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Weight Loss Camp for Kids and Grandparents’ Impressions

October 9, 2008 by

Chances are if you have a child that is overweight or obese, you also have a set of grandparents or two that offer up advice constantly.  Though the advice may be well intentioned, it can most certainly be troublesome as well.  Usually, the philosophy of grandparents is one of two extremes and then sometimes a combination of both.

Maybe they don’t understand today’s philosophy about self esteem and not using terms like “fat” or “fat camp” that have become almost taboo.  To them, it might not be an insult.  They probably just want what’s best, but they don’t understand that by guilting your child about his or her weight problem, they are doing more harm than good.  After all, we know that it’s best to talk to our kids about weight in terms of health, not appearance.

The flip side is the grandparent who tolerates almost anything.   Grandma or Grandpa may be of the opinion that you shouldn’t worry so much about your child’s weight.  We know a lot about obesity these days and the health ramifications.  We know that this is serious, but your parents may think or say things like “Well, he’s a growing boy” or “It’s just baby fat.”  Grandparents also have a tendency to spoil.  They may overindulge your child out of sheer love and affection.  Grandpa may love to take the kids out for ice cream.  Grandma might love to bake and send home the goodies.

So, what do you do?  How can you tactfully help your mom or dad help their grandchild?  Educate them.  Rather than making it a personal situation where you are telling them to do this or not to do that, let them figure it out.  The above problems are one of ignorance, not stupidity.  They want what’s best for your child too.  Taking them to a class or to a parent day at your child’s summer weight loss camp may be all it takes to get them on the right track!  Ask the counselors at the camp or your dietitian/physician for advice in this matter.

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Fat Camp? How the Perception of Overweight Children has Changed

September 30, 2008 by

Years ago, the obese or overweight child faced a lot of scrutiny by their classmates and peers.  Taunting on the playground was sometimes even overlooked by teachers that were ignorant to the plights of these children.  Back then the obese or overweight child stood out, and like any noticeable difference amongst a group, their weight trouble was questioned and looked down on.

In years gone by, overweight children were sometimes sent to a fat camp where they were treated in ways that many parents would find atrocious today.  Their focus was on getting kids to lose weight through an almost drill-sergeant-esque approach.  Their focus was on short term weight loss and much less attention was paid to promoting a holistic healthy approach to living life.

Today with the rise of childhood obesity, more and more children on the playground are in fact overweight or obese.  It’s almost a half and half ratio.  It’s really tough to even say what the average size child is anymore.  As a matter of fact, the flip side are the children on the playground whose parents are so paranoid about their child becoming heavy that they are in fact too thin.

Why do we care about all of this?  Well, if you are a parent of an obese or overweight child, you might take comfort in the fact that your child may not experience the sort of isolation and ridicule that they once did.  As well, you should understand that they may be so comfortable in numbers so to speak, that they don’t see much need to lose weight or grow into their weight.

Ultimately, this boils down to taking a healthy self-empowering approach to childhood obesity.  With the help and guidance of counselors at a weight loss or fitness camp, you can help teach your child about proper weight as it relates to health, not appearance.  Empowering your child to lose weight helps them not only in their weight loss efforts, but also in peer pressure.  When children allow the group to make decisions for them, they aren’t in charge of their lives and are left vulnerable to many potentially harmful situations down the road.

So, while we should be thankful that our children may not experience the same taunting on the playground that obese or overweight kids did when we were young, we need to caution ourselves to take comfort in that totally.  After all, we’re worried about their health, right?  Not their popularity.

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The Scary Truth about Childhood Obesity

September 4, 2008 by

It’s hard to turn on the news or read a paper anymore without hearing something about the obesity crisis in America.  Our poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles have certainly caught up with us.  Today’s kids are feeling the effects as well.  We have more obese children than we have ever experienced.  Years ago, there used to be one or two larger kids per class.  In today’s world, it’s not unlikely that half of the class will be overweight or obese.

Even though your child is not likely to be singled out as heavy kids once were, that does not take away from the truly scary things about childhood obesity.  Obesity is linked to many, many diseases.  If your child is obese, they are likely to have some fairly unpleasant problems in the future such as:

* Increased risk of cardiovascular disease:  High blood pressure, Atherosclerosis, Myocardial Infarction
* Type II diabetes
* Joint problems such as bad knees and back problems
* Increased risk of  developing certain cancers such as breast and prostate cancer
* Lessened quality of life

It’s important that you help your child now before the health conditions are set in stone.  You need to educate yourself and understand the physical and emotional aspects of obesity.  You need to figure out creative ways of helping your child lose a bit of weight and grow into his or her weight without adding a bunch of pressure.  You need to explore other alternatives such as therapy and fitness camp.   Today’s fitness camps are a far cry from the stigmatized “fat camp” of yesterday.

Obesity is something that can be completely reversed if you are willing to work hard and if you are able to empower your child to work hard.  Adjusting one’s life to lose weight efficiently isn’t an overnight process, but if you commit to it now, you’ll be giving your child a wonderful gift; the gift of good health!

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See How Weight Loss Camp Changed My Life

May 2, 2008 by

Essay for Camp Pocono Trails

By Sarah Sobel

Simply stated: Camp Pocono Trails weight loss camp changed my life!

