The Weight Loss Boot Camp - Final Review
UPDATED 8/1/2023
Now that the "boot camp" portion of my weight loss battle is over, I wanted to update the review section with some final opinions of the boot camp based on what was discussed with the staff prior to attending and what was delivered when the program was completed including any post boot camp attendance support. I also wanted to provide pictures, but never got around to taking them in great quantity so instead of adding my pictures, their current web site has plenty of photographs of the facility and surrounding area:
For the review, I will provide a complaint list of core items that where bothersome from what was basically a positive experience from a weight loss perspective.
Item 1: Getting ample amounts of "sleep" is a key area for weight loss. The bed in my condo had absolutely NO support, not the type of bed for a heavier person; I sank all the way to the box spring, it was like sleeping on wood. This was ultimately resolved by flipping the mattress over and sleeping on an opposite side. The boot camp knew my starting weight, this should have been checked before my arrival.
Item 2: The lack of availability to a hot tub / whirlpool / sauna, I experienced lower back and right hip related pain in the early weeks, then a right calf issue after week 5 that eventually turned out to be a DVT. Not having a way to soak inflamed muscles was extremely detrimental in gaining some mobility recovery for the next day. This ultimately limited the amount and types of exercising I was able to complete thus limiting my weight loss progress.
The facility advertises they can handle obese customers who suffer with limited mobility, this is TOTALLY false. If you advertise your a "fat camp" you know customers with weight issues will have some muscle related problems from not excising, so a method to help with this for recovery should have been made available. I blame myself, I just "assumed" it was, I should have asked about this before selecting this facility and making final payment. If I had known, I would have opted to pay more for one of the more "resort styled" facilities that guaranteed the availability to a hot tub / whirlpool / sauna. Being told to simply go to the pool, which was primarily busy with screaming kids and drunk vacationers most of the time or try to soak in a bathtub that was clearly NOT made for an obese person was totally unacceptable.
Item 5: From there website "By limiting our classes to no more than 7-10 at a time, we make sure to give every client the one-on-one personal attention and service they deserve..." Not so true, yes the classes where small, we had no more than 6 customers at any one time, however there was no where near the amount of "one to one" training I would have expected, given the class size and price of admission to the boot camp. This was more prevalent when I was having issues with my right calf after week 5 and was limited to upper body weigh training only.
Item 6: From there website "....ongoing support after you leave....." a couple emails so far, the last one with a bunch of web links to healthy recipes of items that were never served at the boot camp. This sucked, since the food served was fantastic, it would have been nice to get the actual recipes of the food that was served! Also with the email was an attached spreadsheet with a very a generic "copy and paste" exercise program, not much effort was made in this department. After the initial emails there has been absolutely NO support, NO email, NO phone calls, absolutely nothing! The post attendance support was heavily advertised and talked about during the program, but there was simply no effort what so every. Guess once they have your money.. well you know.
Overall Impression:
If I base my overall impression only on the immediate end result, then I have to provide a somewhat positive response. The amount of weight loss over the 7 week period I felt could have been more, especially knowing the largest one week weight loss drop I experienced was the first week of FMLA leave before starting the boot camp where I had no solid food for 10 days. However, the one key health area that required an immediate change based on my PCP's concerns of my health condition back in April 2019 was the reduction of my Stage 2 hypertension high blood pressure and yes the initial weight loss was a factor
However, since there was NO effort in providing any post boot camp attendance support and that I experienced a relapse in weight gain, On a 10-Point grade system I have to give WeightCrafters an overall grade of FIVE out of TEN, and would NOT recommend.
Do I blame WeightCrafters for my weight gain relapse, NO... I am ultimately responsible for my actions. However as previously mentioned, the post attendance support that was advertised just was not there. One would think from a marketing perspective they would make sure to stay in contact with past clients, help past clients who are having issues with weight gain after attending. Who would be better to provide new client opportunities than a 100% satisfied customer?
For the review, I will provide a complaint list of core items that where bothersome from what was basically a positive experience from a weight loss perspective.
Item 1: Getting ample amounts of "sleep" is a key area for weight loss. The bed in my condo had absolutely NO support, not the type of bed for a heavier person; I sank all the way to the box spring, it was like sleeping on wood. This was ultimately resolved by flipping the mattress over and sleeping on an opposite side. The boot camp knew my starting weight, this should have been checked before my arrival.
