Wellspring Family Camp

Weight Loss Blog

The Weight Loss Blog offers news and information about nutrition and fitness as well as actual weight loss success stories as told by students at Wellspring Academies, formerly Academy of the Sierras, the first boarding school for overweight teens. WSA is part of Wellspring, which also runs Wellspring weight loss camps.

The Blog started with entries by 15-year-old Jahcobie who graduated from WSA after losing 176 pounds in seven months. Then Brooke, a 17-year-old from Prescott, Arizona, took over. Our latest student blogger was Melissa, a 17-year-old from Orange County, California. Melissa recently graduated and we wish her success and she continues down her path as a "long-term weight controller."

Andy D. a 17-year-old student at Wellspring Academy spent a few months sharing his adventures in weight loss, healthy eating, and fitness fun with us before he graduated the program in June.

Now we'll continue to update you with news and information about weight lose, healthy living, and childhood obesity. We'll have a new WSA student share their stories with us beginning in the Fall.

Wellspring programs are the most effective weight loss solutions for teens available today. But don't let us tell you. Let Andy, Melissa, Brooke, and Jahcobie tell you. Read about their journeys toward successful weight management in their own words.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Don't Lose Hope

Over the past 2 days, my life has been shaken up. One of my best friends, one of my roommates is leaving. She is one of the most inspirational people I have met here. She and I both have gone through similar family situations. She is the kind of person that likes you based on first impressions. She jokes a lot, she is an amazing girl. She truly cares about everyone. She wants people to succeed in whatever they attempt. To me, she is a friend that I will keep for the rest of my life. We live close enough together that we are planning to see each other over Christmas break.

She is going through a very hard time right now. She was told on Tuesday that she would be leaving for good on Thursday. She was telling me that she doesn't regret coming to AOS, that she is glad that she came and started the change to better her life. She is a true inspiration to all of the students here.

My weigh-in today did not go as well as I planned. I know what I did wrong, and I was talking to my roommate and she and I have come up with a plan so we can have a good weigh-in next week. We are going to rededicate ourselves to the program. We are going to act like we just got here and are really excited to try the program out. I think that we will be successful.

Good night
Melissa

Monday, November 27, 2006

Staying on Track During the Holidays

My Thanksgiving OCC went well. I stayed on program and exercised.

On Wednesday, my family came to pick me up. We drove to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and stayed in a really nice hotel. The next day was Thanksgiving; we got up and went to have breakfast. Unfortunately, it was a buffet style breakfast. I had one sausage link, one piece of bacon, a mini blue berry muffin, a small bowl of cereal, and a little bit of eggs. The food that was pre-prepared was all cooked in butter and not healthily prepared.

After breakfast we drove around in the mountains, and ended up canceling our dinner reservation. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at The Vintage Press restaurant in Visalia.

After dinner, we drove back home. I was able to see one of my best friends. He and I went to Starbucks. I ordered a Light Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino, It was 190 cal and 1 gram of fat. We went back to my house and took pictures and then he went home.

On Friday my sister and I went to the gym. I ran 2 miles in 30 minutes. After cardio we did a 30 minute workout routine. Later that night, I went to the Irvine Spectrum with one of my other friends who I had not seen since September. It was good being able to see her. She had to go home so I called my other best friend and she came and picked me up. My 2 girl best friends and I went to CVS and planned a holiday party that they will be throwing at the end of December. It was a lot of fun to hang out with them.

Saturday evening, I ran 3.6 miles without stopping. That was a big accomplishment for me. Saturday I went to my friend’s house and slept over. Her boxer, Nike, just gave birth to 7 puppies. So we were playing with them all night.

Sunday morning I went home and packed my stuff, getting ready to come back to AOS. I found out that on Sunday the article that was written about me was published on the front page of the Orange County Register. I was surprised to see it. The article ended up being a really good article.

Click Here to Read Article

I had a very successful OCC and I am very proud of the temptations that I overcame while being away from AOS on a holiday that is focused around food.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Becoming More Positive

I have not written in a while, and I have a lot to talk say. First off, one of the main reasons that I have not written in a while is because there was not enough staff to take us to the computer lab. Also, over the weekend I spent much of my time thinking. I thought about what was decided on the conference call last week, why I thought it was a good reason that I end up staying, and what I needed to do to become more positive, and how I could get back in to the swing of things.

On Friday night, some of the Ascenders and Belayers went shopping at Dollar Tree and Wal-Mart. I was a little disappointed that we only went there, because we usually go to Fashion Fair in Fresno, but it ended up being better than I expected. I bought five skeins of yarn for Christmas presents. I finished two scarves in 2 days. It was nice to get off campus, just hang out with my friends, and shop for an evening. While I was shopping, I had time to just think of exactly "Why I was at AOS and why I was accepted and have made it as far in the program as I had". As I wandered the aisles of Wal-Mart, I passed one of my friends that was wearing the Academy of the Sierra's T-shirt with the motto on the back.

