Kick starting the new year with a new me

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I'm not going to say that my weight is the biggest struggle in my life; it's one of those things that is often in the back of my mind (Do I *really* need that third slice of pizza?) and as I get older, it becomes more and more clear to me that I need to be proactive if I hope to stay in decent shape and maintain my health.

Like so many other folks, I look at the new year as a chance to start fresh, to promote new habits, break old ones, that sort of thing. As I make a list of things about myself I like and don't like, the way my jeans fit is one of those super annoying things for me… I seriously wish they made half sizes sometimes! I'm trapped in this middle size of baggy butts or uncomfortably snug.

I can tell when I'm not feeling so great in my body; I generally avoid the camera. I take almost zero selfies and will avoid when I see people pull theirs out to snap a pic. I snapped the pic below when Jamie and I were out a couple of weeks ago; I love the composition of all the stickers (dive bar bathrooms are fascinating, aren't they?) but I hated how round my face looked.

This is why I jumped at the chance to try out Jenny Craig for a month; I figured it would be a great way to kickstart myself back into good habits, to get my skinny jeans back to being my comfy jeans, and to get ready for the big 4-0 coming this summer. I lost almost 50 lbs with Shaklee180 a few years ago, and have kept about half of it off, but like I said, I'd like to get back into my smaller sizes.

I know *how* to make good choices, to pay attention to my serving sizes and moderate myself when I do have a splurge day, but it's easy to get lost as well, and my good habits have fallen by the wayside and the weight has crept back on. In short, I make bad choices when it's cold outside. I'm super sensitive to temperature, so cold winter weather makes me crave comfort foods that are smothered in cheese and bacon. I love a good salad, but not if I'm cold. This is why, every year, I gain winter weight and drop most of it back off once the weather warms back up.

Taking advantage of the Jenny Craig program allows me to still have those delicious comfort foods, but it's also helping retrain my brain to think about portion sizes and choices.

I'm midway through week three right now; in the first two weeks, I lost just over 6 lbs. (Results not typical. Members following the Jenny Craig program, on average, lose 1-2 lbs. per week. I received promotional consideration.) I love how simple it is to stay on track. I meet once a week with my consultant, Megan, at the local Jenny Craig clinic. We review my week, any challenges I had, and then we set up my menus for the coming week.

I leave my appointment with everything I need for 7 days; I supplement with fruits and veggies, and sometimes yogurt, but otherwise, everything is provided. Jenny Craig isn't about fads or gimmicks, it's about good, nutritious food in healthy portion sizes.

I am doing the standard plan, but there's also the option to personalize your menu every week; I've enjoyed almost everything that I've eaten so far; the quality is excellent and if I do have something that I don't like, there's always a couple of substitution options you can choose from.

One day on Jenny Craig

Here is an example of a day's allotted food; I had an omelette and shake for breakfast, an “Anytime Bar” for a morning snack, then Chicken Street Tacos for lunch. I supplement with 2 cups of salad, and the dressing is provided. Afternoon snack is 1 serving of fruit (Hooray for Cuties!) and then dinner is meatloaf, and there's hummus and crackers for a snack in the evening. That evening snack alternates between sweet and savory; it's hummus and crackers today, it was key lime pie yesterday. 🙂

I'm confident that Jenny Craig is the perfect tool to help get me back on track with my goals. I'll be posting again in a couple of weeks with more information and a look back at the month… drop me a comment below if you have anything specific you'd like me to cover, or if you have any questions I didn't answer!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.