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Can Weight Loss Camps Save You Money?

May 19, 2009 by

Though weight loss camps for kids may seem like an expense you can avoid, you might reconsider when take into account the rest of the factors.

Food Costs for Your Overweight or Obese Child

It’s difficult enough to keep up with the rising costs of groceries, but when your child has eating issues, they may literally eat you out of house and home. In this regard, a weight loss camp can help your child control his or her eating.

A parent once told me how her grocery bill went down after her daughter attended our weight loss and fitness camp last summer. The daughter had been sneaking food and the weight loss camp empowered her to make better choices. Instead of filling your pantry with inexpensive food to keep up, you’ll be able to buy less, save and even make healthier purchases.

Medical Bills

It’s hard to say exactly when your child’s weight troubles will begin to cost you or your child (if it happens when they are older) money in the medical department. Rest assured, it will eventually. Type II diabetes is affecting more and more children and adolescents. The medical expenses for diabetes are outrageous!

Your child will learn how to get their weight under control at our weight loss camp. With every step they take, their risks for developing heart disease and other weight related health issues will diminish. Besides, we all want our children to be healthy!

Entertainment Costs

Trying to find things to occupy your child can be quite expensive, especially if your child enjoys sedentary activities such as gaming or computers. Games are extremely pricey and trying to keep up with these costs can be crazy! Summer weight loss camps can help your child learn to enjoy activities that involve more exercise and less cost such as riding their bikes, swimming, or just playing around outside.  They’ll also get to try some new activities that they haven’t experienced – like hitting golf balls on our driving range or climbing on our ropes course.

When you consider these costs and also account for the fact that your child will have an opportunity to make some great strides in their struggle to live at a healthy weight for the rest of their life – a summer weight loss camp doesn’t sound like a bad investment after all, does it?

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Weight Loss Camps Provide Other Benefits Beyond Losing Weight

May 12, 2009 by

One of the most important ingredients to success is the self-confidence required to pursue dreams. When your teenager is overweight or obese, there’s a good chance that their self-esteem and self-confidence levels are down.

Will poor self-esteem lead your child to avoid risks and opportunities out of fear? If they would love to act, will they try out for the school play or shy away because of their weight? Your teen may not participate in classroom discussions or become a leader if they don’t feel confident.

When you try to help your teen lose weight on your own, you might make common mistakes such as over-pressuring your teen. Making eating a constant issue is also a constant reminder of their perceived inadequacies. This can spiral out of control and actually cause your child to gain more weight when they eat for comfort and consolation…and lose self-esteem.

Trained professionals at our weight loss camp use well-documented techniques to help empower your teen to make healthy choices. Through education and training, your child will develop the skills necessary to take control of their weight loss issues.

These skills will come home with your teen. Eventually, this may lead to a much healthier home environment all together. Once your teen begins to make healthier choices on their own, the whole family may get involved. Your teen will be the one who leads this effort, which will also make them feel good!

In addition, your teen will meet other teens at weight loss camps that may be able to better relate to their weight issues. We all want to feel accepted and you might not be able to truly offer this to your teen the way other overweight or obese teens can.

Once they begin down the path to weight loss, the improvements they begin to see will improve their self-confidence and self-esteem. This will spin off in so many directions, you’ll be amazed at what your teen becomes capable of accomplishing.

Now, trying out for a play might not seem as daunting. Participating in sports becomes more of a possibility. Improved self-confidence will allow them to focus less on how they appear when it comes to popularity and acceptance.

When your teen is empowered to lose weight, the empowerment translates to nearly everything they attempt.

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Is a Weight Loss Camp the Solution to the Obesity Epidemic?

December 4, 2008 by

In the 1960s, the percentage of obese children ages 6-11 was around 4%.  Today, it’s a staggering 17% and rising.  There are a lot of desperate parents and scared kids who aren’t sure what to do as weight loss efforts fail and the risk of developing a plethora of diseases goes up.

Some parents are even turning to surgical intervention for adolescents as this option is beginning to open up for obese teenagers.  The problem is that the long term results of gastric bypass surgery and lap band procedures is simply not known at this time for this group of new patients.

With the amount of diseases that can be attributed to obesity, it’s imperative that we find a solution to this epidemic or we may be facing one of the unhealthiest generations of people in many years.  Cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorder, diabetes, debilitating joint problems and even some types of cancer are among the problems this 17% may be facing if adequate weight loss programs are not incorporated.

Parents and children alike need to be educated on proper nutrition and exercise.  There’s a lot of misinformation out there due to skewed product information in the food manufacturing arena.  So many companies boast “wholesome goodness” and “healthy meals for kids” when in fact, the vast majority of food that children eat these days is far from healthy no matter what the label says.

Individual counseling can be highly beneficial as it will address the needs of the child, parent and family involved in the weight loss efforts.

A summer weight loss camp may be the most practical solution to the problem.  Trained counselors can educate the family and tailor a weight loss program to suit the needs of the child; a program that the child can continue once they are back home.  

Many parents simply need guidance and many children need the self-confidence boosters and self empowerment that a weight loss camp can offer.

