faqs

Our program is not a diet, it's a lifestyle! Founded in 1983 in Melbourne Australia, we are one of the largest weight management service companies in the world. We offer you a great support team who will be there with you every week throughout your entire journey. We plan your meals to suit your lifestyle, with snacks through the day so you don't go hungry. We help you develop healthy exercise routines and when your near your goal we get you cooking some of your own favourite choices. 

Our program has been designed by Accredited Practising Dietitians in Australia and Registered Dietitians in the US, in consultation with an expert Medical Advisory Board. The Medical Advisory Board's recommendations are based on the latest nutrition, exercise, and behavioural strategies for weight management and disease prevention. We're proud to offer our clients a comprehensive, scientifically proven way to achieve and maintain their desired weight.

View our Medical Advisory Board

Jenny will helps you acquire the following goals to help you with your journey of achieving a new you:

• A Healthy Relationship with Food

We all love food so we're going to stop you eating what you love, were going to teach you how you can eat what you want with the knowledge of kilojoule controlled and portion controlled food choices. Let us do the hard work for you and enjoy eating our meals via our personalised menus. We also emphasise the importance of tuning into physical and emotional eating cues,  encouraging you to be mindful about what you eat. This is the first step toward making healthier, more satisfying choices.

• An Active Lifestyle

We encourages clients to gradually increase activity through a combination of natural, planned and "playful" physical activities which were developed in consultation with the world-renowned Cooper Institute. We offer exercise products such as a fitness DVD series, and other tools that encourage clients to engage in a variety of cardiorespiratory, resistance and stretching activities. Other maintenance materials provided also address important variables such as lack of time, ongoing motivation and changing body image.

• A Balanced Approach to Living

As weight issues are, in part, a reflection of thoughts and emotions clients bring to their weight loss efforts, Jenny emphasises cognitive strategies to help clients develop a more balanced, positive mindset.

How long you stay with us depends on how much weight you have to lose. We have program options to fit your needs and will support you until you reach your goal.

Whether you would like to lose a small amount of weight for a special occasion such as a wedding or reunion, or want to make more significant changes, Jenny has options to meet your needs. Our Program has been designed to result in a weekly weight loss of up to half to one kilogram or 1% of your body weight. These results may vary based on an individual's personal weight history, body composition, frequency of physical activity, and motivation among other factors.

Our daily menus include delicious Jenny's Cuisine as well as your own foods. You'll enjoy three Jenny Cuisine meals and one Jenny Cuisine snack every day, combined with your own fresh fruit, vegetables, reduced fat dairy products and heart healthy fats.

Your personal Consultant will help you determine your optimal kilojoule level based on your age, height, current weight, gender and your activity level. Our lowest kilojoule level is 5000 kilojoules per day, and we offer up to 8400 kiljoules or more, depending on your individual requirements.

We recommend you only weigh yourself once a week at a consistent time (preferably in the morning) to avoid any discouragement due to normal daily weight fluctuations. Clients participating in our Centre programs weigh at weekly consultations, while those on our Jenny Direct programs weigh at home.

We don't just want you to lose the weight, we want you to keep it off for good. Weight is partially related to lifestyle. That's why we help you acquire the tools needed for long term success by focusing on a healthy relationship with food, an active lifestyle and a balanced approach to living. In addition, clients with our Platinum Membership have access to a maintenance component which offers 12-months of ongoing support to help you maintain your new weight.

Our Jenny Program is not only a comprehensive and balanced approach to weight loss, it is also clinically proven to work! In a recent clinical trial, Jenny participants lost over 5 times as much weight as those who dieted on their own.¹

em>¹Obesity 2007;15: 939-949 Rock CL et al

Click here to read the Randomized Trial of a Multifaceted Commercial Weight Loss Program.

You can visit your nearest Centre, or if you're short on time, have our consultants call you at home with Jenny home delivered. Whichever option you select, our trained Consultants will tailor the Program to meet your needs.