As she passed I read "Mens Et Salvere." I remembered that I had gone to AOS to improve my body, mind and health. I realized that staying at AOS would actually be the best thing that I could do. I remembered what my mom had told me a few days before I got here, "Some of the hardest times lead to the greatest rewards." Her voice kept replaying in my head. I knew that I could and I would accept the fact that I am not going home in December for good, but I will go home in January, and be able to start the spring semester with my friends at my high school.

All weekend that kept replaying in my head, and it made my weekend enjoyable, I was not in a bad mood, and I did not want to go sit in my room and be by myself. I really focused on my program. Each day I got over 20,000 steps, and I started watching how much fruit and Equal I really did use.

This weekend was one of the best weekends that I have had in a while. I got a lot accomplished, and I did a lot of self-evaluation, to get myself back on track, and back where I wanted to be going in to the holiday season.

Saturday, we went to the Fresno State Football game, and Sunday we went to the movies.

Also I found out that I was going on my OCC from Wednesday morning to Sunday night. I will keep blogging on my OCC.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Working Harder

We won the Ropes Group challenge again! We watched "Saw 2" tonight. It was a great movie. The Ropes Group challenge is a new thing that was started about a month ago. I think that it is a good idea, because it makes kids work harder so that we can have a 'chill' night and watch a movie and not worry about what is going on.

I was supposed to have a civics test tomorrow, but I didn't get a chance to study for it. I was going to go back to the dorms and study for a half an hour, but -- good news! My civics teacher just came up to me and told me that it was cancelled. I am relieved, because I am getting sick, and this extra half hour of sleep will hopefully help me feel better in the morning.

Study hall is over. I am going to go back to the dorms and get to sleep.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Getting to the Top

Yesterday I had a conference call with my mom, my BC and Mr. Wright [our Academic Director]. We had the call to determine how long I will be staying at AOS. It was decided that I was going to stay here until the end of January. My good friend here found out that she was probably staying until then, too.

I signed up for the rock-climbing club, and we were able to go to the rock gym today. Rock climbing is so much fun. I got up to the top on one of them, and about 3/4s of the way up on the second one. Then I got on this balance board, called an Indo Board. That was cool. I want to get one for when I go home, because you can start doing tricks and it works your abs.

Then we started talking about when and where we were going to go rock climbing. I found out that we are going to Joshua Tree, hopefully in early to mid December.

Today was weigh-in. I lost 2.4 lbs this week. I came to AOS at 267.8 and I am now at 208.6 in 4.5 months. I have lost 60.2 pounds overall.

This morning my roommate and I went to the fitness center at 6:30 AM and got 45 minutes of extra activity in.

This evening in the fitness center I got in one of the best workouts I have done in a while. I was on the elliptical for 30 minutes and then did a 20 minute abs video with some of the girls. I can tell that I worked my legs a lot, because they are already sore.

I have to get back to studying for my Geometry and Civics tests!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Being More Positive

Today was a good day. I caught up on all of my make-up homework, and got that all turned in. I went to Physical Therapy and my knee is actually feeling better. After I got back from Physical Therapy, I went and talked to Phil about getting a job in the kitchen. He told me that that was David Burns' area [the AOS Operations Director] and that I should go talk to him. I went and talked to David, and found out that all I have to do is have my BC email David, tell him that I am a Belayer and that I am keeping up with everything. I am really excited to start working!

Also today it rained for the first time since I have been here. That made me happy! Although, I can't play in the rain, because I will get even sicker than I am, and that will not be a good thing. I am a bit sad about that.

I am being more positive. I am going to have a conference call with Mr. Wright, my BC, and my mom sometime soon. That call will determine when I go home. So I am anxiously awaiting that call.

My goal for today was to talk to Phil or David about jobs, and I did that.

I GOT MY YABO APPLICATION TODAY! I am really excited! That has made my day great!

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Weight Loss Fun

This weekend was fun. Friday night most of the Ascenders and Belayers went to LaserQuest. We got to play two 20 minute games. On the way there, we had to stop and get gas and spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to pop open the gas tank! When we got to the Laser Tag place, we stood in line and got our code names. A few minutes later, we went in and got ready to play. Once the game started, a few of my friends and I had a dance party while playing. After playing, we headed back to school and my roommate and I went straight to bed.

