Has anyone witnessed any record or known pattern of better results using the planned menu vs a menu of personal choices?
I am doing the program again after having done it about eight years ago. I am loosing wieght alot slower than I was back then. Aside from the normal changes in my metabolism that have probably occurred since then, I was thinking that maybe I have been making the wrong menu choices.
Too many starches in one day, ECT?
There has to be a reason why there is a planned menu in the first place, and a reason why when you get the planned menu, you can not interchange foods between days. I think I will start getting planned menu's again. Please Advise

By the way, the reason I asked is because when I did the program back in 97, I don't remember actually picking my own foods until later in the program. If I remember correctly, picking your own foods was the second baby step towards maintainance, right before slowly incorporating regular food into your weekly menu.
I also remember eating alot of stuff that I would have NEVER have picked out on my own.

I think the point of the preplanned menu is to allow you to try almost everything that is offered by JC. I was doing the preplanned menus for the first 18 weeks I was following the program, and my counsellor suggested a couple of weeks ago that I try the personalized menu, where I can choose what I want to eat. Even though I didn't say it, she was worried that I was going to start getting bored with the food. I went online and created my menu, and found that you are given additional foods to compensate on those "lower fat" or "lower carb" days, like adding peanuts or crackers and cheese. It is good to do the personalized menu, because that way you won't get bored with the same old, same old. You can choose what you like, and go from there.
You can start introducing "normal" foods once you hit your half-way point, which is about 11 pounds away for me today. I have been eating "normal" foods sometimes, because of business lunches, dinners out with friends, etc., and have been able to deal with it and still lose. It is a way to slowly introduce portion control into your diet, where as the prepackaged foods have been doing the work for you in the beginning. It helps with the prepackaged foods, because it gives you an idea of how much food you should be eating.

I did both a few years back. I know that I always did better on the personalized because I really disliked some of the stuff on the planned menus. When I didn't like the food, I was more likely to cheat with "bad" stuff.

I saw a post about the personalized vs. planned and the plan being "better" for you and I asked my consultant in a sheer panick worrying if i'd been doing something wrong for months. She said you could pick any lunch you want and dinner you want etc. and that each lunch was caloricaly the same or close to it, and if they weren't they had the add ons for the lower cal ones.....I also calculated if you had the highest calorie food for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack and they only totaled 1000....the extra 200, 500 700 etc comes from your milks, fruits, fats and veggies.....so do what is right for you....personally I'm going to eat what I like otherwise I'll find the nearest McDonalds when it comes to soups on the planned menus! Good luck

Thanks Ladies!
I put this on the “Ask the Dietician” board, but I wanted to hear the opinions of fellow members as well! You are right about those soups!
I still have a garlic and potato soup from my very first week back in January!
It may be good, but I am just afraid to try it. But who knows? I didn’t think I would like the bean and bacon, but it is actually ok . . . not my favorite, but doable I guess

I LOVE the potato soup! I thought it was really good. Sprinkle a little black pepper on there for some zip.

I HATE the bean and bacon soup! Oh my God!! The potato soup isn't bad, it's kind of like clam chowder (New England style) without the clams. Something this East Coast chick needs to have, otherwise it's just a cruel tease. I avoid it because I want the real deal from Legal Seafood!!

The only remaining question I have about the planned menu versus the personal menu is that, if the foods are measured out and tweaked with add ons to have the same calorie counts, I still don't know why you are not allowed to mix food between days on the planned menu.
There has to be some sort of special sequence they have the food in to optimize results. Otherwise it would not matter right?
I match the foods up the way I want them on my personal menu; whats the difference in having your chocolate cake on monday even though it's listed for thursday on the planned menu? There has to be something to this and I am not getting the connection.

The dietician has addressed this issue in the past and it is my understanding that the planned menus are done by a computer so as to be more exact in calories and exchanges than the personalized menus.
With the personalized menu, you can go over calories and be over on exchanges..especially starches. There isnt that much of a difference though, and the thinking is that if you enjoy the foods you are eating, you are more likely to stick with the program. If your weight loss is a little slower than you like, you can always try the planned menus for a week or two and see if it makes a difference.