WHS Student Speaks About Time at Wellspring Camp

Losing weight and achieving a healthy lifestyle is very difficult for many people. One Weedsport student, Katie Kelley, did exactly that by going to a summer camp designed to help children and teens have a healthy life.

The summer camp Kelley went to is called Wellspring Camps, where kids, teens, and families go to change their ways. “This camp is all about changing your life,” Kelley said. “It’s about teaching you how to live a healthy lifestyle.”

When you go to Wellspring they teach you how to change your life. They “teach you how to eat right and how to exercise,” Kelley explained. “They have culinary classes, nutrition classes, fitness classes, and lot, and lots of activity. They offer any sport you could think of.”

Wellspring, being located on the Union College campus, meant there was a lot of walking. Every morning before breakfast there was a “morning walk that was 2.2 miles.” Whenever they weren’t in classes for nutrition or culinary they were doing physical activities. They played capture the flag, soccer, monster ball, ultimate frisbee, or ultimate football. They also had opportunities to go running or riding bikes.

All of this is to be healthy and lose weight. While Kelley was there for 9 weeks, she lost 45 pounds. By February last year Kelley was able to have lost 85 pounds total. That was possible because she continued “to live the healthy lifestyle that they [Wellspring] taught me.” Kelley went on to say, “Wellspring has given me all the tools and resources I need to live a healthy lifestyle and continue to like a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life.”

It is very difficult for most people to lose weight in the long term and have a healthy lifestyle. Kelley recommended to start slow. “Set small goals for yourself, activity wise.” It’s necessary to be active while trying to lose weight. Another big part of it is eating healthy. Kelley lives on a low fat diet. “I try to keep my fat intake under 30 grams a day and [I] keep my saturated and trans fats at zero.”

Kelley explained, “I only eat the healthy fats.” But the thing to keep in mind is that: “everybody’s body is different.” Don’t get frustrated if one diet doesn’t work for you, it might take time to figure out what is best for your body. Kelley suggested, sitting down and doing research and figuring out what works for you and just take it day by day.

Being healthy when you’re not at a camp where it’s all about losing weight and being healthy is extremely tough. There’ll be times when you want to go off diet but you should do your best to go find something healthy. Some days you will go off diet, that’s inevitable. Don’t beat yourself up about it. “Try again the next day and make it a goal to not go off your diet everyday, [and] when you wake up in the morning tell yourself that you’ll eat healthy today.”