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Jenny Craig vs the Competition

Top10.com Staff
Top 5 Jenny Craig Alternatives
In a way, Jenny Craig is to diet plans what Levi’s is to jeans. While both names have become almost synonymous with their respective industries, that doesn’t necessarily mean that either brand is the best choice for your individual needs.

So, is Jenny Craig the weight loss plan for you or are you better off with a different option?

Jenny Craig

The Jenny Craig diet plan helps you lose weight fast. The key to the program is tasty meals and close support. Choose from over 100 menu items, and enjoy eating one 5 times a day. Plus, with Jenny Craig, you’ll get paired with a personal diet consultant who will help you build your weight loss plan and remain in touch for support along the way. If you prefer in-person support, check out Jenny Craig in your neighborhood, where you can stop by for a consultation with your consultant. 

What does Jenny Craig offer?

  • Lose up to 16 pounds in your first 4 weeks
  • No need to count calories, track food intake or worry about meals
  • 5 meals a day + a snack
  • Dedicated personal consultant

The Mayo Clinic Diet

The Mayo Clinic Diet can help you identify bad eating habits and make the right changes to your diet for a healthy lifestyle. The diet plan also adds the right amount of physical activity to your schedule, according to individual needs. It offers meal and exercise plans, 100s of delicious recipes, motivational lifestyle tips, and an iPhone app to help track weight and eating habits. The program is split into 2 sections: “Lose it” is the first 2 weeks of the diet plan and is designed to help you lose those first 6-10 lbs quickly and safely. “Live it” is where Mayo’s expertise really kicks in, by helping you transition toward steady weight loss and good long-term habits.

How does Mayo Clinic compare to Jenny Craig?

  • Mayo was formed in 1889, almost a century before Jenny Craig, and it has 12 experts in nutrition, wellness, and clinical health psychology on staff.
  • Mayo is cheaper for the first year, with no enrolment fee and just a flat $5/month, billed at $65 each quarter.
  • This is very much for the long-term dieter whose goal is to develop good habits and achieve sustainable weight loss.

Mayo Clinic Diet Mayo Clinic Diet Start Your Diet

Nutrisystem

Nutrisystem offers standard and customized meal plans that are based on a schedule of 6 small meals spread throughout the day, to keep you satisfied and prevent cravings. Like Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem offers both a diet plan and food delivery, with shipments arriving within 4-10 business days. Another handy feature is its NuMi app, which integrates with many other health apps, and includes tips, recipes, and a barcode scanner for easy tracking.

How does Nutrisystem compare to Jenny Craig?

  • Nutrisystem’s Turbo13 promises to help you shed up to 13 lbs and 7 inches in just 1 month. This is a significantly quicker weight loss program than Jenny Craig’s standard 16 lbs in 16 weeks.
  • Nutrisystem is very conscious of the fact that each person has their own eating preferences, and offers personalized meal plans for men, diabetics, vegetarians, and other individual needs.
  • Thanks to its à la carte snacks option, this is the ideal choice for those who can’t diet without snacking.

Nutrisystem Nutrisystem Start Your Diet

South Beach Diet

South Beach Diet is for people who care as much about developing healthy eating habits as they care about losing weight. It offers meal plans and deliveries through 3 phases of the diet. The first phase is a weight-loss kick-start, eliminating gluten, sugars, and starches to reset the body. The second phase is steady weight loss, reintroducing healthy carbs and eliminating cravings. In the final stage, clients are encouraged to maintain their goal weight with the help of useful recipes and tips.

How does South Beach Diet compare to Jenny Craig?

  • South Beach Diet is one of the top options for meat eaters, offering a plan that gives as much attention to lean protein and healthy fats as it does to whole grains, fruits, and veggies.
  • Its equal focus on maintaining a healthy heart makes South Beach Diet quite unique in the industry.
  • South Beach Diet delivers for as low as $9.82 per day ($69/week), which is significantly lower than the $154/week that Jenny Craig charges for its first 4-week fully planned menu.

South Beach Diet South Beach Diet Start Your Diet

BistroMD

BistroMD is designed for people who want to lose weight but have a busy schedule and little to no time for meal prep. It offers customized meal plans and food delivery to suit every individual’s needs. In fact, the first thing you’ll see when you enter the BistroMD website is a form asking you to fill out your height, weight, and goal weight. Just click on “get my results” to see what BistroMD can offer you. One of its dedicated weight loss physicians will design your plan; all you need to do is heat up the food, enjoy, and watch as your weight drops.

How does BistroMD compare to Jenny Craig?

  • BistroMD has menu options to satisfy many different requirements, with standard, gluten-free, diabetic, and menopause plans. 
  • Customizable plans are available for people outside of the “average” size or height.
  • From all the diet meal delivery plans, BistroMD is the only with a program that focuses on treating dysfunctional metabolism, a common problem that prevents many people from losing weight.

Bistro MD Bistro MD Start Your Diet

Medifast

Medifast offers customizable meal plans in 14-day or 30-day kits, with extra snacks available for purchase. Because everyone is different, it offers a choice of 3 main meal plans: Go, designed for busy people who want to achieve quick weight loss; Flex, for people who are prepared to lose weight at a steady pace; and Thrive Healthy Living, which is a weight maintenance plan. 

How does Medifast compare to Jenny Craig?

  • Medifast offers special meal plans for diabetics, gluten-free people, vegetarians, nursing moms, and seniors.
  • Its meal plans are based on the principle of a low-glycemic index, meaning it has a low impact on a person’s blood glucose level. Medifast meals are low in fat and high in fiber, vitamins, and nutrients. 
  • Has a broad range of meal plans to suit different budgets.

Medifast Medifast Start Your Diet

Get Healthy

As with anything in life, what is best for one person isn’t necessarily best for another. The weight loss plans listed above offer diet coaching and meal delivery plans that cater to different weight loss goals, lifestyles, food preferences, and budgets. Go for the biggest name in the industry, or try shopping around to see what the competition has to offer. Chances are one of these diet programs is just what you need to get healthy.

Top10.com Staff
Top10.com's editorial staff is a professional team of editors and writers with dozens of years of experience covering consumer, financial and business products and services.

The information on this site is based on research, but should not be treated as medical advice. Before beginning any new diet plan, we recommend consulting with a physician or other professional healthcare provider. Results may vary based on various health factors, individual weight loss plans and adherence to the meal plan.