Hi Everyone....
Been on JC for only a pathetic 4 days. I am finding that I'm not crazy about 90% of the food I've eaten thus far....I feel miserable and just irritated that I haven't been able to "suck it up so early in the game. I'm wondering if anyone had a similar experience and if so, did you substitue some Lean Cusine or Smart Ones this early? If so, did it compromise your overall program/weight loss.
Thanks.

If you are only on your 4th day, you certainly have not exhausted all of the JC food options that are available to you yet, so I wouldn't recommend giving up on JC food just yet.

Before going off of JC food, I would recommend trying a personalized menu. Look at a JC order form and just order things that you DID like, or that you think you might like. Also, try adding veggies or spices that you like to these foods. I am a chili powder addict, and add it to everything from my Turkey Chili to my Mac and Cheese to my Fajitas. I also love salsa, and add that to the Broccoli and Cheese potato and the fajitas. I love Old Bay, and put it on my fish and chips, and my salmon. I also love soy sauce, so I add that to my potstickers. Think about what you DO like, and figure out ways to incorporate that into your JC food.

Just make sure that you give JC a full out try before giving up on it, because it does work if you use it the way it is designed. Look at my ticker, and those of all of the other posters, and you will see that this is true.

Are you eating everything straight out of the box, or have you tried anything to jazz it up a bit? The chicken sandwich is WAY better if you toast the buns, dice or shred the chicken, and throw in some BBQ sauce. Most asian style entrees I add a 1/2 bag of stir-fry veggies and a little extra teriyaki sauce. I add FF sour cream to the swedish meatballs to make it taste more like stroganoff. I add salsa to just about everything else, including mac & cheese! Lentils & beef taste wonderful made into a big bowl of stew with extra veggies added. Turkey chili and the chili con carne both taste FAB made into a taco salad, and I sorta do a similar thing with the Southwest chicken w/ rice and beans also. Fajitas can be turned into Moo Shu chicken if you ditch the seasoning packet and add teriyaki sauce, along some mushrooms and cabbage if you like.

Take care,
Angela

I agree that jazzing up the meals with added things is the way to go!

But I also did some substitutions early on and found that I did fine as long as I kept to the portion sizes and emphasized lots of veggies.

For example, right from day 1 I made my own breakfasts. I either made oatmeal or shredded wheat. I don't like most cold cereal and if I have eggs I prefer them simply scrambled so I knew I would not like most of the breakfast items.

Another thing I quickly started to substitute were the snacks. However, it is important to watch the protein and carbs. JC snacks tend to be a little higher in protein and lower in carbs then their counter parts. Kashi bars were substituted for some of the candy bar like snacks, and Sun Chips for the Bruschetta or that other one that is cheesy.

But of course, I loved the lemon cake and cheese cakes! I also only ordered food I knew I would like instead of following the premade plan. That is because I am a picky eater. I really dislike anything made with green or red peppers for example. Lots of JC food is made with those so I avoid them.

Bubble Bee chicken salad with crackers is what I substituted for their chicken salad kit. Instead of applesauce, I carry an apple so I think I end up with more fiber in the end too. I made this substitution because I wanted to save money. I like the salad kits myself.

I didn't substitute much by using Lean Cuisine or other frozen dinners because I don't like them either. But, Swanns make the BEST lean pizza's. Their crust is whole wheat with flax seeds too so the nutrients is higher. I like them better then the JC pizza's and they are a lot less expensive.

I found a lot of JC foods that I really like though so from the start I was happy with JC!

I had to stop buying JC foods back in October because I lost my income and I have had to rely on food pantry's, etc. I try to follow the basic plan that I had with JC in portions, etc. and I am not losing weight as fast but I have still lost some weight instead of gaining weight under this stress.

I had a very similar question on the 100+ board. I hated 5 or 6 of the meals in the first week and I was feeling very down. I, too, thought that maybe I just had a bad attitude or just wasn't that committed. I am on the bi-weekly shipping schedule, so I told my JCC about the foods I didn't like and she let me replace them on the order that I was to receive for the 2nd shipment. I have switched over to the personalized menu for my second month and I am looking very forward to it. I chose items that I had tried and I knew I liked.

There are some items I hadn't gotten to try before I made the changes to my order so I'm struggling through this last week of the planned menu with the gumbo, the broccoli and cheese baked potato and some of the shelf stable lunches, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am glad that I started out on the planned menu because I really liked some things I didn't think I would and really disliked some of the things I thought I would like. I would hestiate to start substituting right away. Try everything and, if you hate it, don't finish it. Try to fill in with fruits and vegetables so you're not hungry. Hang in there. It gets better.