Top Five Components of Successful Weight Loss
By
Meghan Vivo
August 01, 2008
The whole world knows Americans love to eat – but they also love to diet. A quick poll of your friends and family will confirm this fact. Roughly 40 percent of women and 25 percent of men are currently trying to lose weight. Among adolescents, federal surveys suggest 44 percent of female and 15 percent of male high school students are trying to shed pounds. Even though most people believe that eating fewer calories and exercising more are the best ways to lose weight, studies show at least one-third of dieters regain all of the weight they lost. Where did we go wrong?
Laura P. Svetkey, MD, a professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., was quoted in the Journal of the American Medical Association as suggesting the following steps to keep weight off long-term:
- Adopt a healthy diet
- Focus on lifestyle changes you can sustain
- Reduce calorie intake
- Keep notes daily on how much you eat and exercise
- Set specific, realistic goals you can meet
- Seek encouragement from family, friends, and co-workers
- Remind yourself again and again of your original motivation and the health benefits of weight loss
Finding a weight loss program that follows each of these principles isn’t always easy. While some promote fad diets that can’t be maintained beyond a few months and others make unrealistic promises, there is one program that has been recognized for achieving some of the best weight loss results ever recorded in children, adolescents, and young adults: Wellspring camps and academies.
Wellspring offers weight loss camps, boarding schools, and community programs throughout the U.S., and in England and Australia, that emphasize long-term, sustainable weight loss and lifestyle change. The following are five critical elements that make weight loss programs like Wellspring so effective.
1. Personal Responsibility
There aren’t many things in life that are distinctly our own – but our bodies are one of them. With ownership comes the responsibility to take care of ourselves. This is one of the first lessons students at Wellspring camps and academies learn: You will lose weight and feel better if you actively engage in the program, but your success is in your own hands.
In order to help students take accountability for their own thoughts and behaviors, Wellspring provides each child with a self-monitoring journal. In it, students record what they eat, how much activity they get, and how they feel on a daily basis. The journal becomes an outlet for processing difficult emotions, as well as a personal weight loss history.
“Wellspring students are free to make their own choices,” explains Rachel Thomas, MA, a therapist at Wellspring Academy in California. “All we ask is that they record everything in their self-monitoring journal. That way, if they stop losing weight for a week, we can look back in their journals, pinpoint the problem, and identify better ways to cope next time.”
Of course, self-awareness alone isn’t enough – behavioral change is critical. But the best way to get adolescents motivated is to give them the gift of personal accountability, says Wellspring therapist Christopher D’Andrea, MA. “We encourage students to develop a ‘healthy obsession,’” he says. “If students make this program a high priority, and are actively engaged on a daily basis, they will lose weight, feel amazing, and maintain their results long-term.”
2. A Scientific Approach to Weight Loss
Weight loss programs that achieve long-term success are founded on well-established scientific principles rather than the latest fads and trends. Many people lose weight on low-carb plans or by doing high-intensity exercise seven days a week, but lasting weight loss depends on choosing a program that can be maintained for the rest of your life.
Wellspring’s approach is based on 30 years of scientific studies, using weight loss tools that have been proven to work. Clinical Director Dr. Daniel Kirschenbaum and the members of the
advisory board of Wellspring are among the world’s leading experts in weight loss.
Together, Wellspring’s founders developed a weight loss program that is simple and sustainable: Consume less than 20 grams of fat, take at least 10,000 steps, and record your information in a journal each day. According to Wellspring therapist Aki Morita, Ph.D., people get discouraged by the tediousness of points systems and complicated fad diets that allow people to eat certain foods one week and different foods the next.
“At Wellspring, simple means sustainable, and that’s the ultimate goal,” says Morita. “We’re not selling miracle pills – this program takes time and effort. But the challenges make it all the more rewarding when students start seeing results.”
3. Emotional Support for Long-Term Behavioral Change
Understanding the science of a healthy diet and exercise regimen is a critical step in the weight loss process, but equally important is learning to make long-term lifestyle changes. Decades of research have shown that psychoanalysis, popular prior to 1965, is not an effective way to address the thoughts and behaviors that contribute to overweight and obesity. Instead, behavioral scientists have demonstrated that cognitive-behavioral therapy has the greatest impact on changing unhealthy habits.
“It may come as a surprise to some people that diet and exercise aren’t the only pieces of the puzzle,” says Cristina Valle, MA, a therapist at Wellspring Academy in California. “Lasting weight loss is about a shift in mentality, a new relationship with food, and genuine lifestyle change. At Wellspring, we give students the tools to make all of these things happen – it’s up to them to make good choices out in the real world.”
