Fat Camps & The Biggest Loser: How Wellspring is Different
Contestants in the Biggest Loser TV show accomplish amazing results. Every week you watch the weigh-ins and see dramatic changes. It's exciting and impressive.
But what about the rest of us? We don't have fitness trainers encouraging us from morning 'til night, nor can we focus entire months of our lives on weight loss like on The Biggest Loser. Plus, if you ever had a gym membership or participated in fitness classes, you know sustainable weight loss is about more than a good workout.
Unfortunately, there is a culture surrounding many weight loss programs that encourages yo-yo dieting and weight loss that is not sustainable. This is often the case with weight loss vacations for women (often called 'fat camps' for women in popular culture). It's important to us that you understand how Wellspring is different than the 'fat camps' you may have heard about elsewhere.
Fat Camps for Women Do Not Promote Long-Term Weight Loss
Fat camps often do help people lose weight while they are at the program. Restricted diets, forced activity, and the isolated environment of a fat camp will very likely result in weight loss. However, fat camps do not prepare you for life back home and the many challenges you'll face along the way to your goal weight.
At Wellspring, we begin preparing you for your return home from the very start of your time with us. You'll receive textbooks, a pedometer and a self-monitoring journal to get you started on a vacation of fun, motivation and continued success. We provide you with a Masters- or Doctoral-level Behavior Coach to help you work through the barriers that have kept you from sustained weight loss in the past, and we train you to make healthy choices in real-life situations. You'll visit grocery stores and restaurants, learning how to eat “on program” even in tempting situations. And we make sure you leave Wellspring with a concrete plan for success and the ongoing support you need to meet your weight loss goals.
Fat Camps for Women Do Not Provide an Integrated Approach to Weight Loss
Many women attend traditional fat camps every year, believing they've finally found a long-term solution to their weight loss issues. Unfortunately, most of these women realize after returning home that the weight loss issues they experienced before camp have not been resolved.
The reason that fat camps don't help women resolve their weight issues is they do not provide an integrated approach to weight loss. To lose weight and keep it off, you need a realistic approach that integrates fitness, diet, culinary, and lifestyle change. The Women's Program at Wellspring La Jolla is one of the few weight loss programs to provide this full spectrum of guidance and training for guests.
Fat Camps for Women Do Not Provide Continuing Care
If you attend a traditional fat camp for women, you'll get up every day and do the exercises expected of you and eat the food provided for you. But what happens when you return home? Who will motivate you to keep working toward your goal even when you're having a really bad day? What will keep you from returning to old habits?
At Wellspring, we've built this ongoing support into our program. We call it Continuing Care, and it's free until June 1, 2012. Not only is it free, but we believe so strongly in the importance of our Continuing Care program, that we'll give you a $700 Continuing Care Award for completing the first 3 months of the program. You'll be able to log on from the privacy of your own home, receive support from your Behavior Coach, log your activity and food everyday, and measure your progress toward your long-term goals.
At Wellspring Women's Program, we understand that long-term weight loss is a significant challenge. And unlike fat camps, we're dedicated to making it possible for every woman to achieve her weight loss goals.
While the majority of participants do lose weight during their time with us, participation in Wellspring Women's Program should be viewed as the start of a journey, not the destination, and the education you'll receive is equal to the weight you lose.