Women Only Weight Loss & Wellbeing Retreats
As we return from our latest Andalusian Weight Loss Retreat (did we mention an average weight loss of 9.2lbs?!) we have seen this fabulous article courtesy of Healthista, leading heath channel for women.
Click Here to read their experience of The Body Retreat.
During these autumnal months as the days get shorter and shorter there is a primal urge inside us that says wrap up warm, stay inside, eat!!!
Its not uncommon for people to experience SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) symptoms. Some individuals will need to seek medial help and support for the severity of their symptoms but for others you can support your system during this period to help alleviate SAD symptoms.
Really although it goes against all logical thought we need get out and expose as much flesh as possible to the daylight (let’s not freeze though!) this boosts out Vitamin D (an important nutrient produced through exposure to sunshine). Even better if you can exercise out doors.
It is also useful to observe a strict routine in terms of what time you go to bed, awaken in the morning and eat. Keeping a routine is important, even if in the early days you feel very tired upon waking this can improve over time.
The food we choose to eat during the winter months can also play a very important part in relieving the symptoms of SAD. Serotonin is derived from Tryptophan and we should be able to boost our levels of Serotonin by enriching our everyday diet with Tryptophan – rich foods.
Foods rich in Tryptophan
Lean meat –turkey, chicken, beef, lamb, pork.
Fish – salmon, cod.
Dairy – plain yoghurt, milk, eggs, cheddar, cottage cheese, parmesan.
Nuts – almonds, pistachios, pecan, hazelnuts, peanuts/soy nuts.
Seeds – poppy, pumpkin, sesame seeds.
Pulses – lentils, chick peas (hummus).
Legumes – kidney, lima beans, soya.
Vegetables – spinach, watercress, cabbage.
Wholegrains – porridge oats.
Fruits – bananas, pineapple, plums, dates, figs, prunes.
Check out our Heat warming Thai Butternut and Chick Pea Stew a perfect antidote to chilly nights.
Heat a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the coconut oil, soften the onion then add the curry paste and stir for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Meanwhile take the hard outer layer from the lemongrass stick and then bash with the back of your knife to release the flavor and add to the pot along with the lime leaf.
Add the squash and stir to coat with the curry paste. Stir in the chickpeas. Add the coconut milk and ½ cup water and bring to a simmer.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, or until the squash just begins to soften.
Stir in the red pepper, broccoli and gently simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the squash is tender but not falling apart and the sauce has reduced slightly. Season to taste with freshly ground pepper and fish sauce.
Remove the lemongrass and lime leaf and stir through the spinach leaves. Divide the curry among four soup bowls, top with chopped coriander, and serve.
Saturday 5th October saw our Charity Bootcamp day in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer and The Eve Appeal.
The day was inspired by our sharing the journey of our friend and Body Retreat champion Lulu Wisson as she beat cancer earlier this year. Throughout her treatment Lulu’s PMA remained constant and she was a total inspiration. In keeping with the qualities Lulu embodies and her passions we wanted a day that was filled with fun,fitness,fundraising and cake. Lulu has been campaigning for The Eve Appeal since her diagnosis. The Eve Appeal are a small charity that is dedicated to clinical research into ovarian cancer and currently contributed 15% of total research funding for this important cause.
I then had the good fortune to meet another inspiring woman Amanda Hobson-Jones. Amanda lost her daughter Bec at the tender age of just 33 to breast cancer 10 years ago and since then Amanda has been a dedicated campaigner and fundraiser for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Like Lulu, Amanda’s message is about love, hope and awareness. You cannot fail to be moved and touched by both their stories.
Despite the fact that The Body Retreat is run by women for women we decided to open the charity day to both men and women and had two brave blokes sign up, so the scene was set for an exceptional day.
There were so many highlights from the day, Gene and Mike finding their inner dancer in Just Jhoom, Amanda and Emma’s unscheduled “detour”, the raffle draw with the amazing and generous prizes from ReVive skincare, Stella & Dot, Tomy, Garmin to name but a few.
We were joined by Ali Archer from MassageAid who donated her day to massage our boot campers and she worked tirelessly through the whole day. Ali’s magic hands are legendary at our retreats and it was no surprise that she was quickly booked back to back all day, fabulously helping to increased our donation pot.
We finished the day off perfectly with afternoon tea and “calorie free” cakes.
Thanks to the generosity of the ladies and gents who attended the day and those who sponsored Lulu to attend we raised and amazing £1,900!! Im just going to say that again £1,900!! We are blown away by the generosity of everyone who supported the day,
I for one cant wait to do it all again next year we had so much fun.
It’s a well-known fact that people following a Mediterranean diet have better overall health. And, that’s certainly true for people living in Spain.
In preparation for our retreat in Spain this May I prepared a menu to reflect Spanish and Mediterranean influences, while still keeping to our nutritional requirements to suit the daily retreat activities. So far so good, however creating a menu behind a laptop in Windsor soon became unstuck on day one in Spain.
Landing in Malaga the day before the retreat started and our number one priority was the food shopping so off we went one of the largest supermarket chains in the region. I was prepared that there would need to be some element of substitution to ingredients but I was in for quite an awakening!!
The list of foods not available grew longer and longer, yellow peppers, spring onions, green lentils, wild rice even fresh spinach to name but a few!!! So the menu for the first few days of the retreat was adapted right there in the supermarket aisles.
What I learnt there and then is that the cookery books I had slaved over at home were designed to reflect UK market and abundance of ingredients we have, however the reality is that most of the Spanish menu is down-to-earth, uncomplicated food, based on the ingredients available locally or the crops grown regionally. Many dishes are prepared today using the same cooking methods and ingredients as they were two or three hundred years ago.
A recent study of food shopping habits in Spain showed that weekly produce is not only purchased in shops and supermarkets; but the traditions of obtaining directly from garden allotments, farms or other business; or received as a payment in kind is still very strong. Indeed while on retreat this May one of the nicest dishes we had was a simple green tomato salad made from produce bought from the back of the local farmers van as he went door to door.
Overall, food markets remain the most popular shopping choice in rural Andalusia and are the best place to buy the freshest produce, particularly what is in season. Most towns and villages will have a local market, and our local town was no exception.
One thing is for sure, food in Spain is fresh, abundant and full of taste and the Spanish love their food dearly. I can’t wait to go back to Andalucía in October to see for myself what the local producers have to offer and our autumnal retreat menu will reflect the local markets and produce and there won’t be a cookery book in sight.
