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The Body Retreat

The Body Retreat

Women Only Weight Loss & Wellbeing Retreats

Author: Jabernet

4 top weight loss tips for women

Whether you have a few pounds to lose; are looking to shift that last half a stone; or have other weight loss aspirations – then we can help.

At The Body Retreat, while everyone who attends our bootcamps will experience weight loss, our focus is more than that – we want to empower you, so you feel and look your best with our combination of exercise; eating nutritionally balanced meals; and changing behaviours.

Here we share some of our top weight loss tips for women …

1. Food cravings and hunger
One issue that women on a diet normally experience is feelings of hunger and cravings for food they feel are “off limits”. Eating a nutritionally balanced diet, however, that contains foods that help you feel fuller for longer as well as keeping your blood sugars stabilised (so no lapses in energy that see you reach for a chocolate bar), is the solution.

It will stop those cravings and mean you won’t feel hungry in between meals, because you are giving your body what it needs and removing the dramatic peaks and troughs in energy levels that things like caffeine and sugars give you.

All our menus are based around these principles and are tasty, nutritious and help make it easier to lose weight as well as giving you the foundation for a healthy way of eating for life.

2. The importance of exercise
It’s simple – if you want to lose weight, you need to eat better and move smarter. You may have seen celebrities in glossy magazines showing off an amazing weight loss saying that they “didn’t exercise” they simply “ate less”!

While you can achieve weight loss without exercise, you may be disappointed with the end results. It’s all very well losing fat, but if your skin isn’t toned or, in the case of extreme weight loss, you are left with excess skin, you may well still be unhappy with how you look.

It is also worth bearing in mind that the more frequently you exercise, the more calories you’ll burn – meaning you will lose weight quicker. The short term benefits also don’t end once you stop exercising – you’ll burn off calories faster for a few hours after, as well as benefitting from lots of health boosting benefits such as strengthening your bones, keeping your heart healthy, etc

And if you think that exercising is all about spending hours down the gym (with a very expensive gym membership to add to the pain!) then you need to come on one our Bootcamps.

Run at venues, ranging from day to weekend courses to week long retreats, across England (and in Spain), we show you that you don’t need a gym or lots of expensive equipment in order to get fit. It’s all about eating better and moving smarter.

3. Getting on the scales
Don’t get hung up on the weighing scales. While getting on the scales once a week or so to monitor just how well your weight loss is going can be a positive experience, there will be occasions when, although you’ve exercised frequently and eaten properly, the scales will not show any weight loss.

When this happens, you may feel “what’s the point of continuing?” and decide to give up and go back to your old habits. While it is understandable to feel like this, too much emphasis shouldn’t be put on what you weigh, as it could be misleading.

There could be many reasons why the scales don’t show a weight loss. For example, you are close to your period (most women gain a few pounds – which is typically just water – before their period). Or it could be that while you have lost fat, your have actually built up muscle due to exercise. As muscle weighs more than fat, the results on the scales could be deceptive. Weight can be lost gradually, as it is more useful and safer for the skin and for the general condition of the body, but then it doesn’t come back. I feel good and lost 3 kg in 2 weeks, but I guess it happens so cause I don’t eat after 6 p.m.

Focus more on how you feel and look – only you know what you weigh. Other people will see a healthier, slimmer and more toned you.

4. Our Bootcamp Retreats

The Body retreat believe in providing a holistic approach to health and weight loss, with an equal balance of exercise, nutrition and behaviour on all our events. All these combined activities will help you achieve your goals. And, rather than faddy diets where you put weight back on as soon as you have lost it, they will give you the foundation to incorporate them in to your lifestyle – meaning you will achieve and maintain the body and fitness you have always wanted – and any excess weight lost will stay off.

Guide to weight loss camps for women

Anyone who has ever been on a diet will know just how difficult it often is to stick to. And then, if you do manage to reach your target weight, how equally difficult it can be to maintain it.

That is why weight loss camps are so popular. They are designed to put you in an environment conducive to successful weight loss, with people facing similar challenges.

There are many different types of weight loss camps – or bootcamps as they are often known – so making sure you choose the one that is most suitable for you will help you achieve your goals.

So, what do you need to consider?

What are you trying to achieve – a quick fix? Or weight loss and maintenance?

What is your goal? A rapid weight loss where you only consume juices for several days (which often goes straight back on as soon as you start eating normally, back home)? Or a programme which will educate you on how to lose weight successfully – and maintain that weight loss?

At Brealy Bootcamps, we offer the latter. We know that old habits are hard to break and, in some cases, there may be other obstacles to maintaining your weight loss (such as understanding why you reach for that biscuit tin when you get that 3pm slump, or that glass of wine as soon as you walk in the door after a bad day).

On our weight loss camps for women, losing weight is just one part of the programme. We have a personalised, holistic, approach consisting of an equal balance of exercise, nutrition and behaviour on all our events.

Our aim is to provide you with a new framework for your life so that you can learn how to lose and then maintain your weight through a mixture of healthy eating, exercise and new behaviours (such as dealing with stress, or foregoing pick me ups such as caffeine when you are tired).

