Adult Fat Camps: How Structure House is Different

The term "fat camp" is commonly used in popular culture to refer to traditional residential weight loss programs.  Structure House is different than a "fat camp" in several important ways.  Given the importance of your decision to lose weight, we want you to understand what sets Structure House apart from traditional fat camps.

Fat Camps Don’t Focus on Real Life

Traditional fat camps have a standing tradition of removing their campers from the hustle and bustle of the real world in order to focus on losing weight. Because they are usually located apart from cities, fat camps help people explore and discover the outdoors and a whole new world of physical activity. The goal is usually to shed as many pounds as possible.

But what happens when you go home and are back in the real world? The strict diet and exercise regime is nearly impossible to stick with because fat camps don’t focus on what happens after you leave. The challenges we all face in our daily life are removed when you’re at a fat camp, and coming back to those can be jarring if you’re not prepared.

Fat Camps Don’t Help You Change Thoughts & Behaviors

At Structure House, our approach is to help you find ways to retrain the way you think about food so that our program can be adapted to your home life. You’ll receive a food diary, a notebook to keep all your handouts from classes, and a menu planning toolbox. Weekly sessions with a therapist help you unpack your relationship with food and discover what’s kept you from achieving your weight loss goals in the past, while giving you practical steps to take in the real world to keep you structured. Classes like “Structure for the Real World”, “Stress Management” and “Eating out Smart” help teach you how to apply our program at home.

Fat Camps Don’t Provide Continuing Care

If you've attended a fat camp in the past, you may have been fairly successful if you followed their regimen of activity and strict diet. But who was there when you were at home for a couple of weeks and had a bad day? How can the fat camp motivate you to keep going when all you want to do is sink back into your old habits? At Structure House, we’re all about staying connected with you to help you through the toughest part of your weight loss journey-losing weight at home and keeping it off.

Structure House's continuing care options ensure that help is available when you need it. With free support options like food diary review and the graduate website, you can connect both with your fellow participants and the staff at Structure House and receive helpful feedback about your progress. Low cost after care options include phone therapy with your therapist, online support groups, our online program (SHOW), and web based therapy support called E-Care. We also offer discounted return visits any time you need a tune up or reinforcement.

Structure House will help you lose weight while you’re on our campus, and you’ll have fun doing it. But our main goal is to help give you the tools you need to continue on this journey for long lasting, lifestyle change.