I know that line sounds very cliché… but it’s so true. I do not even know where I would be right now if it was not for camp. I am now 16 in 11th grade. I have had weight problems all my life. It never really affected my life though, until about 8th grade. Although I had a lot of friends, I still didn’t really feel that I was “one of them.” The guys didn’t talk to me, and I wasn’t invited to parties. I knew it was because of my weight. 9th grade came, and it was the same story. I was in high school, expecting to have a blast and have a boyfriend, it didn’t happen. I knew it was because of my weight. I would sit in my seat in school, and feel like the biggest person in the class. I hated that feeling every day, but I never did anything about it. Then 10th grade rolled around, which was probably the hardest year of my life. At the end of 10th grade, the scale hit the highest number I had ever seen, 236lbs. Looking at that number, it didn’t really hit me that I was obese. While I knew I had to lose weight, it didn’t really faze me that I needed to lose over 80lbs. Every day I would go into school and wear the same clothes… a black shirt and stretchy black pants… and the outfit needed some color, so I brightened it up by wearing a colored tank top underneath the black shirt. Every day was a struggle. Just walking up the stairs to get to class was hard. By the top of the steps I was out of breath. Even after making my bed in the morning, I was out of breath. When the temperature was below freezing, I would sweat as if it was 100 degrees outside. Not even those physical problems, but the worst was going shopping. I could not fit into a pair of jeans if my life depended on it. I tried on a size 12, nope. 14, nope. 16, nope. I really didn’t want to try on an 18… I just could not take that reality that I was a size 18… So I never wore jeans. It was ok not wearing jeans… I didn’t need them. Until at the end of the year, I needed to wear jeans for a concert. Uh oh. This was a problem. No jeans fit me. So I decided to secretly order a pair of size 18 jeans online and have it shipped to my house. I made sure that I would be the one to get the package when it came. A few weeks after they were ordered, a package came to my door with the size 18 jeans. So I go to try them on… and THEY DID NOT FIT. They zippered, but they didn’t exactly flatter me in any way… and I couldn’t really breath in them too well. Talk about muffin top. What was I going to do… I was NEVER going to buy a pair of size 20 jeans… I could not do that and I had to wear them for this concert… so I just sucked in and dealt with it.


Before Camp

All of these things plus many more added up to me deciding that I needed to change this. I could not live like this any more. I heard from a friend about Camp Pocono Trails weight loss camp. I decided to give it a shot. At this point, between just the way I felt about myself, oh and what the doctor said (basically, I was going to get diabetes if I didn’t do something about this) … I signed up. Let’s keep in mind that I had never been to sleep away camp before, and I have never even been away from my home for more than 5 days at a time.

So I packed my bags and got to the camp. The first day of camp was probably the hardest thing I ever did. The kids and the counselors in my bunk were extremely nice and welcoming. Even though I knew it would be fine, and I was in a very safe and warm environment, I just couldn’t believe I was going to be away from home for 8 weeks. After only a couple of days however, I got used to the atmosphere and I loved it. While it was hard work, I knew that my job was to lose weight and come back a healthier and happier person. Every week, I lost around 4 or 5 lbs, which was amazing. Every week I would call my mom and tell her my good news about the weigh in, and I have never heard a happier response from her. It was just so exciting every day to have more energy and just know that I was headed in the right direction. By the end of the summer, my life was completely changed. For one thing, I made some of the most amazing friends anyone could ever ask for. Everyone is just so supportive of each other, and you really will not find that at any other camp. Surprisingly, I was chosen as the general during color war. This leadership role really opened my eyes to so many things I never knew I could do. It really helped me so much to build strength and character, and show me how to be a leader and to believe more in myself. The last and most important accomplishment was that I lost a total of 37lbs by the end of the summer! I could not believe what a great achievement this was for being away for one summer.


After!

Then the hardest part came. Coming home. What was I going to do? Going from all structure to absolutely no structure at all. That was going to be my greatest challenge. However, with the support from Weight Watchers, who would have known that I would be sitting here today having lost over 65lbs. I now weight 169lbs. How you might ask how?  Well, lots of exercise, and a lot of celery…. just kidding. Truthfully, Camp Pocono Trails taught me that you can really eat anything that you want. As long as it’s in moderation and you make smart decisions. I have made it my routine every day to go to the gym. I learned that no matter how hard you try, you really can’t lose weight without exercising. All of my hard work has really been paying off, and every single day I wake up to a new, better me.

When beginning this whole journey, I never ever thought that I could have an impact on others. I really never believed that I could influence and affect so many people. Everyday people tell me how proud they are of me and my accomplishments. What a feeling that is to have people I never thought even look at me, compliment me. I have influenced my friends and family to lose weight, which is the greatest gift of all. It is so important to keep a healthy lifestyle… and I am so happy that I was able to affect others so greatly as to help them become healthier too.

I really do not know where I would be today if I did not go to Camp Pocono Trails. Who would have thought that just one summer could change my entire life and help me become an entirely different, healthier, happier, and more successful person.

If you have any questions about my experiences at New Image’s Camp Pocono Trails, you can register and comment on our blog or you can send me an email: xosobes91ox @ gmail dot com or my facebook page

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