To me, a thirty-something northern European, fat camps were just a Hollywood invention. I've never seen one nor have I known anyone who has.
However, the worldview I've adopted from my social bubble burst when I came across Hannah, an HR consultant and online content creator from the US who has actually had the displeasure of going to such an establishment.
But before we get into the details, it's worth highlighting that Hannah wasn't put there against her will. "I struggled with my weight at an early age after some traumatic things in my life, and desperately wanted to fit in with my peers, so my parents had the means to send me, and I went," she told BuzzFeed.
This wasn't a spontaneous decision too. Hannah and her family did their research. "Based on the way they advertised the scientific validity of the camp's weight-loss methods, we thought it would be extremely effective (and it was in the short term)."
"But it unfortunately ingrained unhealthy eating habits in me for the years to follow — which, based on some other people who went to a weight-loss camp in their teens who have commented on my TikTok, seems to be very true for many of us."
Meet Hannah, a 28-year-old HR consultant from North Carolina who recently went viral on TikTok for sharing her personal experience of attending a fat camp
Image credits: hannahalysee
In 2009, when she was 15, Hannah attended the now-defunct Wellspring Adventure Camp in Haywood County, North Carolina
Image credits: hannahalysee
Hannah said the kids at the camp were aged 11–18 and the counselors weighed them as soon as they arrived.
Campers received journals where they were supposed to track everything they ate, as well as pedometers to wear on their wrists to track their steps.
Everyone was basically on the same diet — it only varied depending on whether they were male or female. Hannah herself was on fewer than 1,200 calories and 20 grams of fat per day, which sounds pretty extreme when you consider that the average energy requirement for 15-year-old girls is 2,390 kcal.
Of course, the exact number can vary from person to person but our teenage years are a time of rapid growth and we need to get sufficient amounts of food to meet the needs of our developing bodies.
Hannah spent 10 weeks there, which was the longest she'd been away from home at the time
"When going to get meals, we had to stand outside the food hall and wait to be called to get in line," Hannah explained.
"The order of that was determined by how loud your cabin could do cabin cheers... It was weird, and sometimes when you didn't get picked first, they'd be out of the 'good stuff' for some of us because all the other campers had went through and gotten their meals before you."
The woman described what it was like on TikTok
"Breakfast would often be egg whites, fat-free/low-fat yogurts, bagels, and fruits. Lunch and dinner were mostly chicken or buffalo meat — things that were high in protein and low in fat. We'd snack on things like those little 100-calorie SnackWell's or Fig Newtons two times a day, in addition to our three meals. Sometimes we'd get diet soda as a 'treat,' and they really just pushed the low-cal, low-fat diet for us," the woman recalled.
And said she chose to go there willingly
Image credits: hannahalysee
Hannah described how the camp was set up and the diet she had to follow
As well as many other things that happened there
Hannah lost 40 pounds in the 10 weeks she was at the camp. There was a weekly weigh-in and it made the environment extremely competitive among the kids.
"I lost consistently, but I was also proud of myself when I'd eat less than the prescribed diet," she said.
The campers often bragged to each other about how much they shed each week.
Here's what she looked like before the camp, weighing around 216 pounds
Image credits: hannahalysee
During the camp
Image credits: hannahalysee
And after, when she came back home
Image credits: hannahalysee
Image credits: hannahalysee
But the changes weren't for long. "I gained back the 40 pounds I lost in [those] 10 weeks, and more, and I just never could figure out how to 'eat right' and remained on diets for 10 more years after camp. I think the experience engrained in me the restrictive, rapid weight-loss diet mindset, and I had to finally learn that it's OK to eat more than 1,200 calories and actually fuel my body with all three food groups, and not eliminate one."
Many people were surprised that fat camps were real and not just a movie gimmick
Hannah said there were many things that could've been done differently
And opened up about her life beyond fat camp
Image credits: hannahalysee