The Body Retreat - Page 9 of 11

Weight Loss Retreat or Boot camp?

There are so many residential weight loss programmes to choice from these days, weight loss retreat, fat camp, fit camp, fat farm, bootcamp.

So many names but are they really the same or different? Surely it’s just the same horse with a different jockey?

How do you decide which is the right residential weight loss option for you?

When choosing a residential retreat to support your weight loss goals there are a number of factors to help answer this question.

Are you looking for a quick fix or changes for life?

Are you looking to shift a few pounds before an upcoming event, slim into your swimsuit for a holiday? Or perhaps you are looking to lose a more substantial amount of weight? Perhaps your health has begun to be affected by your current lifestyle?

Many bootcamps still work of the old adage “eat less, move more” they promote rapid weight loss through low calorie diets and intensive training. While at the opposite end some venues focus on restrictive diet plans, removing whole food groups or supplemented juice plans supported by “optional” activity programmes.

While any approach that reduces calorie intake will promote short term weight loss these programmes are not relevant to real life, are not sustainable and can negatively impact health in the long term.

Are you looking for single sex or mixed groups?

Many boot camps are run by men, to be more precise ex-military or active service men, while they can have an understanding of the health and fitness needs and requirements for other service men, when it comes to delicate balance for womens health, unless they have studied this in particular then they may be applying a “one size fits all” approach to health and fitness.

Also, ask yourself if you want to work out in a mixed group or would you feel more comfortable in a single sex group. When you are learning new techniques, new exercises and learning to stretch your own limits then you want to be free from any negative self chatter or self limiting beliefs. Also do you want to compete with the boys, is that a realistic model for you or would it feel intimidating?

Are you looking to address not only the physical but the psychological and emotional aspects of weight loss?

For many women the links between psychological and physical hunger are inexplicably linked. If you are prone to emotional or comfort eating, cravings, binges or have concerns about control over food then when looking at weight loss retreats look at the qualifications and experiences of the team who will support you to work on this area and if they are not listed on the website then ask. Are the tools and resources on offer going to support you in the longer term?

Is food important to you?

For some food is purely fuel, for others it is pleasure. Very often the two seem to be mutually exclusive, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Just like a fad diet a poorly designed nutrition plan, a low fat/no fat, low calorie type plan will only provide temporary results.

Look at the style of food you will be served, is there variety? Is the menu designed to promote optimum health? Is the type of food something you would like to eat for life?

Why is The Body Retreat different from Bootcamp?

While The Body Retreat does run weight loss retreats we don’t advocate a focus on quick fix weight loss or becoming obsessive on the number on the scale, rather we use weight as an indicator of health and of progress but its not the only one.

The journey to health and wellbeing should be a pleasure not a chore, if its aggressive, austere, complicated, or just too hard then it is not suitable for the long term. So The Body Retreat is about balance not quick fix, it’s about respecting and protecting your body for life.

Our Four Pillars at The Body Retreat are:

Mindset, Thoughts become actions and actions become behaviours, which in turn drives results, get this right the rest will follow. All our retreats have behavioural change at their heart. We work content free, so no “happy clappy group sharing sessions here” this means you can sure of safety and privacy while you address self-sabotaging behaviours. Our behaviour coach is onsite all day every day.

Menu, you cannot out train a bad diet, so getting the right nutrition is paramount and also you will find that the body can do amazing things to heal and support itself with the right fuel. Our eminently qualified Nutritional Therapist has created a suite of workshops that are practical and relevant for today’s modern woman.

Movement, this is different from exercise, we encourage women to aim to be active every day for good overall health but to exercise with purpose for fitness, strength and weight management. Our lead trainer is a weight loss and obesity specialist and has decades of experience working with women at all stages of their lives.

Maintenance, Rest and Regeneration, one of the best parts of The Body Retreat, the reward for the hard work in other areas, the time when changes are embedded and strengthened, the key to making changes for life. Not finding time but making time to care for your body and mind to ensure good health today and every day. We have joined forces with Mio skincare to promote fit skin for life and work with some amazing local therapists to provide a variety of complimentary treatments on retreat.

Can a week on retreat really change your life?

