DAY 22

As much as I hate dieting, and have no doubt I seriously do, Jenny Craig seems to agree with me. Aside from the obvious weight loss benefits, my body just runs a little better. It’s like I switched to putting super unleaded in my tank. I just feel more efficient. I can’t say I have more energy exactly. It’s more like I am less exhausted and don’t feel like turning on Sesame Street for my toddler while I go crawl under a rock. That’s a big plus in my book!

There are also a few other perks I have noticed almost immediately. Not to get too gross but…well…my bowels function better. I have IBS, which has caused me no end of pain and suffering over the years. Even though JC includes some of the foods that I am not supposed to eat, such as tomatoes, onions, any raw vegetable and chocolate (I know, doesn’t it suck?), for some reason I don’t have nearly as much pain and bloating. I also have an interesting physical condition that I was born with. My colon is twisted and pinched in 16 different places, which according to medical science is 12 more than normal. This is apparently heart-stoppingly exciting to Gastroenterologists. After surgery one time, my doctor exclaimed, “ your colon is out of this world! It’s like a water park in there.” Fantastic. Living with this “water park” means that anytime I eat, which unfortunately happens pretty much every day, I feel a lot of pain as the food pushes through the teeny, tiny pinched sections of my intestine. Yes, eating is such a joy. I have several medications and have been to the hospital a few times. More on that later.

The point of all this is to say that on JC I have felt much less pain. I really don’t know why though. My totally unprofessional opinion is that JC is low fat and that ultimately matters more than anything else for my body. Also, the portions are small which means less food pushing it’s way around my intestines. In addition to these factors, my body has pretty quickly adapted to the routine. I eat a banana or part of my breakfast meal, exercise, then eat the rest of breakfast, followed by a late lunch and dinner. I am on more of a routine for everything (including sleeping) because the diet kind of forces me to and it is almost like my body anticipates this and acts accordingly. It is really hard to explain. Either way, it works and I can’t complain. My only concern is that doing the Jenny Craig diet means living out of a box. Ultimately it isn’t the healthiest or cheapest way to eat and impossible to maintain long term. But, I’ll worry about that later. Right now, it’s all good!