The headline may be a bit sensational but we enjoyed reading Juno DeMelo’s first-person story of her time spent experiencing the Mountain Trek program at Rancho La Puerta that recently ran on fitnessmagazine.com.

The reason Juno decided to take part in the Mountain Trek program is because, “I’m not fat or out of shape, but I’ve put on a few pounds over the last three years. And though I hate the idea of dieting, I like a challenge. I also figured that not having constant access to food would help me separate real hunger from the fake kind that tends to pop up when I’m bored or stressed. So, I packed my bags…with the hope of gaining energy and losing weight.”

The article then details what Juno experienced day-to-day while enrolled in the program, from morning yoga classes to day hikes to after-dinner workouts. She also spent a large part of the story talking about food.

“I never felt stuffed, but I felt full for a couple of hours after each meal,” Juno writes. “By the third hour, it was time to have a snack, which usually – and surprisingly – held me over to dinner. By day five my appetite downshifted and…I felt satiated. The hikes started to feel more doable (and) I stopped fantasizing about cheesecake…”

By the seventh day it was time for the weigh out and Juno learned she had lost 5.2 pounds. “I was elated.” she writes. She then goes on to describe one of the best parts of the Mountain Trek program, namely the post-retreat support plan. “They say that if I keep this up, I should be able to maintain my weight loss and maybe even continue to drop 1/2 to 1 pound a week until by body hits its happy point…I now know I’m strong enough, mentally and physically, to hike for eight miles a day, six days in a row. That I can be a little bit hungry without the world crashing down. And that while food is still one of the great loves of my life, I’ve probably been over-romancing it.”

To see Juno’s story in its entirety, log on to the Fitness Magazine website and read, “I Survived Adult Fat Camp.”