Jenny Craig

Jenny and Sidney Craig opened their first weight loss centres in Australia in 1983, and quickly opened numerous others in the US in 1985. Their empire now extends to over 550 weight loss centres which are located in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Their programme integrates counselling and pre-packaged food options to help participants lose weight. It is a healthy, balanced programme which emphasizes portion control, food journaling, and regular exercise to help participants lose weight. They have specialized assistance for the transition period when participants wean themselves off of the special Jenny Craig food and back into eating regular food.
The main parts of the programme which differentiate it from other programmes are the requirements to buy the special Jenny Craig foods, as well as the individual counselling services offered through their weight loss centres. The counsellors are not doctors nor are they required to be registered dieticians, but they are well-trained and knowledgeable. Clients beginning the programme are given an individualized meal plan consisting of dairy and vegetables, and entrees purchased from the Jenny Craig centres. Once they are halfway to their target weight loss goals, they begin to eat three or four days of Jenny Craig meals and several days of their own meals.
The company is operated by Nestle nutrition, and has had an array of celebrity spokespeople over the years. Phylicia Rashad became their spokeswoman in 2009, and others have included Queen Latifah, Valerie Bertinelli, Kirstie Alley, and Monica Lewinsky.