Return to Fat Camp Weight Loss Back in MTV

Being fat stinks for everyone, especially teens. New TV program called Return to FAT Camp deals with teen weight loss issues.

For overweight teenagers trying to “fit in” can seem almost impossible – from getting teased at school to participating in sports, many of these kids find it hard just to feel ‘normal’.

They dream of losing weight, looking good and becoming popular and at “Fat Camp” that’s exactly what happens even if they don’t lose a pound!

Through first person encounters, MTV’s News and Docs presents “Return to Fat Camp” on Saturday, December 1st @ 12pm ET/PT and explores the lives of five young people who are battling their weight while having the time of their lives and finally fitting in at a weight loss camp where to them becomes a safe environment.

Viewers of Return to Fat Camp can follow the campers’ progress by checking out before and after photos on MTV.com.

The Think Community at think.mtv.com will help viewers cope with issues featured in this episode by providing resources on obesity and healthy self image. Viewers will also be able to comment on the show and the issues on think.mtv.com.

In “Return to Fat Camp,” MTV spends another summer at Camp Pocono Trails with no-nonsense Camp Director Tony Sparber.

Five new campers are hoping to change their lives by shedding pounds, making friends and building self confidence before returning to another challenging year of school.

“Return to Fat Camp” viewers will meet Logan, a 14 year old from North Carolina, who is burdened with the knowledge that her family is sacrificing financially to send her to fat camp; Adisa, a 14 year old returning to camp for a second summer with a goal of losing thirty pounds; Dan, a 15 year old who has never been away from his family before; Sam, an attractive averaged size girl who sees herself as overweight and Justin, a 400 pound teenager who knows his weight is more than an image problem and knows he has to do something about it before it’s too late.

In this documentary, viewers will see that while at camp the kids discover a world that is completely new to them – most are finally able to feel comfortable in their own skin, no matter what size they are. Shy, introverted teens that have never had friends are suddenly the life of the party.

In a place where everyone is overweight, these teens feel accepted and confident. But surprisingly, fat camp can also be a place where the hunted become hunters…Here overweight, ostracized teens turn the tables by picking on their plus-sized peers.

Think.MTV.com is a dynamic, multimedia-driven Community and enables youth to easily learn more about the issues that matter to them most, share their opinions – via uploaded online videos, podcasts and blogs – and connect with others to make a difference.

The fat camp site is one of the only to reward members for positive actions taken online or off, serving up chances to hang out with socially conscious celebs, access to exclusive MTV events, exposure on MTV and other national media outlets, as well as grants, scholarships and more.

Phone Coaching Can Help Promote Modest Weight Loss

Many Americans rarely leave home without their phones, and that could come in handy for those attempting to lose weight, according to a new study.

“Since so many people use cell phones and gas prices were getting higher, we thought, ‘How well can we reach people, and how well can we reach people if it’s not face to face?’” said Larry Tucker, Ph.D., the study’s lead author.

Tucker and colleagues at Brigham Young University found that of 120 men and women who received 11 sessions of personalized weight-loss phone coaching over a 17-week period lost an average of seven pounds, compared with an average of four pounds in un-coached adults. The sessions lasted 30 minutes.

The study appears in the November/December issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.

“People tend to do better when they have a support system and when they have someone they report to each week. The weight loss coach can help people work through weight loss issues, barriers and problems,” Tucker said. “Compared to no coaching, phone coaching tends to show a benefit.”

Adding daily weight-loss supplements designed to decrease appetite and increase metabolism also produced weight loss, the authors found. Daily supplement users lost about 6.8 pounds, compared with only about four pounds in placebo users.

The greatest total weight and body fat loss — about 9.7 pounds overall and 5 pounds of fat — occurred in adults who received both coaching and took the daily supplement.

The authors disclosed that TriVita, Inc., the company that manufactures the weight-loss supplement, provided funding to the study through a research grant.

“Over time, a person is going to have to learn a new lifestyle, but I think this particular supplement may be of value to help a person while they’re transitioning into that new lifestyle,” Tucker said.

However, the study may leave readers with more questions than answers, said Robert Jeffery, Ph.D., director of the Obesity Prevention Center at the University of Minnesota.

“You couldn’t tell by reading the study what the coaches were talking about. They talked to participants 11 times, but it doesn’t say what they told people to do,” Jeffery said.

And although this study found that participants dropped pounds, it may not compare to traditional weight-loss programs.

“In a state-of-the-art, face-to-face weight loss intervention, you should be able to get an eight- to 10-kilogram (17.5 to 22 pounds) weight loss in that same time period,” Jeffery said.