Big groups – or one-to-one attention?

Do you want one-to-one or one-to-few attention, where you can exercise at your own fitness levels under the expert eye of a trainer? Or be part of a large group where you just throw yourself in the deep end and hope you don’t injure yourself because no one is telling you if you are doing a particular exercise correctly?

On all of our bootcamps, we have small groups so that everyone gets a personalised service. Our groups tend to be a mixture of all levels of fitness, ages, shapes and sizes, and our programmes are tailored to meet each individual so that they can meet their goals.

What is included in the cost?

You may see some weight loss retreats advertising themselves as cheap – while this is all well and good, do make sure you know what is included in the cost before you sign up.

Some of these so-called “cheap” camps will charge you extra for things like en-suite rooms, towels, snacks and even water!

At our camps, everything is included. Your food, snacks and drinks will have the emphasis on being healthy while still being tasty and satisfying. Three main meals and three snacks will ensure that you never go hungry, plus herbal teas and water are on tap!

And all our venues offer clean, luxurious, and (usually) en-suite rooms – no dormitories!

Activities

If their website details it, check out the sort of activities you’ll be doing to make sure that they:

  • are varied, so that you get to try lots of different activities as well as work different muscle groups;
  • do not require lots of equipment (meaning that when you go home, you can keep up with the new routines you’ve learnt, without having to join an expensive gym);
  • appeal to you – at least a bit! For example, if running for a bus is the only running you do, suddenly being thrown into lots of 10k runs and very little else won’t make for an enjoyable time at your camp.

A varied mix of activities – such as gym and outdoor based exercise classes and workouts intermixed with sessions on nutrition, workshop activities and low impact exercise such as yoga, pilates, and Nordic walking etc – is ideal, as it meets all the points mentioned above.

Finally, whatever weight loss camp you decide to attend, don’t forget to check out the credentials of the Team – being in the care of qualified, experienced people will help you achieve your goals – as well as give you peace of mind.

You cannot out train a bad diet…

This morning I had a client come in for their third PT session.  Let’s call her Jane.

Jane had put on 2lbs… shock, disappointment and disbelief.  I could see the horror on her face, because Jane felt she’d had a good week, she had followed my exercise plan to the letter, had even added in an extra couple of walks.  So before we started the PT session we took five minutes to chat about her diet this week. Firstly, Jane hadn’t been using her food diary, feeling that she would review each day on its own.  Jane told me that she had been having smaller portions, and no carbs for supper, but after a little more digging Jane remembered ice cream and strawberries, hot chocolate and shortbread, finishing the kids Easter eggs to name but a few “treats” this week.

This is not uncommon.  Clients very often fall into this trap at the beginning of their weight loss journey and start to think that because they have increased their activity levels that they can or should be able to treat themselves.  Does that sound familiar?

At Brealy Bootcamps we promote developing a real relationship with food and do not advocate removal of any foods from your regular diet.  Research has shown that total abstinence or restrictive diets fail time and time again.  Once you remove a food completely you can start to develop a contrary desire for it, sometimes this feels more like a compulsion and you can find yourself binging out on the removed food and then feeling guilty and ashamed of yourself.  This spiral of denial, guilt and shame is not productive and only sets you up for failure in the long term.

But, there is a but here…… in the early days of your weight loss journey you do need to exercise caution around when you include certain foods.  The key is stabilising your blood sugar, so eating your three main meals and two small protein rich snacks is important.  This stops you from feeling “hungry” so you are less likely to make bad choices while keeping your metabolism high.  Secondly, remember a treat is exactly that a treat… not a regular occurrence, so a daily treat is not a treat, that’s becoming part of your regular diet.  If you want to reward yourself for your increased activity you need to find a non food way to do that so that you don’t undo your good work.

As you grow in confidence and motivation as the lbs/Kgs start to come off and your new shape reveals itself you will find it easier to make healthy choices, but for now you need to practice and treats should become just that “occasional treats”.

Weight Loss Diets Are Like Bicycles

At The Body Retreat weight loss retreats we don’t advocate any diets, in fact I often liken weight loss diets as bicycles… they look great, they look so easy to master, with the promise of freedom, the promise of a better bottom,  but here’s the thing….

Even the most accomplished cyclist at some point will fall off their bikes.

Bradley, Chris and Victoria all look natural in the saddle, make it look so easy but all of them have felt the pain and shame of the tumble off.

Often falling off isn’t even your fault, a bump in the road, another road user, a mechanical failure.  Sometimes it’s easy to quickly get straight back on and perhaps after a shaky start you get some momentum again.  Sometimes, you feel hurt and embarrassed so you quit and never ride again.  You think what’s the point, you can’t cycle, its too hard.  The new bicycle ends up resigned to the shed or ends up on ebay.

Similarly, the latest weight loss diet always seems shiny and new with the promise of easy weight loss, a better bottom, a better life.

The newspapers and magazines are awash with success stories of people for whom this new weight loss diet has been the key to turning their life around…. So we feel tempted, we feel envious and so we make the purchase, buy the book, sign up to the programme, begin the diet.