Learn more about the Jenny Craig Program Options

Feel free to use our Centre Locator - by clicking on your state, you'll receive a list of the Centres nearest you. You can also call 1800 453 669 (Australia) or 0800 555 123 (New Zealand) to obtain the same information.

Our Jenny Direct Program allows you to participate on the Program from the convenience of your own home. You enjoy weekly phone consultations with your trained Consultant, and order your Jenny Cuisine to be delivered to your door.

Yes

The cost of Jenny depends on several things - which plan you choose, which Jenny meals and snacks you select, and so on. We have a short term plan and longer term plans, so you can chose the option that is right for you!

And as one client told us: "You know what would really cost a lot? Having a nutritionist, a personal exercise trainer, a chef, and a lifestyle coach! For me, Jenny was the inexpensive way of getting the Program and coaching I needed."

At Jenny our goal is to help you learn not only how to lose weight, but how to effectively maintain your weight loss as well. The maintenance component of our Platinum Membership helps transition you from Jenny's Cuisine to planning your own menus. During maintenance consultations, you are guided through the Maintenance Support Materials to help you "master" the skills essential for continued success.

Our Program is available to adolescents 13-17 years old, who obtain their parent's written permission, and who do not have health conditions or medications which may exclude them from the Program. The Program includes weekly one-on-one consultations, weekly menus and program materials.

Yes, we offer  a selection of shelf-stable, microwavable options such as Pasta Napoletana or Dahl with Rice. Throw in our other portable items like Strawberry Oat Clusters, Chicken Korma,  and Choc Caramel Crisp and you have everything you need for a Program on-the-go. For your convenience, all of our travel-friendly foods are indicated on our Jenny Craig Cuisine List with an aeroplane icon. (Menu Brochure)

Additionally, with the Jenny Direct option, you can have your consultations over the phone and your food is delivered directly to you (plus the cost of delivery).

Absolutely. Breastfeeding mothers follow a modified kilojoule level based on the child's age and frequency of breastfeeding. In some cases, doctor approval is required.

If you're too busy to visit a centre or prefer consultations over the phone we service Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide*, Perth and most regional areas of NSW, VIC, SA* & ACT.

Click here to see if we are able to deliver to you or call 1300 858 198 (for ACT, NSW, QLD, VIC & WA) or free call 1800 818 836 (in SA) or (08) 8362 0010 (in Adelaide).

Please note we currently don't service regional QLD or WA.
* Online ordering is not available for residents of South Australia.

Basically anyone who prefers our weight loss program from the convenience and privacy of their own home! To find out where Jenny home delivery available please click here.

You won't miss out if you'd like our food delivered to you. We offer the same great food, tools and personal support as our Jenny Centres, with the added convenience of having your delicious Jenny Cuisine and Program materials delivered directly to your door (plus the cost of delivery). With Jenny delivered, you'll get:

• One-on-one Weekly Phone Support

Each week, you'll speak privately with your skilled Consultant via phone to plan your weekly menu and activities, discuss strategies to overcome challenges along the way, and celebrate your successes. An integral part of the Jenny Program, these weekly consultations play a major role in our clients' successes.

• Convenient Food Delivery - Straight to Your Door.

You'll order your Jenny Cuisine from your Consultant which will be delivered to your home or office usually within 48 hours (within standard metropolitan areas), in 1 - 4 week increments.

• A Fit for the Busy Lifestyles

If you have a busy schedule, travel frequently, or live too far from a Centre, Jenny At Home delivers all the benefits of the Jenny program in the convenience of your own home or office. Wherever your busy life takes you, Jenny At Home is there for you - when and how you need it!

Learn more about Jenny Craig At Home

Yes

Jenny food items are delivered chilled in 1 - 4 week increments, usually within 48 hours (within standard metropolitan areas). Should your delivery address be unattended, we are able to leave your Jenny Cuisine in a cool box discretely near your door.

To get you started on your weight loss journey, please read your Welcome Pack. We also encourage you to look over the Success Made Simple Guide and Week 1 Menu before your first consultation, so you can maximise your time with your personal Consultant!

