Loveable Foods that Love You Back
The diet that students live and learn at Wellspring is simple to understand and easy sustain when they return home. Wellspring students enjoy a wide variety of delicious and familiar foods, like burgers, fries, pizza, bagels, bacon and egg sandwiches, and pasta. However, we prepare food (and teach students to prepare it) using ingredients and cooking methods that keep the fat grams and calories to a minimum.
While Wellspring changes the nutrition profile of what students eat, the goal is not to change tastes. So students are introduced to foods that have the same flavor profile and texture as the foods they are used to, but that also meet certain nutrition parameters (e.g., buffalo instead of beef, baked foods instead of fried). We can't expect students to change their lifestyle permanently unless the food we're serving is at least as appealing as the food they're used to eating.
Hunger-Free Weight Loss
Students at Wellspring Academies are asked to keep their fat intake to 20 grams a day or less. Research has shown that an eating plan that is very low in fat and calories is most likely to be sustained as a permanent lifestyle change. Students enjoy three meals and two snacks each day, called “controlled” food. A typical day of controlled foods will include 1,200 calories, 10 g of fat, 50 g of protein and 30 g of fiber.
In addition to the controlled food served at each meal, students have unlimited access to the “uncontrolled” food bar. This is like a large salad bar with lots of low-fat soups, salads, yogurt, cottage cheese, tuna, fresh cut fruits and veggies.
Uncontrolled foods provide students with the opportunity to eat until full, plus they’re an invaluable teaching tool—students can eat as much as they want as long as they record what they eat (self-monitor) each day. This way, students and their Behavioral Coach will review the food choices and the weight loss results to help students better understand how one affects the other.
We also provide Nutrition and Culinary courses that educate students on proper diet and help them to become self-sufficient in grocery stores, restaurants, and the kitchen. And as part of our ongoing commitment to helping entire families lead healthier lives, we train family members how to follow the Wellspring eating plan during our free weekend Family Workshops.
