jenny Craig portions when eating away from home to help keep in control
- Limit alcohol consumption, which can lower self control for emotional eaters
Since I am close to my weight loss goal, I’m working with Samantha to create a plan that is about half my own meals and half Jenny Craig. Having a dedicated consultant has really been paramount to my success. I look forward to our chats each week.
Jenny Craig has helped me develop a healthy relationship with food. I still have some challenges ahead, buy I’ve learned positive coping strategies to better support my weight management goals.
I am thrilled to announce that in a little over 4 weeks, I have lost a total of 12 pounds*. I’m happy to love my scale again instead of dreading each time I check my weight.
*Results not typical. Members following the Jenny Craig program, on average, lose 1-2 lbs. per week. I received promotional consideration
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Hi Jenn! Your post with these tips are really useful!. Also, congratulations on your weight loss.
I haven’t personally done Jenny Craig, but I remember my mom did it when I was younger and had amazing results!
I used to not have emotional eating issue till recently, it explains my weight gain over the montsh. Jenny Craig sounds like a good option.
I have heard so many great things about the Jenny Craig program from so many people. Now it makes sense why it has been around for so long–because it works!
Everything looks delicious and I’m sure a lot of us can benefit from these tips.
I love this post! this will be helpful for those in need… I like that you share other ways to deal the emotional side of life… walking is a life saver for me : )
I try so much to avoid stress because that really makes me eat so much! I have read so many good reviews about Jenny Craig diet. Although I am at my ideal weight right now, I don’t want to have problems later on if I don’t curb my stress munching.
I’m definitely a muncher throughout the day. I’m not very good at eating very much in one sitting, just nibbling throughout the day.
Great post! I myself am an emotional eater as well and chips are my go to comfort foods. I will have to check out Jenny Craig.
I’ve been trying to decide if Jenny Craig is for me. I eat when I’m stressed from back pain and the added pounds is what’s causing the increase. I’ve got to shed 12 pounds.
Oh this is so interesting! I heard amazing things about Jenny Craig’s program!
I like the Jenny Craig program address some of the common bad eating habits. I’ve been pretty happy with their meals but I’m glad they focus on addressing behavior too.
My friend has had great success with Jenny Craig. I have been trying to reset my eating habits. I am definitely an emotional eater.
I actually used Jenny Craig before and I loved it. It was really effective for me and the food was good.
Emotional eating is something I struggle with sometimes. I have heard great things about Jenny Craig. I just might have to give it a try!
I have been pretty good about not eating when I’m bored since I changed jobs. I don’t like other people watching or hearing me eat, so I don’t keep things at my desk any longer.
Congrats on your weight loss. That is probably the single most self-satisfying thing we can do to take care of our bodies. I’m fall under the emotional eater category, got to work on that for sure. The JC food looks really yummy.
Emotional eating is my downfall! It’s an awful habit! I have always wondered about Jenny Craig, thank you for your opinion!
Always seen the commercials never actually read where anyone had lost weight. So reading this is really helpful in knowing how it all works.
See? This is why Jenny Craig is so great. Any system can get weight off you, but this one actually teaches you how to keep it off and stay healthy for the long run.
Nice tips but i recommend shapers for lazy persons haha
This is a very informative post! I could be an emotional eater and I think it’s time to break these habits!
Well done! I can totally be an emotional eater, so these tips are awesome!
Congratulations on your weight loss. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Jenny Craig program. It was very successful for a friend of mine.
Congratulations on your success so far with your weight loss. I am definitely an unconscious eater. I have only heard good things about Jenny Craig.
I am an emotional eater. I also eat when I am bored. I have been working on it this year. I have been wanting to try Jenny Craig.
I am definitely an emotional eater. I tend to binge when I am feeling stressed. It is definitely something that I need to work on and this food looks amazing.
I have never thought of these categories for eaters. I would say that I am an emotional eater. I do eat when I have an emotional moment to help me get over it. This is good information.
I am the unconscious eater. Sometimes I realize I didn’t even take time to taste what I was eating. Jenny Craig sounds like a great program.
I am such an emotional eater and it is such a hard habit to break. I eat when I am mad, sad, happy, angry! lol.
Nice job on your weight loss. I fit into all of those types of “eaters” sigh.
Unfortunately I am an unconscious eater. The J.C food looks so good
I have always loved what Jennie Craig has done! It gives people the confidence they need to eat the right foods and become healthier. I have not tried Jenny Craig but I do know the food is delicious.
I was pleasantly surprise by how good the food is.