Wellspring Transformations

Wellspring Camps are the most fun, most effective, and most affordable weight loss camps!

olivia before

Olivia

Before last summer, my life seemed to be heading one way – with a destination of nowhere! I didn’t want to try new things, like team sports, or school functions, because I felt like an outcast, someone who just didn’t belong with “the crowd.” I always just assumed, hey Olivia, you’re fat, you can’t hang out with those people, it’s like, an unwritten law! So I would sit back and watch, or go shopping with girls just to compliment them on how gorgeous EVERYTHING looked, and how they should definitely buy all the things they tried on, etc., etc. I thought that this was just the way it would always be in my life, just the way I would have to live forever.

Don’t get me wrong. I tried so many diets out there!! I tried the grapefruit diet, I tried a six-week-body makeover package. I tried getting active. And yes, I tried the “LOW CARB ATKINS DIET” too! None of these things worked for me in the long run and I would always lose the weight for a couple weeks and then give up or become frustrated because I wasn’t seeing results, or get sick of the food, or just make up silly excuses to not do the work. Then, on top of that, I would gain back ALL the weight I had lost, with the addition of a new 5 or 10 lbs., which really made me depressed.

When I first heard about Wellspring, I was a little scared. I felt like it would be weird to go to a weight loss camp. But soon after I arrived all my fears left my mind. We played cool games, had fun and interesting meetings, and made friends instantly! There was never a boring moment between activities, groups, the beautiful lake, the amazing weather, and yes, even the food was great!

My entire experience at Wellspring was nothing but fun and laughter and love and support from everyone. If olivia after there ever was a day when I felt down, someone was there to help push me back up again. I never doubted myself at Wellspring because of all the kindness and courage every girl would give to me, building a foundation for confidence I never had. Soon my life was filled once again with dreams and hopes for my future. Wellspring taught me so many things about myself.

When I returned home, my concern was: Could I really stick with it? Would I keep to my plan and maintain my new weight? The answer was an ABSOLUTE YES! YES! YES! Wellspring prepared me 110% for life at home and around the mall and my friends. Now, I control my life. I have gone from 190 lbs. to 131 lbs. I LOVE LOVE LOVE being the average weight for my height, plus I love feeling good and looking good in clothes. I now have confidence to live life the way I want, staying happy and healthy – proud to be who I am, proud to talk about long term weight control, and the amazing place and people who helped and supported me all the way. My life is so much better and I can truly say I live my life to the fullest everyday.

Olivia Hoar, age 15 Ashland, Virginia

eileen before

Eileen

As a senior in college I found myself incredibly stressed out about my future. All around me, my friends were getting jobs and I was eager for a job, a path, any string to connect me with my future. I had all my hopes pinned on a particular job – something I was sure would be the ticket to a better life, post-college.

When I called home to tell my family the “bad” news, I remember my brother telling me to take some time before I jumped into a career.

“Do whatever will make you happy,” was his advice. He was thinking about living on a beach or traveling around Europe. In my heart I knew none of these experiences would make me happy.

I was obese and desperately unhappy. Becoming healthy was the only thing that could make me happy.

And that is when I found Wellspring and changed my life.

At Wellspring all my unhealthy coping strategies (binging on comfort foods, watching endless hours of television, etc) were eliminated.

Working with my behavioral coach, I found new, healthier ways to make myself feel better. What I found was a love of exercise and a new, active, body. I filled my days with morning jogs through the woods, kickboxing classes, water aerobics, nutrition, culinary classes, and so much more.

My friends at Wellspring understood me in a way that others had not. Our open and candid relationships helped me to realize that we truly are more the same than we are different. The sessions with my behavioral coach and my cognitive-behavioral eileen after

therapy group helped me immensely as well.

I was able to reflect honestly about my behaviors and understand how to change them in a way that would promote my physical, and mental, health.

In addition to the remarkable weight loss (I have gone from 256 lbs. to 167 lbs.), the most important thing that I developed from Wellspring was hope. For the first time in my life I truly believe that this is not my destiny. I was not meant to be obese.