In a controlled environment like Wellspring, students get a glimpse of how life can be without eating high-fat foods, playing video games all day, or turning to food for comfort. Students have all of the resources they need – healthy meals, personal trainers, therapeutic support – right at their fingertips.
“Human beings are incredibly adaptable,” states Wellspring therapist Bob Rice, MA. “Once you try a new approach, you can learn to feel comfortable with nutritional eating, and you can make exercise part of everyday life, especially once you realize it makes you less stressed, more energetic, and feel good about yourself and the world. If you get out of your comfort zone and change your habits, the weight problem takes care of itself.”
When someone is overweight or obese, the weight issue is usually so intertwined with emotional issues and lifestyle that all of these factors have to be addressed simultaneously, Rice explains. Wellspring therapists, also called “behavioral coaches,” use a poster with 30 descriptions of emotions to help students assess how they’re feeling, and visually and cognitively connect their eating habits to their emotions.
“Even students with a profound case of ADHD or bipolar disorder are able to successfully lose weight at Wellspring,” notes Rice. “Where they once had two solutions to their problems, like turning to food or video games, they now have dozens of healthy alternatives to choose from, like exercise, painting, or reading. Over time, the old behaviors get reinforced less and die off, leaving behind only the healthy coping mechanisms.”
4. Individualized Treatment Plans
Every person is different and complex, with different likes and dislikes, and strengths and weaknesses. That means the same weight loss plan won’t work for every person. At Wellspring, master’s and doctoral level therapists create individualized treatment plans for each student, which include one-on-one therapy, a nutritionist-created meal plan, and a personal trainer and personalized fitness plan – all based on each child’s particular goals, interests, and abilities.
“Having a trusted therapist you can go to any time, who will celebrate your successes and pick you up when you’re down, made all the difference for me,” says Regina Atwood, a former Wellspring camper who returned years later as a camp counselor. “My behavioral coach got me through the ups, the downs, the plateaus, and everything in between. When I completed my first full fitness class, stuck to my goals at dinner, or overcame even the smallest hurdle, my behavioral coach was the first person I wanted to tell.”
Any time students get frustrated or discouraged, Wellspring therapists help the teens remember why they’re at weight loss camp and why the program works. Students participate in “student review” twice a week, a meeting that allows students to address their issues with their behavioral coach, teacher, and residential living advisor all in one place at one time.
In addition, students meet with their behavioral coach once a week for individual therapy, where they set short- and long-term goals and talk about how their emotions are affecting their weight loss effort. Group sessions occur twice a week and create an encouraging environment in which students can explore their feelings, any obstacles standing in their way, issues with friends, and more.
“Group therapy is a powerful tool for teenagers,” says Valle. “Sometimes hearing that another student is struggling with the same issue, or getting advice from peers who relate to the ups and downs of this process gives students a new perspective.”
5. Family Involvement
People need support when trying to make major life changes of any kind, and the same is true for weight loss. “Whether it comes in the form of family, friends, counselors, or therapists, adolescents trying to lose weight and change their lifestyle must have a caring support network in place,” Bob Rice affirms.
At Wellspring, students receive support from all different sources. In addition to residential staff, fitness instructors, nutritionists, teachers, and behavioral coaches, the school works to create a positive peer culture in which students acknowledge and praise each other’s efforts. Most importantly, the program is designed to get parents involved in their child’s experience and to teach the family the same knowledge and skills that their children are receiving.
In order to facilitate the family’s involvement, Wellspring therapists talk to each child’s parents by phone once a week or as needed to provide progress updates, advice on setting limits and boundaries, and insights on ways to show their support. Parents learn about physical fitness, healthy cooking, and emotional eating triggers through parent workshops and educational materials, so that they can create a home environment that is conducive to good health when their child returns.
Even if the home environment doesn’t change, behavioral coaches guide students on how to make healthy choices and cope with their emotional eating triggers. “You can’t change what other people do – but you always have a choice,” says Rachel Thomas. “With the skills students learn at Wellspring, they can take a step back, analyze their emotions, create new routines, and make better choices no matter where they live.”
A Program That Spells Success
Most diets fail because they are just that – diets. Luckily, there are weight loss programs that can not only help you lose the weight, but keep it off by incorporating these top five components of a successful weight loss plan. If you are looking to overcome your addiction to food and dieting, find a program that puts your long-term health and wellness first.
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