Jenny Craig, Inc., one of the nation's leading authorities on weight management, launched its biggest programme innovation in its 27-year history of weight management: the new Metabolic Max Program.  In this new program innovation, Jenny Craig is taking an intensive approach to monitor and increase activity by accurately measuring calories burned to help clients achieve meaningful weight loss.

The Metabolic Max Program is the next generation of the signature Jenny Craig programme because it incorporates the technology from the BodyMedia FIT Armband and BodyMedia FIT Activity Manager data, giving consultants and clients valuable, accurate information about the amount of calories burned, as well as gives clients online tools to self-monitor their caloric intake and activity levels. In a client's weekly one-on-one consultation, the consultant reviews the client's caloric intake and activity levels for the week, and adjusts the program accordingly to help clients maximize their weight loss efforts.

Research shows that those who self-monitor are more successful with losing and maintaining their weight. In fact, self-monitoring can even influence food and activity choices. The Metabolic Max Program gives clients an additional tool to strengthen the accuracy of food logging and activity tracking. By logging their menus in the BodyMedia Activity Manager online and wearing the BodyMedia FIT Armband, clients can more precisely measure their caloric intake and metabolic rate throughout the day. This tool combined with the Jenny Craig Consultant gives clients greater control over their program and their weight loss results.

"What is great about the Metabolic Max programme is that you can see how small amounts of activity can add up to something substantial," said Dr. Timothy Church, Director of the Laboratory of Preventative Medicine at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of Louisiana State University. "You don't have to spend an hour at the gym to achieve your activity goals, but you can identify lifestyle opportunities to increase your activity, like parking in the farthest parking spot or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. This type of activity accumulates and increases your fitness level.  This new program takes the guess work out of the equation."

The Metabolic Max Program offers an even more personalized approach to weight loss by tailoring the Jenny Craig program to clients' unique metabolism to maximize their weight loss efforts.

"We have always been able to monitor the amount of 'calories in' with our pre-portioned meals and nutritional plans, but we are the only weight loss company to offer a personalized approach to monitor calories in and measure the amount of calories out with the Metabolic Max Program," said Patti Larchet, CEO of Jenny Craig, Inc. "Achieving weight loss goals requires more than a diet; it requires a comprehensive food-body-mind approach that leads to lifestyle changes. With the Metabolic Max Program, our Jenny Craig Consultants support clients how to monitor and adopt healthier eating habits and activity plans that fit within their lifestyles, while providing strategies and tools for all types of situations."

Clients can review their activity and calorie burn throughout the day with the data collected by the BodyMedia FIT Armband. This device measures how many calories clients burn at any given time they are wearing the device. This data is then uploaded to the BodyMedia FIT Activity Manager, an online database that allows clients to review their activity in real time, as well as enter their Jenny Craig planned menus.

Jenny Craig is a clinically proven weight loss program that helps clients lose weight and maintain their weight loss, as well as adopt healthier lifestyle habits, such as eating more fruits and vegetables, increasing cardiopulmonary fitness, and improving quality of life. In a clinical trial published in the October 27, 2010, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Jenny Craig participants lost an average of 10% of their body weight after one year compared to 2% of those who dieted on their own.

"The clinical trial proves what we have always known, that Jenny Craig works," said Lisa Talamini, vice president of research and programme innovation at Jenny Craig Inc. "We want to take our clinically proven program to the next level with the Metabolic Max Program. This new program provides powerful information that holds clients accountable to incorporate more activity into their lives, as well as help them make smarter food choices when they dine on their own."

Jenny Craig is the only weight loss company to offer a personalized, one-on-one approach to weight loss with nutritionally balanced, pre-portioned meals that serve as a model for portion control, teaching the Volumetrics approach that encourages clients to eat more fruits and vegetables to feel satiated with less calories, and providing personalized activity plans and lifestyle strategies tailored for each client.

"We are committed to combating the obesity epidemic and are always researching new, leading edge ways to help clients achieve their weight loss goals," said Larchet.  "There are more than 70 million obese individuals in the United States, and more than 31 percent of American children who are overweight. We are determined to fight obesity by starting at the head of the family unit by teaching them healthy habits that will influence the entire family."

Jenny Craig offers a comprehensive Food-Body-Mind programme designed to help clients manage their weight by creating a healthy relationship with food, building an active lifestyle and developing a balanced approach to living.

With its tailored YourStyle programme, Jenny Craig is committed to a personalized approach to weight loss by offering each client a one-on-one weekly consultation and a customized weight management plan designed to optimize individual success. With more than 80 delicious Jenny's Cuisine menu items, Jenny Craig's program is available in-centre and our at-home program, Jenny Craig at Home.

Jenny Craig, Inc., based in Carlsbad, California, and owned by Nestle, is one of the world's largest weight management companies, with more than 725 company-owned and franchised Centres in the United States, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico.