I still have a while to go before im at the maintaining stage, and it feels like its FOREVER away, but i was wondering. How did you adjust your eating habits? i do not want to be on jenny craig forever. I want to be able to eat the foods i love again.. just in smaller portions and not everyday for every meal. just.. once in a while. I dont want a night out with my friends at my favorite restaurant, or a birthday party to ruin all my hard work, but i dont want to feel deprived of things i love for the rest of my life. I want to be able to sit at the table and eat what my mom makes for dinner with the rest of the family... How did you adjust your eating habits, and how did you find a balance?

pinkglow, when you finish you can switch to calorie counting if you like and maintain that way..

I agree with thighs~calorie counting is a good way to maintain~and to be rid of the jenny craig~Once you reach goal~all calorie counting is ~Is you eat things you already have but in smaller portions that most people normally do that is overweight.So it's a free thing! you can click into the calorie counting forum on here if your interested in it and we will all try to be as helpful as possible.
But ~Jenny craig members may have a different way~And I have never tried that so....GOODLUCK .

Does Jenny have a maintenance program? That might be your best bet for transitioning to maintenance and real food from JC.

Regardless, eating a smaller portion of a food you love every once in while sounds like what most maintainers do. Even though my eating habits are the same now as they were when I was losing, I occasionally have a treat meal with a few extra calories, like once every two weeks or month. It's not a free meal or free day by any means, but I do loosen up the reins a bit for a glass of wine or sharing a dessert. Otherwise, a day in my life today looks just like a day when I was losing.

I don't eat a lot of what my family eats, but try to have some overlap. But there are certain foods they eat that I'll never eat, either because they're too calorie dense or not nutritious enough. So I don't think I'll ever eat like the rest of my family but it doesn't bother me a bit.

The balance is something that you'll naturally find when you reach your goal weight and decide you're ready to maintain. You'll add back calories a few at a time and see where you weight stabilizes, discovering what your unique maintenance level is. Once you know how much you can eat and still maintain, then you can plan in those occasional treats and nights out with friends. The keys are occasional and still being mindful.

Good for you for thinking about maintenance now. You're going to do great!

It's great that you're thinking ahead and trying to map out a good "maintenance" plan. Since that's the bulk of the journey, it's good to start thinking about it now.

My maintenance looks very much like Meg's. I maintain my weight by doing the same thing that I did to lose it. There was really nothing to adjust.

My food is not identical to that of my family's. We eat many of the same things during a meal, with a few changes at times. But I'm okay with that.

You mention worrying about feeling deprived - I never, ever feel that way. When I say no to certain foods, it's because I'm actually saying YES to me. A healthy and happy me. I actually think the way that I used to eat was depriving myself - of a fit, trim, healthy, energetic, productive and joyful ME. The way that I eat now is my *choice*. I freely and happily choose the foods that I eat. And I enjoy every last morsel. I think that is a big key here. I think it's essential to find foods that you LOVE. Healthy, on-plan ones. Yet delicious and tasty. There's no need to feel deprived if you love the foods that you're eating and they actually accomplish keeping you fit and trim.

Of course, I do have the occasional splurge, but like Meg, it's once or twice a month. Again, my choice. When I socialize, I find it MUCH more enjoyable now and it's got nothing to do with the food. I enjoy DIFFERENT things about socializing now - the conversation, the confidence that I've recaptured since losing the weight, being more active and so on.

I think you'll see as you get closer to your goal that your thoughts on what a treat is and just how often you want them will change. You'll be so thrilled with your new slim self and so *into* the healthy eating, that you'll be more than glad to do what's necessary to stay there. You'll do some experimenting, seeing what works and what doesn't and make responsible decisions on what and when you want to have that "splurge".

Maintenance is a great place to be. Don't fear it. With a bit of trial and error and a tweak here and there, you'll find the right mix.

I hope this doesn't sound discouraging, but I had to accept (after 20 years of failed dieting) that I had to change my "normal". How I ate normally, made me heavy, so I couldn't eat like that and lose weight/maintain my weight loss.

I always remind myself, when I ate whatever I wanted - I was heavy, depressed and didn't like myself very much. Now that I am very mindful of my eating, I am slender, energetic and healthy. To be honest, I do occasionally wrestle with the "waa waaa I want to eat scones!" but overall, I am so much happier with my new lifestyle.

I do have the occasional night out with friends, but I never go "all out" or abandon my healthy eating philosophy completely.

