Methods
Wellspring’s focus is on living a healthy lifestyle, with long-term success of its participants presented at international scientific conferences on obesity. Wellspring claims that its program, founded on decades of scientific research in obesity, has among "the best documented outcomes of any non-surgical weight loss intervention for any age group.".
Admissions are ongoing throughout the year, with a minimum 4-month stay. Incoming students for the fall semester have the option to participate in a multi-week wilderness program conducted in a location near the campus.
Wellspring Academies utilizes an integrated approach to fitness and weight loss. Once in the regular program, participants learn diet and activity management, with culinary, nutrition, fitness and aerobic training to enable participants to learn lifelong skills. Students eat three low-fat meals and two snacks daily, totaling only about 1,300 calories and less than 12 grams of fat per day. Extensive daily physical activity, including walking or running at least 10,000 steps per day, is also required. Behavioral changes are reinforced with cognitive behavioral therapy, training students on the self-regulatory behaviors required for long-term weight control. This includes use of a Self-Monitoring Journal to record everything a student eats throughout the day. According to weight-loss researchers, the self-monitoring technique is a key component of long-term weight loss success. In addition, students meet with a "behavioral coach" three times per week to reinforce the training, improve frustration tolerance and stress management skills, and work through the issues that are typically contributing to the weight gain, like emotional eating or resorting to food as an unhealthy coping mechanism. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is central to the Wellspring program as it has been shown in numerous studies to reinforce key self-regulatory skills (such as self-monitoring) and has favorable short and long-term effects on weight loss
Read more about this topic: Wellspring Academies
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