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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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Returning from Weight Loss Camp: Training your Tasters

August 15, 2008 by

So….you’ve just completed a successful session of summer weight loss camp.  Now you’re back at home and all those wonderful, enticing, unheathly foods are begging for you to eat them.  You know they taste good, but you also know that there are much heathier alternatives.  Unfortunately, those healthier alternatives don’t seem to taste as good. 

Have you ever wished that broccoli tasted like chocolate and  bran cereal tasted like Cocoa Puffs?  There’s a reason why foods that are "good for us" never seem to taste as good as foods that are "bad for us."  Even adults have difficulty convincing themselves to eat their veggies over something like a bag of potato chips; however, parents can’t very well eat a bowl of ice cream while they make their kids eat their greens!

Unfortunately, if you want to be healthy and lose weight, it’s very important that you eat your veggies.  Veggies are low in calories, yet they are packed full of wonderful things like vitamins, minerals and fiber that your body needs to be healthy and strong.

So, how do you convince your tongue that broccoli tastes good?  Retrain your tastebuds!  Your tastebuds have gotten used to the high flavor of artificially flavored foods.  They have also grown quite fond of fat which is flavorful, but not very good for us at all.  In fact, most of our diets are so high in artifical flavors and fat that natural foods like veggies and whole grains seem quite tasteless.  Many parents send their children to a weight loss camp for kids so that their children can learn about the benefits of eating natural foods. 

Once you start eating the good stuff and stop eating the bad stuff, you’ll begin to realize the wonderful flavors that Mother Nature has already provided for us.  Over time, you won’t even miss the bad stuff because not only will your tongue begin to enjoy those flavors, but you’ll start to realize how great you FEEL when you eat the good stuff like veggies and whole grains.

Also, ask your parents if you can help out in the kitchen a little bit when it comes to preparing those veggies.  A lot of the flavors that make those flavored potato chips taste so good are readily available in natural forms.  When you use onions, pepper sauces, vinegars and garlic to flavor your veggies, it’s kind of like coming up with your own blend of "good for you" seasoning.  If you like the "flamin’ hot" varieties of Cheetos and other snack chips, you’ll find that spicing up your veggies with pepper sauces will taste pretty good to that tongue of yours!

Give it a shot!  Hey, you might even convince your parents to enjoy their veggies!

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How to Help Your Kids Transition Successfully Back Home

July 25, 2008 by

If your child is about to arrive back home from fitness camp, you’re probably wondering what you can do to ensure that all of their hard work isn’t undone.  There are many factors to keep in mind.

1.  Make sure you understand exactly what your child has been doing at camp.  Obviously, this is something you probably explored when you chose the camp.  Now, make sure you communicate with your child to determine which parts of camp they really liked and which parts were possibly not their favorite.  For instance, they may have explored all sorts of new vegetables.  Find out which ones they really enjoyed and try to make sure that you have these on hand.  Make sure you find out which activities they enjoyed the most.  Maybe there’s a way they can continue this activity when they get home.

2.  Make sure you’ve done your homework.  Sometimes we think that we know a lot about proper nutrition and exercise, yet we’re inundated with so much incorrect information that we become confused.  Talk with your child’s counselors to make sure you have the right ideas about proper nutrition and exercise for your child.

3.  If your child has had a lot of success, chances are they might need some new clothes.  You know how great it feels to lose weight and buy a new outfit.  Your child is going to enjoy this as well.  Take them on a shopping trip a few days after they get back home.  This might even help you reinstill the inspiration to stay on a healthy path.

4.  If you have some bad food habits of your own, the best advice is to try to rid yourself of these habits; however, this is not always realistic.  At the very least, you’ll need to avoid eating these things in front of your child and keep them out of the pantry.  It’s okay for everyone to have a treat now and again.  As a matter of fact, denying yourself of the things you love too often could lead to binging in the future.  The same goes for your child. 

Following these tips will help ensure that the transition back home is successful.  Your child made some lifestyle changes at weight loss camp, now it is your responsibility as a parent to ensure that these changes are long-term.

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Nearing the End of Another Successful Summer

July 17, 2008 by

We’re wrapping up yet another successful summer here at Camp Pocono Trails….but don’t forget that we still have a few spaces open in our remaining sessions.  If you’re still considering spending some time this summer at our weight loss camp, we would still love to hear from you!

This summer has been full of fun, excitement, and healthy living.  The overwhelming consensus this year is that campers are leaving camp feeling better about themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.  New friendships have been formed, new challenges have been overcome, and new experiences have been enjoyed.  We’re confident that the healthy living skills that this summer’s campers have learned will easily transition back to their home lives and we look forward to hearing about their ongoing success!

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Summer Weight Loss Camp Starts Soon – Register Now!

June 20, 2008 by

The summer is here! At Camp Pocono Trails, we’re gearing up for another exciting summer full of building new images and teaching healthy living habits. Our first Summer Sessions start on June 28th, and we are excited about having campers here for two, three, four or more weeks.

Still on the fence? Our sessions are filling up fast, but there are still spots open. Our goal at Camp Pocono Trails is to provide the finest weight loss camp experience in the country. We believe that the key to success is activity….and we do our best to ensure that we offer the most exciting activities in the nation.

Click here to see a full schedule for this summer.

We hope you’re as excited about this coming summer as we are. We’re looking forward to seeing you all soon!

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