Saturday morning I was supposed to participate in a Veterans Day 5k run, but I ended up not going because of my knee and because I felt the beginning of a cold coming on. Most of the girls at school seem to have colds. So I took the extra hour and a half to sleep and get rested up for the day. Saturday, it started sprinkling, and was quite cold actually. Pretty much all day on Saturday my roommate and I stayed in our room and cleaned and listened to music. By the end of the day, we had our side of the suite spotless.

This morning I got up and did the normal activity. My roommate and I did the 3 mile walk together and decided that if during our OCCs, we had temptations, then we would call the other person and help each other through the situation. We both want to have good weigh-ins when we come back from Thanksgiving. We planned different activities, and ways to get through making the best food choices.

After activity and breakfast was Deep Clean. Every Sunday we do a deep clean. We got the bathroom and shower spotless, along with both sides of the room. During free time we went to go see the movie "Stranger than Fiction", which was great. I really enjoyed it. After getting back from the movies, we went to dinner, activity and now we are in study hall (as I write this).

This weekend went really well, I got a lot accomplished, and I am glad that I was productive.

My goal for today was to get over 20,000 steps. It is 9:30 and I already have 21,649. And I still have an hour before I get ready for bed!

I'll write again tomorrow. I have to get back to homework.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Getting Out of My Frustration Stage

Today was my first official day as a Belayer. I am going to talk to Phil about getting an on-campus job (one of the privileges associated with being a Belayer). I am excited.

I am hopefully getting out of my frustration stage. I have come up with different ways to slightly cut back on calories, and really kick up the exercise. I usually consume about 1,300 calories, and I usually get somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 steps each day. My plan is to limit my fruit intake. When I do eat fruit, I am going to stay with the lower calorie fruits, such as cantaloupe. I am going to shoot for 1,100 calories per day. I was looking at the chart in the "Healthy Obsession Program" [Dr. Kirschenbaum's book, and the basis of the AOS program] and I am going to try to do more of the activities that expend more calories. I am going to try this method out for a few weeks and see how I do.

My goal for the day is to organize my room. We just moved in, and we have major cleaning and organizing to do.

Moving Up To Belayer

Yesterday, we had a soccer game. We play in the Fresno Indoor Soccer League. We were winning 5-4 until the last 7 minutes. The opposing team scored two goals in a matter of 2 minutes. Even though we lost, we played as a team better than we have before.

Yesterday, during free time, I moved rooms. I moved from Side A to Side B of the girls' dorm. I am happy with the room I am in now. I love my roommates. The room we are in now is the Ascender Suite; it is a big room so there are four girls living in the room.

Today was weigh-in day for the girls. I did not do as well as I had hoped to, but I managed to lose 1.6 over the week. Also, today in Summit, I moved up to the Belayer level. After 2 months of being an Ascender, I finally felt ready, and I knew that it was right for me to move up. I am excited. Now I can apply for an on-campus job! I also have unlimited phone time. I have been working so hard, that I am very proud of my self for accomplishing this.

Also, we won the Ropes Group Challenge. Ropes Group is where you meet each evening with the people that live around you, along with a staff member, and you talk about how you did with meeting your program expectations that day - what you did do and what you didn't do. We also discuss the responsibility that you are taking for being where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be there. This month's challenge is "The group getting the least rappels, and the group that gets up on-time the most often." (A "rappel" is a temporary loss of certain privileges at AOS). There are 5 Ropes Groups competing, and each week the winning group gets to miss study hall and activity and watch a movie. As an added bonus, the winner of the entire month gets to go off campus for the day. The past few groups to win have gone to Six Flags Magic Mountain. For our viewing pleasure, we picked "Sixteen Candles", and we got to watch that in the boys' dorm (supervised!). It was almost like a pajama party - except I think all of us were in our 'street clothes', and no-one was actually in their pajamas. But anyway it was still fun.

I am still in frustration, but today I had a meeting with a BC and a few other students, and we talked about ways to "get over the hump" as Cara (another BC at AOS) said today. I am not allowing myself to slack-off. I want to show everyone how dedicated to this program I really am.

I figured my goal for today was not to tell myself that I am in frustration, but to put a positive spin on the way I see people and situations right now.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Taking the First Steps in Becoming More Positive

I am well on my way to becoming a Belayer. I have finished my "Past, Present and Future" essay, and my application is completely finished. I just need to finish collecting signatures before I turn in my application to Dan Barney (the Program Director) tomorrow.

This morning my friend and I went on the 3 mile walk. We ran about 2 miles of it and then walked back around the one mile campus loop. We had a great time catching up. She just recently came back from her OCC (off campus challenge). Because of running this morning, my knee hurts really bad today, but luckily tomorrow I am going to start physical therapy. I was diagnosed with patellar tendonitis in my right knee. So running/jogging is not the best activity for me to be doing, but I feel like I get the best work out when I do jog.