To begin with things may go well, its new, different, special,  it occupies all your conscious thoughts as you begin to learn the new rules, explore the new skills needed.  And because you are religiously applying the principles and your food consumption changes, guess what …. You lose a few pounds.

You feel great, the hype might just have been right, this is going to be so easy.  Then as the days and weeks go by it becomes harder and harder to be so disciplined and apply the rules of restriction or substitution.

So you start to free wheel a bit, start cutting corners,  start taking detours.  And then the wheels come off all together.  You find yourself hurt, embarrassed, guilty.  You beat yourself up about your apparent lack of ability.

So what’s the alternative?  Well, at our weight loss retreat we advocate BEING CHOOSY.  Being choosy about what you put into your body and make choices to eat a balanced diet.  Applying the 80/20 principle, so 80% of the time you choose to eat healthy and nutritious foods and then 20% you choose to have a little splurge.

You cant fall off if you don’t get on.  So get all those weight loss diets books on ebay now and every day choose to be choosey instead.

What difference could three minutes make to your stress levels?

Do you often feel like you are running to stand still in an increasing fast paced frenetic world? Do you feel weighed down by all the “Stuff” you need to get done? Do you feel stressed out?

Stress, it’s a word on almost everyone’s lips at one time or another. People spend a lot of time thinking of ways to gain control, feel less stressed and combat some of the negative effects that stress can have on the body. But all to often these thoughts are fleeting and hardly ever gain any traction to bring about any tangible change. Its natural to try to think you way out of a problem situation, we are cognitive beings and this is one of our best skills, but in fact what often happens is that this trying to think about changing becomes a viscous cycle of fault finding, doubts and recriminations… which can leave you feeling worse than before.

Is there anything wrong with trying to be better, do better, and feel better? After all we will have heard the sayings “God loves a Try’er” or “if at first you don’t succeed, Try Try Again” “Winners never stop Trying”

Well, yes. You see the thing is there is doubt in trying, its full of “what if’s, maybes, perhaps” there comes a time when after trying to do something for a while and it doesn’t work out, you have to stop an do something different instead.

When it comes to starting to tackle the negative influence stress has taken on your life it may be time to stop trying and start being. There is an alternative to just getting by. Perhaps its time to find a new way of being, rather than just trying a new technique or passing fad or craze? By new way of being what I really mean is a new way of behaving, adopting a new process that you can practice to support you every day and will evolve with you and help when life sets those difficult challenges from time to time.

Through our Re-Set Retreat programme dozens of women have been introduced to a new way through the Mindfulness element of the retreat. Mindfulness is a mind-body approach to reducing the impact of negative thoughts. . Mindfulness can stop negative self attacking thoughts in their tracks before they build momentum into the vicious cycle mentioned earlier. Mindfulness is a very simple concept. Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally. This increases awareness, clarity and acceptance of our present-moment reality which in turn brings about a long term change in mood, concentration levels, reactions times and feelings of wellbeing while at the same time improves the brains resistance to stress, anxiety and irritations.

Mindfulness isn’t new, it has been practiced for centuries and its recommended by MIND the mental health charity as effective part of treatment for anxiety and depression but what mindfulness isn’t is a quick fix. It works if you make a commitment to yourself, a commitment not that you will try to find time to practice, but you make time to practice because it is important to you.

So how long does it take? You can make a start from as little as three minutes each day. Can you find three minutes to begin to regain control over stress?

Try this three minute mindful exercise, practice it every day for a week and you will slowly but surely begin to feel subtle difference to how you

Three Minute Mindful Meditation

  1. Sit upright on a chair, bring your back away from the back of the chair so that you are self supporting. Have you feet flat on the floor and allow your hands to rest gently in your lap.
  2. Close your eyes or pick a spot off in the middle distance and just relax your eyes as you look at that spot.
  3. Focus your attention on your breath, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. Just notice the difference sensations as you breath in and out.
  4. Just follow the breath in and out. If you mind starts to wander after a while that’s ok, when you notice this happening just gently bring your attention back to you breath. Don’t chastise yourself for your mind wandering, it happens and the practice of bringing your wandering mind back is central to mindfulness.
  5. Just allow yourself to enjoy the sensation of just sitting breathing, nothing more. You may notice that you mind wanders a lot and you need to keep bringing it back or you may find that you mind clears and becomes calm. Whatever happens just allow it to be your experience. Don’t judge it, there is no right or wrong.
  6. After a moment or two of simply being, bring your awareness back to the room around you and give yourself a little stretch.
  7. Congratulate yourself that you have taken your first step towards having a more mindful future.

And that’s it. Can something so seemingly small have any impact on a life that may feel overwhelmed by stress and strain? The answer is yes, it is the first step, once you have made time each day for a week to practice this mindful meditation you will find that you start naturally making other choices that positively impact you. In just three short minutes you will have begun your virtuous cycle and then the only way is up.

The Body Retreat is a leader in Health and Well-being events if you have any questions about the above topic or feel we could help you please contact us today.
0771 800 1036