Weight loss programs can provide support for your health journey when you want some help to change your habits. Finding a suitable program that works for you and your lifestyle can be difficult. Everyone is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. It ultimately depends on what suits your individual needs and what fits into your lifestyle.
To save you some tiresome research and help to answer some important questions, this guide compares two popular weight loss programs; Jenny Craig (NZ) and Second Nature.
Jenny Craig (NZ) and Second Nature focus on sustainable weight loss by promoting consumption of a wide variety of whole foods. Both programs offer dedicated support to members regularly throughout the program from either an Accredited Practising Dietitian (Second Nature) or consultant (Jenny Craig).
However, there are some notable differences between the programs especially when it comes to nutrition ethos. Jenny Craig (NZ) focuses on portion and calorie control, providing clients with standard pre-packaged and ready-made meal options. In contrast, Second Nature empower clients to cook their own meals, using various recipes from their app. Second Nature take a lower carbohydrate nutrition approach to help clients with both weight management and blood sugar control.
The Second Nature program also looks at more than just nutrition, encompassing mindset, exercise, sleep and stress into their education pillars. These pillars are crucial in building a healthy balanced lifestyle, and are discussed throughout different sections of the app; educational articles, exercise ideas/workouts and guides.
Whilst support is offered to members on both programs, there are also some differences with regards to coach/consultant availability. Second Nature offer support from a dedicated Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD), Monday to Friday, via a built-in group online platform. Jenny Craig (NZ) members are offered in-person or online support; however, consultations are only available once per week and must be booked in by members. It is unknown what health qualifications Jenny Craig (NZ) consultants hold.
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Trustpilot score
Trustpilot is a platform where consumers can leave reviews and scores reflect overall customer satisfaction.
| Jenny Craig (NZ) | Second Nature | |
| Star rating |  |
 |
| Score | currently no reviews | 4.8 / 5 read reviews |
Signing up
| Jenny Craig (NZ) | Second Nature | |
| Free trial | ✗ | ✓ |
| Clear breakdown of costs | ✓ | ✓ |
| Clear cancellation policy | ✓ | ✓ |
| Length of program | Ongoing subscription (1 week minimum) | 12 week minimum, then ongoing |
| Easy to cancel | ✓ | ✓ |
| Refund policy | 5 Day Satisfaction Guarantee on your first order of meals *This can only be used once, on your first order |
Full refund if cancelled within 14 days. After this point, any charges non-refundable. |
| Refer-a-friend scheme | ✓ | ✓ ($10 credit for referring family or friends.) |
| Easy to include family | ✗ | ✓ |
Nutrition
| Jenny Craig (NZ) | Second Nature | |
| Dietary approach | Portion Controlled | Lower-carb |
| Caters to vegetarian | ✓ | ✓ |
| Caters to vegan | ✗ | ✓ |
| Vegetarian/vegan recipe section | ✓ (Vegetarian only) |
✓ |
| Supplements encouraged | ✓ | ✗ (Other than Vitamin D.) |
Support
| Jenny Craig (NZ) | Second Nature | |
| Tailors the plan around diabetes | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tailors the plan around other health issues | ✓ | ✓ |
| Access to registered dietitian or nutritionist | Qualifications of Jenny Craig (NZ) consultants is unclear | ✓ |
| Coaches based locally in Australia and New Zealand | ✓ | ✓ |
| Assigned to local support group (timezone friendly) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Weekend support available | ✓ | ✓ |
| Daily support from coach | ✗ | ✓ |
Program features
| Jenny Craig (NZ) | Second Nature | |
| Encourages daily weigh-ins | ✗ | ✗ |
| Makes you take numerous body measurements | ✗ | ✗ |
| App | ✗ | ✓ |
| Recipe videos | ✗ | ✓ |
| Exercise videos | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tracks steps | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tracks exercise | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tracks water intake | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tracks custom habits | ✓ | ✓ |
| Education of nutrition science | ✓ | ✓ |
| Requires calorie counting | ✗ (however, meal plan is calorie based) |
✗ |
| Food diary feature | ✓ | ✓ |
| Meal planning tool | ✓ | ✓ |
| In-app journalling tool | ✗ | ✓ |
Pricing
When programs provide price plans in different formats, it can be hard to accurately compare prices. To make this easier, we have calculated the price of monthly basic price plans on each program. All admin fees are included in these prices.
When comparing the two, the Second Nature program works out to be significantly cheaper than Jenny Craig (NZ), not only secondary to cost but also value for money. While both programs offer a dedicated coach/consultant, the Second Nature health coaches are all Accredited Practising Dietitians and provide support five days per week. Consultations are offered once per week on the Jenny Craig (NZ) program and the qualifications of Jenny Craig consultants are unknown.
Registration to a professional body requires a nationally recognised nutrition or dietetics degree. Weekly face-to-face sessions with a registered dietitian or nutritionist can be very expensive ($40-$100/hour). We have added a column representing this to compare costs (Weekly Nutritionist – WN).
Monthly (basic) digital subscriptions:
| Jenny Craig (NZ) | Second Nature | Weekly Nutritionist | |
| Registered dietitian or nutritionist coach | Qualifications of consultants are unclear | ✓ | ✓ |
| The same, personal coach throughout the programme | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Price | ~$615 / month* | $75 / month | $300 / month |
Example nutrition query response
Nutrition is a major part of any weight loss journey. Therefore, it is important to receive accurate and reliable nutrition advice. We asked each program a common nutrition-related query to see how the information provided as an answer compares.
Q: Are eggs bad for your cholesterol? Should I avoid them?
Jenny Craig (NZ)‘s answer:
“All of our delicious meals and snacks are incorporated into nutritionally balanced menus based on the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and the Ministry of Health Guidelines in New Zealand. Our focus is on taste and portion control to maintain a healthy balance that includes all food groups. We design healthier versions of the foods our members love to eat so losing weight at Jenny Craig can still include the foods that you love to eat”
Second Nature’s answer:
“Eggs are a rich source of dietary cholesterol. It was previously thought that cholesterol-containing foods increase blood cholesterol and the risk of heart disease and strokes. However, this has not been shown to be the case as dietary cholesterol is poorly absorbed from the digestive system, and if cholesterol is absorbed, the body will produce less of it to balance out (and prevent blood cholesterol levels rising). Therefore, you do not need to be restricted unless recommended to do so from your GP/Healthcare professional. Eggs are among the most nutritious foods on the planet providing good quality protein as well as being loaded with vitamins and minerals.”
Take home message
- When choosing a weight loss program, it is important to consider which program would fit into your lifestyle and help you achieve your goals.
- For those who find face-to-face weight loss meetings uncomfortable or inconvenient, online and digitally led programs are a better option.
- Jenny Craig (NZ) offers support to clients digitally and in-person whilst Second Nature is fully available online.
- The Second Nature program gives you access to recipes, exercise videos, meal planning tools and allows you to track exercise, sleep, steps, water intake and custom habits. Support is provided by an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD), Monday to Friday.
- Jenny Craig (NZ) provides ready made meals as well as education and support to members through weekly consultations. No in-app group support is available and the qualifications of the Jenny Craig consultants are unclear
- Both Second Nature and Jenny Craig (NZ) provide you with an education of nutrition science, allowing you to make informed decisions and develop a healthy relationship with food in the long-term.