Today was an "A" day: I had Civics, Independent Spanish 1, Study Hall, and English 12. I love the classes here. They are really at your own pace. It is traditional school, but the teachers take into consideration what the kids' strengths and weaknesses are. They play to the strengths, while also trying to improve the weaknesses. Today we also had a Student Council meeting. It was productive. We got to talk to the AOS senior staff (all of the Directors) about what other kids had told us they wanted to see changed. Interestingly, one of the student council members is no longer on student council, and today we got to see who was going to replace her. I am very happy with who was next in line to join the Student Council Team!

In my program, I feel I have hit the Frustration stage. I am starting to feel overwhelmed with most of the students here. It is very discouraging when you hear your peers picking the flaws out of the majority of their fellow students. To me it is even more discouraging when you hear the same group or groups of kids doing that to a staff member. Whenever I get in the mindset of "So-n-so needs to work harder on his or her program", I try to remember that we are all a family here. We need to help each other out. If someone's program isn't going so strong, we need to help them pick it back up.

I feel a lot of negativity on campus lately. I don't know if I am the only one that senses it, but something tells me that most of the kids just need a break. I think that it would be best if we had a bonding experience. I know that to get me out of the frustration stage I just need to concentrate solely on my program and nothing else. I am trying to lose 12 pounds by Thanksgiving so I can see my family and say that I am less than 200 pounds. That, for me, would be an amazing feeling. I know that if I focus and I really set my mind to it, I can achieve anything. My mom says that I am stubborn, sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way. What she means is that if I put all of my effort into something there is a good chance that I won't let myself fail.

I also have thought to write a "Goal for the Day" in my SMJ (self-monitoring journal) in the "Think and Ink" section. My goal for today is to find something positive about my self, and about one other person. I don't necessarily have to tell that person, but I do have to write it down.

I am taking the first step in becoming more positive for myself, and my community.

Meet Melissa from Orange County

I am Melissa; I will be taking over the blog for Brooke. I have been reading over the previous blog for the past 3 days non-stop trying to see what I should and should not say.

To tell you a little about myself: I am 17 from Orange County, California. I arrived at AOS with 2 weeks notice that I would be leaving home, the place that I knew and the people that I loved. I topped the scale at 267 pounds. I was miserable, but I didn't let anyone know. I took my emotions out by eating. I didn't admit to myself that I was as big as I really was. I would squeeze in to a size 18/20 pant and wear a big sweatshirt over so there would be no evidence of the pants not fitting right.

Ever since I was a young child I have been on diets, eating plans, and rigorous exercise plans. Nothing seemed to work. In 2005, a few of my friends convinced me to join the water polo team so I could lose weight. I joined, and I told my self that I would watch what I was eating, and hopefully lose weight from the tough exercise that I was going to be involved in. I had AM practices 3 times a week for an hour before school started, and after school we would get in the bus and go to the pool and have a 2 hour intense swim practice.

After not being successful with weight loss in water polo I joined the swim team. But once again, I was not successful. I was doing all of the exercise, and I had cut out breakfast and snacks from my diet, but I would end up eating higher fat lunches and dinners. It was not a lifestyle change for me - it was strictly a diet that I was on.

When my mom told me that I was enrolled in Academy of the Sierras, I was confused. I had so many mixed emotions about going to boarding school, not having all of the freedom that I had previously had. I had 2 weeks to pack my things, say good-bye and finish school. The day after I got out of school I was enrolled for summer school here.

I didn't have much of a summer, but I am glad that I didn't. If I would have stayed home for the summer I know that I would have just gotten heavier. Coming to AOS saved my life. I had health problems, and bad feet and knees. Although my foot and knee problems have not gotten better, the health issues have decreased dramatically. I have been at AOS since June 26. In the 4 months that I have been at AOS I have lost 54.8 pounds, and learned a lot about myself.

I am currently an Ascender in the Summit system. I am one of the few people at AOS that take the time to move up slowly. I value the time it takes to move up. If I don't feel I am ready to move up when I am done with my application, I wait until I am ready, and I know I can handle the responsibilities of the next level. Most kids move up as fast as they can and end up jeopardizing the level they ultimately reach. I have been ready and able to move up to a Belayer for over a month. I finally feel ready to move up and take the next step in my program. I have been working really hard to get this program down and really understand what is expected of me for when I move up. I hold myself to the standards of a Belayer (the second-highest level in the Summit system), and I finally feel like I am ready to take the next step.

On Friday, I got my signature sheet from my BC. I need to have staff members and peers sign it. I will be reading my "past, present and future" to the entire community. I am nervous, but I have seen a few great people stand up and do it to get to the Belayer level. I know that in my anxiety I will get something that is going to make me stronger and more confident for when I eventually leave AOS for good.