The Academy of the Sierras - Residential Weight Loss Programs for Overweight Teens
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Welcome To Your New Lifestyle!
The world is not an easy place for weight controllers. McDonald's on every corner, TV ads for sugary snacks, and an overwhelming culture of inactivity contribute to ridiculously high obesity levels in America. Kids are becoming overweight younger and younger, and it increasingly seems that there is no way to stop the cycle.
That's where the Academy of the Sierras comes in. The Academy of the Sierras is a number of related boarding schools across the country that, in addition to giving a proper middle and high school education, provide low-calorie, low-fat meals and frequent exercise opportunities. But AOS is not just a typical "lose weight fast" institution. It is committed to creating a long-term lifestyle change, using therapy and teaching nutritional, culinary, and behaviorial techniques to learn to live healthy in the real world.
The Sierras Weight-Loss Solution for Teens and Kids
The Newest Book by Dr. Daniel Kirshenbaum
The Sierras Weight-Loss Solution for Teens and Kids: A Scientifically Based Program from the Highly Acclaimed Weight-Loss School
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 07/12/2009) 
Medical Journals Report!
Some PDFs For Your Educational Perusal!
- Clinicial Endocrinology News
- Boarding School for Obese Teens Shows Promise
January 1, 2007 - Medscape
- Selected Presentations From the Annual Scientific Meeting of NAASO-The Obesity Society
October 20-24, 2006; - Family Practice News
- School Transforms Overweight Teens
January 1, 2007
The Program
Diet Management, Activity Management, and Lifestyle Change
Food at AOS is very low-fat and very low-calorie. Three meals a day are provided, with an unlimited salad/fruit/yogurt bar at each meal, and two extra snacks daily. All this food should add up to approximately 1200 calories and 10 grams of fat. There are also culinary and nutrition classes weekly, so that kids can become aware of what they are putting in their bodies.Activity is measured in terms of "steps," which is quite literally the number of steps each student takes per day, while walking or running. Each kid is given a pedometer to wear to monitor this. To encourage activity, there are three structured activities a day, including sports, swimming, morning walks, and trips to a local gym.
Lifestyle change is helped along by cognitive behavioral therapy. CBT is used to identify unhelpful and harmful behaviors and change the attitudes that cause those behaviors. There is group therapy twice a week and a once-weekly meeting with your personal "behavioral coach."
Weight Loss Blog
Students and Staff of the Academy Blog About Weight-Related Issues
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byThe Healthy Obsession Program
Smart Weight Loss!
The Healthy Obsession Program: Smart Weight Loss Instead of Low-Carb Lunacy
Amazon Price: $19.96 (as of 07/12/2009)
My Personal Story
26 Pounds In Two Months, And Counting!
This semester, however, I chose to put college off for a little while and join the brand-new Academy of the Sierras College Program, where we get all the boarding school benefits while attending a local community college and enjoying a few more privileges appropriate to our age.
The program hasn't always been easy, but I've found it, overall, an excellent way to lose weight, and one I'd highly recommend.
(Those shirts are the exact same size, from the same website!)
My Pics From the College Program
Good Times, Healthy Times
The first few months.
Makeup Fun in the Living Room.
This is Lupin, a stray dog we found. We gave him some turkey.
We went up to Sequoia National Park, where we hiked, swam, and posed in parking lots.
There were awesome views, too.
Some of us had a picnic before we went exercising.
Me, as one of the bigger students.
They gave us fat free cupcakes! We were pleased.
We visited San Fransisco--compare to the Sequoia picture! Just three months!
The 9 Truths About Weight Loss
An Oldie, But Still A Goodie
The 9 Truths About Weight Loss: The No- Tricks, No-Nonsense Plan for Lifelong Weight Control
Amazon Price: (as of 07/12/2009)
Some Extra Facts About AOS
- AOS has shown the best documented results of any non-surgical weight loss intervention for its age range.
- AOS has two campuses, with another on the way -- Reedley, CA and Brevard, NC are operational, and a new one is being build in the Northeast (probably NJ) for January 2008.
- AOS has a sister program, Wellspring Camps, for kids who would rather not go to boarding school. Wellspring has seven camps: Upstate New York, for girls 12-24; Adventure in North Carolina, 11-16; Adventure California, 13-18; Texas, 12-17; Hawaii, 13-18; Family Camp in Michigan, 5-13 with parents; and the UK branch for 12-17.
- Academy students have two "group" sessions weekly in which they evaluate their progress on three prongs: monitoring (writing down) food intake; maintaining a very low-fat diet; and getting 10,000 steps a day.
- The AOS website, www.academyofthesierras.com, has, in addition to all this information and more, a variety of PDFs and streaming videos of news stories on the Academy. Check them out!
So, What Do You Think?
Would you go to AOS? Send your kids? Want more information? Let me know!
Dr_Joe wrote...
Very informative.
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Posted August 17, 2008
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Posted March 06, 2008
justanotherfaceinthecrowd3
I attended AOS and I loved it. I lost over 65 lbs... i didn't lose as much as other students, but I didn't start out as heavy as alot of other people. it worked really well and quickly... it's tricky once you leave the school and you are in the "real world" but you can usually get the hang of it.
Posted December 10, 2007
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A student and internet-a-holic. Tumblelogging at http://likeaduck.tumblr.com.
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