I had seen in one of those Women's magazines a while ago that they had a plan that you could use to lose weight and it was supposed to be designed after Jenny Craig/Nutrisystem but instead of buying the expensive stuff from one of those places you bought lean cuisine type meals ect. Does anyone know of anything like this online for free? I saw the Ediets one but I refuse to join anything (or pay) that I can not get a free trial on.

Dear Amanda,
I think this was in Woman's world magazine but I do not know the issue. If you can't find what you are looking for on line,you may be able to track this down. I am with you about the cost of some of these programs. This site is wonderful and free. If you do fiind any more info.please post as I could use it for sure. Keep on at it.
Sheridan

Ok I found a couple articles on this topic. The plan is known as the Supermarket Diet but it is not the one GoodHousekeeping has a book out on.

There is a book called Gramslam: The Original Supermarket Diet but from what I read it is not worth paying for because the info is so simple. The premise is that you can follow a Jenny Cra*g style diet with out paying their high cost of food and their extra fees for membership. The diet makes it super easy for you to lose weight because you eat diet freezer meals for lunch and dinner along with fresh fruits and vegetables and dairy. There are a few other things they suggest but those are the basics.

I took the liberty of doing some research and figured out Jenny Cra*g's meal plan formula (not very hard to do) and worked out my own plan which with careful shopping would probably cost me $50. a week which is lower than JC's prices! It's still a little high for those of us on a really strict budget but if it makes losing easier than whoooo hooo!

*B:a 150-200 calorie item like a pria bar, vita muffin, or cereal
a serving of low fat dairy
a serving of fruit

*L: a frozen diet entree (or soup)
a serving of veggies or a salad with fat free (I would use lite because I hate ff)

*S:a vegetable or fruit
a dairy serving like a small yogurt or string cheese

*D:same as lunch

*S:a portion controlled snack or dessert food such as a skinny cow ice cream or a 100 calorie bag of crackers

A very simple shopping list for 6 days would be
12 diet frozen meals
a premade veggie tray (you can use them with the dip or toss them in salad)
lettuce
fat free or low fat dressing
a 6 pack of yogurt
6 lf string cheeses
6 pria type bars
2 packages of lite fruit cups
4 pieces of fresh fruit
a package of skinny cow ice cream sandwiches

So thats what I have figured out so far. Any ideas or comments?

ps...Sheridan are you the Sheridan that used to be on Motivation and Dedication?

HI,
Wonderful information from you. Thanks.Your plan sounds like something I could actually do. I have trouble sticking with things and could use motivation from time to time.I am not the Sheridan on the board though.

Jenny Craig and diets to your door are far to pricey to be of interest to me.For those members though ,I say if it works then go for it if you can.I could probably swing it but I feel it is taking advantage of people and I would rather send the money on my furchild (I know,I know but too late to change now) She is the best dog I have ever had.

All the best, Sheridan and thanks again

That's a good plan you came up with!

I tried my little "plan" out today. It was rather easy. The only thing I ended up eating that was not quite what I should have had was some tater tots when I was making them for the family. I used fitday to make sure my calories and such were in teh range I wanted to be in and guess what, even with tater tots they were! I came in at 1344 calories. I wanted to be between 1200 and 1500.

This might just work. I would like to try and go a few weeks eating this way and then try adding in normal dinners. Oh I forgot to mention I decided that on "my plan" I would allow myself to have one breakfast, lunch and dinner that was not on my list of items. I did this because I want to feel like I can be flexiable. My husband takes me to dinner on Friday niights (it's my night off) and I want to do that. Watching my portions and using fitday will be very important for those meals.

Cool that it worked out I'm going to go grocery shopping tommorow and give it a try. I also looked on the Jenny Craig website and got some more ideas but your plan is pretty much the same as the way i'm doing it. So keep us posted we can have our own alternative to Jenny Craig thread!

What you ladies are doing, is pretty much simple "calorie counting", save for the fact that you are utilizing a lot of prepared entrees such as Lean Cuisine. Why don't you join all of us over in the calorie counting section (the subforum is right here under the General Diet Plans area) rather than just considering what you are doing a Jenny Craig/Nutrisystem alternative?

Your diet is very similiar to the one I follow. I use healthy choice entrees and weight watchers smart ones. Kroger has them usually 3 for 5$ or some weeks 10 for 10$ here. The only difference is I only do this for lunch. For dinner I eat with the family and have smaller portions, usually hamburger, chicken or tuna steak with seasoning, always watermelon or cantaloupe and some grilled seasoned veggies. Hubby and the kids usually get french fries, rice, corn or some other item added to their menus.

Some mornings I will have cereal and skim milk or south beach cereal bars. So far it works for me and my grocery bill has been about the same as it was before I started on this venture.

here is some information i found on a site that does nutrisystem without eatting their food. The blog is called My life and weight loss through NS.

Breakfast: 230-260 calories

1 fruit
1 dairy or protein
1 carb, less than 130 cal (this replaces your NS entree)

Lunch: 330-360 calories

1 salad with dressing
1 protein and carb for entree (keep carb at 75-100 cal, protein at 100 cal or less)
1 extra lunch dairy or protein (can be included in entree)

Snack: 100-180 cal

1 dairy or protein
1 fruit

Dinner: 360-420 cal

1 salad with dressing, or fruit
1 protein, 1 carb, and extras for "entree" (keep carb at 100-120 cal, protein is generally 4 oz lean meat) dinner "entree" averages from 240-300 cal
2 servings of veggies
fat serving-mine is always my low-cal salad dressing

Dessert: 100-130 calories

I hope this helps someone

bev

you took the words right out of my mouth. calorie counting is free, and it works. I eat atleast one lean cuisine nearly every day, but i limit it to just one. the other meals for the day i eat lean chicken or fish, and lots of fresh veggies and fruits, and a ton of water. What i was spending on eating lunch out every day at work, i now spend on the food i can eat to loose weight. and i dont charge myself a membership fee
Join us in the calorie counters!