No. Your personal Consultant will advise you when it is best to order the next food during your weekly phone consultation.

Each week, you'll speak with your personal Consultant for a private consultation. Your consultant will help you monitor your weight loss progress; encourage you to set personal goals to build a healthy relationship with food, lead an active lifestyle and add balance to your life; provide skills and strategies to handle challenging situations such as dining out, traveling and unplanned changes; and also help you select satisfying and convenient weekly menus that fit into your lifestyle.

Jenny menus model the three key factors for healthy eating: balance, variety and moderation. The delicious Jenny Cuisine meals and snacks featured on the menus have been conveniently packaged into single portions just right for your weight loss needs. All our menus are:

• Based on the National Dietary Guidelines for Australia and New Zealand offering balance, variety and moderation.
• Low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and high in fibre.
• Chosen to meet your weight loss goals, with kilojoule levels ranging from 5000 to 8400 kilojoules or higher per day.

Your Jenny menu gives you an easy way to practice your new healthy eating habits. It shows you how to lose weight without giving up the foods you love - by modeling moderate amounts. We have a range of foods to appeal to your taste buds, even Choc Fudge Cookies and Caramel Popcorn! You can enjoy delicious flavours and stay on track to achieve your weight loss goals!

Delicious gourmet quality Jenny meals and snacks are your first introduction to your new healthier lifestyle. We have planned menus for those who like structure, or you have the freedom to create your own menu by choosing from over 70 Jenny Craig meals and snacks. You'll be enjoying three Jenny Craig Cuisine meals and one Jenny Craig Cuisine snack every day, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and other additional grocery foods. Your Jenny Craig foods will be teaching you about portion control and balance, and will also help you to establish sensible eating habits.

Once you've reached your goal weight, your personal Consultant will have helped you strengthen your food preparation skills through healthy cooking techniques and recipes. You will find yourself applying these new skills to planning your own healthy meals for "days on your own" - and establishing healthy new habits for life!

We offer a wide variety of delicious and nutritious breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack items. Because they're so easy to prepare in either a microwave or traditional oven, Jenny Cuisine can fit into even the busiest lifestyles. All of our foods are pre-packaged and pre-portioned. Our foods are frozen or shelf-stable (dry). Selections range from wholemeal pancakes and hearty beef pie, to chicken parmigiana and Choc Fudge Cookie.

By following the Jenny menus, you'll be practicing habits like portion control that are essential for healthy weight loss and successful weight management. As you learn strategies to manage social and emotional eating, you'll begin planning your own menus. The ultimate goal of the Program is to transition you from our menus to planning your own menus, so that you can learn to shop, cook and socialise with foods.

We currently offer structured planned menus for clients who enjoy having pre-planned weekly menus. Our Personalised Menu option allows clients to handpick the individual Jenny meals and snacks they want to eat so that they can literally design their own weekly menus based on their favourite foods. You can also switch menus from one week to the next, depending on what works best for you.

Our Program includes all foods in moderation. The menu includes fruits, vegetables, grains and low fat dairy - all of which are part of your daily Jenny weight loss plan.

No. While advertising and the media have focused a lot of attention on low-carbohydrate diets and products, when it comes to successful, long-term weight loss, kilojoules are the key, not carbohydrates. By focusing on kilojoules, you don't need to avoid entire food groups, buy special low-carbohydrate products or give up the foods you love.

Recent research has disproved the claim that weight loss is faster and greater on a low-carbohydrate diet. One clinical trial showed that while subjects lost weight faster initially on a low-carbohydrate diet, the amount of weight loss after one year was similar to the group that followed the traditional low-fat approach to weight loss. Restrictive diets, such as low-carbohydrate diets, can be difficult to follow for very long, in fact mny people who have tried low-carbohydrate diets have given them up. For more information read our article about low-carbohydrate diets.

Any food not listed in capital letter and bold-faced type on your menu is an item that can easily be swapped for something else. Just use Jenny's Grocery List in your Success Made Simple Guide or Journal!