I do a mixture of everything above. I lost my weight by calorie counting, so I just continue my plan with a few more calories each day.

I eat the same things as my family, but DH and I changed our lifestyle together, so there is no need to cook any differently for him (kids are grown).

I eat out quite frequently - my job includes quite a bit of travel, and DH and I take vacations that include lots of restaurant and microbrewery stops. I PLAN for those events in two ways. I lower my calories for a week or two before the trip so that I have a few extra calories to "play with" during the trip. I get online and plan my meal and beverage choices so that I know what I will eat - then I stick to my plan. I also up the exercise during this time.

I'm with the others in that there are certain foods that I can't have around the house, and others that I will probably never eat again (fast food). I do not mourn their loss. They made me unhealthy. And now, I eat so many, many wonderful foods that I don't miss them at all. It is a minuscule price to pay for being healthy and happy!

If you are doing JC, then you should know that as you get closer to goal, you will start transitioning from JC food to doing food all on your own. Usually the way it works is that when you are halfway to goal you will start doing one or two days on your own, then in the weeks approaching goal you'll cut back further on JC days and increase days on your own, so by the time you reach goal you are completely independent. If you are learning the exchanges as you should, your days on your own will be built on those exchanges. Your counselor will give you guidelines on what calorie level / exchanges you'll need each day for maintenance at your weight, activity level, etc. Exchanges work really well because they give you a nice balanced diet at a given calorie level. By the time you get halfway to goal, exchanges should be second nature. JC DOES have a formal maintenance program, as well, where you check in monthly.

At your next appt, ask your counselor to talk to you about what happens at halfway and leading up to goal. There should also be some info in your materials.

I'm eating the way I ate to lose it. It's pretty simple: if I eat like everyone else, I'll look like everyone else. With the overweight population of the US spinning out of control, I'll pass on that.

That being said, I do have days where I choose to eat some foods that are not super healthy. It is occasional, and I get back immediately with my healthy stuff.

Of course it helps that I'm the mom (and therefore in charge of food), but I make dinners that can be mixed and matched to meet all of our needs. I'll grill chicken and cook up a mess of veggies. I'll make some beans and tortillas on the side. So, I'll have chicken and veggies and maybe some beans. DD who runs 15 miles a day will also have the tortilla and beans. The little ones will have a burrito with everything wrapped together.

I think its great that you are starting to think about this now.

I did jenny craig in the early 90's and was put on a 1000 calorie plan that ultimately failed me. I lost the 15lbs I needed to at the time, but my body was never the same....

I am not sure how the plan is run currently, but if you plan to transition to calorie counting, it might be helpful to start seriously paying attention to what your current nutritional level on the plan is (calories, fats, protein, etc), that way you get to build the habits of maintenance along with the convenience of having food provided for you.

In my experience with the plan I found the maintenance portion of their program jarring and kind of from left field and was never able to form the proper habits.

It is not my intent to bash jenny craig, I am happy that you found something that works for you.

JC is much different now than when you did it, thisisnotatest. It is a very healthy plan, no one goes under 1200 calories and most people start at much higher levels, then step down. It's also geared much more towards teaching lifestyle habits than just being a convenience-food diet.

Thanks everyone. def. helped. ill have to start paying more attention and maybe just buy my own fridge... haha

What you said you want to be able to do is exactly how you'll do it!

After losing a little over 100 pounds, I still go to happy hours.. go out for my favorite meals... but the difference is that I go to happy hour once a week, *if* that. And only splurge on foods that are really splurge-worthy. And I also give myself a cushion... a 5 pound range that I feel healthy within. When I go on vacation, I relax and enjoy vacation.. but when I get home, my booty is in the gym working overtime to get me back to where I was before I left.

The biggest key is just being conscious of what's going on with your body. If my jeans are feeling tight, I *DIDN'T* "shrink them in the wash," I ate too damn much!!

its so funny that you mention that... that was always my excuse.. "wow they shrunk already.." i think i actually started to believe it. ohhh denial.

Well, guess what? I maintain my loss by doing the same things I did to lose it. I still weigh every day, I still count calories, I still plan all my meals ahead of time and keep a food log. This is not nearly the chore that it sounds like and is far better than going back to shopping at the fat ladies shop, not to mention the hazards to your health that obesity causes. And, yes I can have a treat now and then, I plan ahead for those occasions. I am not so brilliant that I discovered this on my own. I learned it here from those that had lost a lot of weight and maintained that loss for a significant period of time.