Item 2: The lack of availability to a hot tub / whirlpool / sauna, I experienced lower back and right hip related pain in the early weeks, then a right calf issue after week 5 that eventually turned out to be a DVT. Not having a way to soak inflamed muscles was extremely detrimental in gaining some mobility recovery for the next day. This ultimately limited the amount and types of exercising I was able to complete thus limiting my weight loss progress.
The facility advertises they can handle obese customers who suffer with limited mobility, this is TOTALLY false. If you advertise your a "fat camp" you know customers with weight issues will have some muscle related problems from not excising, so a method to help with this for recovery should have been made available. I blame myself, I just "assumed" it was, I should have asked about this before selecting this facility and making final payment. If I had known, I would have opted to pay more for one of the more "resort styled" facilities that guaranteed the availability to a hot tub / whirlpool / sauna. Being told to simply go to the pool, which was primarily busy with screaming kids and drunk vacationers most of the time or try to soak in a bathtub that was clearly NOT made for an obese person was totally unacceptable.
Item 3: The core facility for the boot camp was located on the ground floor of a building that has about 18 plus vacation resort style 2 bedroom / 2 bath condominiums on floors 2 to 4. The building is in Madeira Beach, Florida and is located on the main road with the Gulf of Mexico beach right across the street behind another condominium. Other businesses are located on the ground floor including a coffee shop that is very popular on the weekends.
Great location, pool and beach access are steps away from your room, the work out facility is downstairs, however a couple of problems over the weekends. First is PARKING, there is no assigned parking for boot camp attendees who have come with a vehicle. Customers from the coffee shop take up the majority of the parking spaces from 7:00 am to around 2:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday and it becomes a major hassle if you leave the building for any reason, closest public parking is 4 blocks away.
Second issue is NOISE, this is related to the parking issue since parking is not managed, locals use the parking area as a "public lot". There are several restaurants and outdoor bars within walking distance so these customers use the condo parking lot for their late evening fun. Every weekend there was excessive noise in the parking area, sometimes into the early AM hours.
Item 4: This is probably due to my age (turned 60 in April 2019) but the music the afternoon trainers play makes me want to stick a knife in my left ear. We where allowed to use personal headphones while in training if one was not doing a circuit, so if you do not use one then your at the mercy of whatever music the trainers decide to play; it's usually 2+ hours of Rap (puke) and the typical "voice box filled" Pop music that seems to be popular with the younger and tone death generation these days, simply pathetic.
Item 5: From there website "By limiting our classes to no more than 7-10 at a time, we make sure to give every client the one-on-one personal attention and service they deserve..." Not so true, yes the classes where small, we had no more than 6 customers at any one time, however there was no where near the amount of "one to one" training I would have expected, given the class size and price of admission to the boot camp. This was more prevalent when I was having issues with my right calf after week 5 and was limited to upper body weigh training only.
Item 6: From there website "....ongoing support after you leave....." a couple emails so far, the last one with a bunch of web links to healthy recipes of items that were never served at the boot camp. This sucked, since the food served was fantastic, it would have been nice to get the actual recipes of the food that was served! Also with the email was an attached spreadsheet with a very a generic "copy and paste" exercise program, not much effort was made in this department. After the initial emails there has been absolutely NO support, NO email, NO phone calls, absolutely nothing! The post attendance support was heavily advertised and talked about during the program, but there was simply no effort what so every. Guess once they have your money.. well you know.
Overall Impression:
If I base my overall impression only on the immediate end result, then I have to provide a somewhat positive response. The amount of weight loss over the 7 week period I felt could have been more, especially knowing the largest one week weight loss drop I experienced was the first week of FMLA leave before starting the boot camp where I had no solid food for 10 days. However, the one key health area that required an immediate change based on my PCP's concerns of my health condition back in April 2019 was the reduction of my Stage 2 hypertension high blood pressure and yes the initial weight loss was a factor
However, since there was NO effort in providing any post boot camp attendance support and that I experienced a relapse in weight gain, On a 10-Point grade system I have to give WeightCrafters an overall grade of FIVE out of TEN, and would NOT recommend.
Do I blame WeightCrafters for my weight gain relapse, NO... I am ultimately responsible for my actions. However as previously mentioned, the post attendance support that was advertised just was not there. One would think from a marketing perspective they would make sure to stay in contact with past clients, help past clients who are having issues with weight gain after attending. Who would be better to provide new client opportunities than a 100% satisfied customer?
UPDATE 2023
It appears WeightCrafters has moved to a new location so some of the items mentioned above that are specific to the location / accommodations may no longer be valid. They offer a 5% discount for alumni but in my opinion that discount is not good enough for another try.
Comments
Post a Comment