We have vegetarian planned weeks as well as vegetarian meals and snacks, that can be incorporated into a personalised menu plan. The vegetarian options, however, are not vegan and may contain dairy, egg or animal-derived enzymes such as gelatin.

Currently, none of our Jenny Craig Cuisine is Kosher certified.

Yes. If you are a heavy coffee, cola or tea drinker, you may want to consider cutting back - especially if it interferes with your milk or water intake. If you choose to decrease your caffeine intake, do so gradually - cutting your intake in half each week, to avoid caffeine-withdrawal related symptoms.

If you regularly cook for yourself or others, you'll find our Healthy Living for Life Cookbook a great resource for preparing quick and healthy meals.

Yes, our planned and personalised menus give you the flexibility of being able to eat at a restaurant and the confidence to make healthy choices. Our Weight Loss Manuals offer sections devoted to dining-out strategies. You also have the option of eating your Jenny Craig meal and enjoying your added food servings at the restaurant. Jenny Craig also offers a 'Dining Out Guide' and your consultant will be glad to help you plan sensible eating strategies for these occasions! Just ask your consultant for details, so you can decide on the best solution for you.

Although we recommend limiting your consumption of alcohol, your Consultant can work with you to design strategies that suit your needs. We can help personalise your menu to include your favorite foods and beverages in moderation!

Experts say it's very difficult to get all the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients you need on a reduced kilojoule menu. To help ensure that you receive the balanced nutrition you need during weight loss, your Jenny Craig Consultant will offer you our Jenny Craig supplement throughout your program.

To help ensure that each day's menu is nutritionally balanced, we encourage you to take the Jenny Craig multi-vitamin and mineral supplement. We encourage you to take this with water before breakfast, so it's easy to remember each day.

Yes! We have our Planned menus available, as well as the personalised menu planning brochure, which includes the full range of Jenny Craig meals and snacks available to individualise your menu. Clients will be able to create and print their menus out before their weekly meeting with their Consultant. This gives them more time to make the choices they like and frees up more time during their consultation to get weight loss strategies, information and motivation from their Consultant!

In Australia and New Zealand, the Dietetic Associations offer this information on their websites. In Australia log onto www.daa.asn.au - go to ‘Find an APD'. In New Zealand log onto www.dietitians.org.nz - go to ‘Find a Dietitian'.

Each week, you'll speak with your personal Consultant for a 20-minute, private consultation. He or she will help you monitor your weight loss progress; encourage you to set personal goals to build a healthy relationship with food, lead an active lifestyle and add balance to your life; provide strategies to handle challenging situations such as dining out, traveling and unplanned changes; and also help you select satisfying and convenient weekly menus that fit into your lifestyle.

The best way to find out if the Jenny Program is right for you is to visit a Centre for a free informational consultation. During your visit, a Jenny Program Director will:

• Ask questions to learn what you're looking for in a weight management program.
• Help you to identify a healthy weight loss goal.
• Provide you with all the Program information you need to make a decision.

This consultation is obligation-free. No matter what you decide, you'll leave the Centre feeling even more motivated to take action towards a healthier lifestyle!

A pivotal part of the Jenny Craig Program, the weekly consultations play a major role in our clients' successes. Not only do we want to support you along your weight loss journey, we want to ensure that you're experiencing a healthy rate of weight loss. In addition, our Customer Care department is staffed with trained, caring Jenny Craig representatives six days a week, from Monday through until Saturday. If you need some advice or extra support, feel free to call 1800 453 669 (Australia) or 0800 555 123 (New Zealand) and someone there will be delighted to help you.

Our weekly consultations play a major role in our clients' successes. Not only do we want to support you along your weight loss journey, we want to ensure that you're experiencing a healthy rate of weight loss. However if you find yourself too busy to visit us for weekly consultations we recommend you switch to our Jenny direct program to receive weekly phone consultations and your food delivered to your door. 

Consider your Consultant your "partner in weight loss." During your weekly consultations, your Consultant will review your progress, address any challenges you may have, help with menu and activity planning and offer weight loss tips and techniques.

