It is day 2 and I have already run into trouble with the diet. My consultant assured me that I would not be hungry if I followed the guidelines exactly. The plan requires that the participant eat every few hours in order to avoid hunger pains. The theory sounded good but in practice it has yet to work out as well. It’s not that the food is bad. It basically tastes like Lean Cuisine or any other prepackaged frozen diet food. But the portions are small and the fruit “snacks” are just not enough to keep me from feeling like I’m starving. I assumed everyone felt this way but my good friend who started the diet at the same time I did, says he feels fine and is never hungry. This of course makes me want to strangle him. Who says things like that?
My consultant explained that on Jenny Craig I am allowed as many vegetables as I like (no carb restrictions here). She encouraged me to eat salads and vegetables with every meal and whenever I feel hungry. There are a few Asian entrees on JC and so working stir-fry into these meals has not been a problem. I have eaten huge salads with my meals and stir fried zucchini, squash, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. So far, all I feel is bloated and irritable. On the flip side, I’m sure that I am losing weight because I feel as if I am digesting my own stomach lining. The hunger gets worse at night. I have always been a night eater so I suspect the hunger will continue to bother me more at night. My environment doesn’t help either. I am home from the distraction of work and am around toddler food. I am trying to convince my son to embrace vegetables and lose the chicken nuggets and hot dogs but he is slow to warm up. It might be too much to hope for.