If you need to schedule an appointment when your regular Consultant is not available, any of the available trained Consultants can work with you to set up a plan for your success.

We prides ourself in hiring health-oriented and customer-focused individuals who genuinely enjoy working with people. Once hired, all Consultants attend a comprehensive training course and are certified by a Jenny Trainer. Consultants also receive ongoing continuing education in areas relating to nutrition, motivation and stress management. When clients have special needs or requests, Consultants call on our Accredited Practising Dietitians for help.

Centre employees include Consultants, who work with clients weekly as "partners in lifestyle change" to motivate them, assist them with their weekly menu and activity planning, and provide them with personalised strategies to help them on their weight loss journeys. Program Directors give clients free informational consultations and tours of the Centre, and the Centre Leader is responsible for all daily Centre operations.

On Jenny, you'll gradually increase your activity through a combination of natural, planned and playful physical activities, learning how to incorporate more activity into your everyday routine.

• Natural activities include everyday tasks such as washing dishes or light cleaning - even shopping! You'll learn to identify opportunities for activity that you might not be aware of, like walking around during your child's football game or vacuuming during the TV commercials.
• Planned activities make sure your exercise regimen is well-rounded, incorporating cardio, resistance, and stretching. Examples include weightlifting, walking, yoga, kickboxing or aerobic dance.
• Playful activities give permission for you to take the time to be active without taking quality time away from family and friends. Instead of going to a movie with friends, try dancing, cycling or joining your kids for tag or basketball.

Adapted from: Blair, Dunn, Marcus, Carpenter and Jaret. Active Living Every Day: 20 Steps to Lifelong Vitality, Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics, 2001.

Research has shown that an active lifestyle is a critical factor in successful weight loss. While it's true that physical activity supports consistent weight loss, its role is even more critical in long-term weight loss. In research conducted by the National Weight Control Registry in the US, of 4500 individuals who have lost at least 13 kilograms and kept it off for one year, it was found that such individuals, on average, are physically active for 60 minutes a day. During your consultations, your Jenny Consultant will work with you to identify barriers to physical activity - and help you develop plans to overcome those barriers and stay motivated to follow through. Keep in mind it's not a strenuous exercise regimen, but an active lifestyle that makes the difference between weight maintainers and weight re-gainers!

Jenny's exercise component was developed in consultation with the world-renowned Cooper Institute and encourages clients to gradually increase activity through a combination of natural, planned and playful physical activities¹. Your Jenny Craig Consultant will work with you to develop a personalised, staged approach that starts where you are right now and builds from there.

In research conducted by the National Weight Control Registry in the US, of 4500 individuals who have lost at least 13 kilograms and kept it off for one year, it was found that such individuals, on average, are physically active for 60 minutes a day. The good news is, the "exercise" is a combination of walking, resistance, and "natural" activity. The bottom line: it's not a strenuous exercise regimen, but an active lifestyle that makes the difference between maintainers and weight re-gainers. At Jenny Craig, you'll learn strategies for building an active lifestyle to enhance your own success.

¹JAMA. 1999; 281 (4) : 327 - 334

If you're already doing a great job being regularly active, your Jenny Craig Consultant will work with you to develop a personalised, staged approach that might include adding some new activities. The best activity plan for weight loss includes cardio, resistance and stretching. If you've focused primarily on moderate-intensity activities like walking or cycling, why not boost your metabolism with some resistance training? If you're already doing both, you might focus on the mind and body benefits of stretching activities like yoga. Your Consultant will assess what stage you are in when you begin the Program. As you progress, we will re-check your stage and continue to tailor your activities.

While losing weight on the Program is certainly not a prerequisite for becoming an employee, many staff members have experienced success as clients on the Program. Their personal experiences give them an even greater insight into offering clients timely suggestions and encouragement.

Contact the Centre nearest you by calling 1300-4-JENNY. The Centre Director will let you know the best way to pursue employment opportunities in the area. To view current job openings, please visit our Job Opportunities page.