We believe it can and we have almost 12 years experience and hundreds of success stories of women whom we have helped to lose the fear of food, find the strength to reclaim their health and to achieve the body and fitness they both want and deserve. But more importantly our weight loss retreats are designed to promote sustainable lifestyle changes and so avoid the rebound effect of weight gain post retreat.

So when it comes to making the investment of both time and money in choosing a residential weight loss event take the time to find the answers you need.

Helpful Snacking beats the Afternoon Slump

Believe it or not we often have women who join us at The Body Retreat who tell us that we feed them too much!!!

Yes, you did just read the right.

Of course we don’t over feed our guests, but we do feed our guests frequently. When it comes to not only weight loss but achieving health we believe that blood sugar stabilisation plays a major part. Not only does this help to balance hormones, reduce cravings but it also makes sure that you have the right amount of energy to do what you want to do.

If you find yourself looking and feeling like our poster girl above then it may be that your blood sugar is out of balance and you have literally run out of energy for your body to get through the next few hours until supper time. Your brian, thinking that you have slipped into some survival situation will send out very strong message urging you to eat quickly and to eat something that can be quickly converted into energy…so it sends you to the vending machine for some chocolate or to the cafe for a coffee and a muffin. And guess what you will feel great…for about half an hour, then …whoosh you are right back where you started, feeling drained and tired.

This can seem like such a hard cycle to break but choosing the right foods will make a huge difference to help blood sugar stabilisation.

If you find yourself crashing in the afternoons rethink lunch, ditch the processed carbs at lunch, so forgot the sandwich in favour of a soup or salad. Pack the protein into your lunch choice, this will give you a slower release of energy to keep you going for longer.

Plan to have a mid afternoon snack, lets be honest if you have lunch at 1.00pm and then supper at about 7.00pm thats a long time to go without fuel. So plan to have a great snack to keep your energy levels stable. Some of our favourites are listed below.

2 oatcakes with nut butter
Bounce Bar ( have you discovered Bounce yet?)
Apple with 3 large brazil nuts
Celery Stick with a tablespoon of cottage cheese
Home made flapjack (not the huge sugar laden ones from the coffee shop!!)
2 tablespoons natural yoghurt with 2 walnuts (chopped and sprinkled on top) and a squeeze of honey

On all our retreats, whether that be Weight Loss, Fitness Holiday, Detox Retreat or our Stress Reset Retreat achieving balance for both body and mind though good nutrition is a the heart of what we do.

So don’t be too surprised if you join us on retreat of our love of snacks 🙂

Is it time to Spring Clean Body and Mind

Despite all evidence to the contrary with the wild weather we have had in the UK recently we are actually headed towards spring.

Traditionally this is the time of year when our thoughts turn to spring cleaning. Its a time to get rid of the heavy feeling of winter, clear away the cobwebs and prepare for the sun… that will show its face (eventually!!) I love a good spring clean, it feels so good to clean out from top to bottom, you feel in control, and really quite virtuous.

Of course spring cleaning is often a term that applies to the big house clean we like to do around this time of year, but the technique can also be so easily applied to spring cleaning our own bodies. Over the winter you may have hibernated, stocked up on heavy rich foods, indulged in a little more treats than usual. Winter may literally be weighing you down.

Spring is a great time to detox.

The body already is detoxing all the time, it has to. Your inbuilt cleaning system is dealing with toxins every day. Toxins are everywhere, our bodies are bombarded by them, in the air you breath, the food and drink you consume the products you use around the home and even on your body. Under natural circumstances, the body is able to eliminate many of these toxic substances, however if your system is out of balance then the bodies ability to do this can become compromised.

Signs you need to detox:

Dry, botchy skin
Outbreaks of spots
Headaches
Fungal infections
IBS symptoms (bloating, constipation, flatulence)
Lack of energy
General feeling of heaviness

Detoxing is safe, effective way of supporting your bodes ability to heal itself. But… and there is a big BUT… we are not advocating quick fix detox plans, like those which suggest you eat nothing at all, but drink a juice made-up of lemon, water, sugar and pepper… this is not a way to support your system. Any detox plan you choose to follow should not be too low in calories, it should be nutrient rich and have a varied meal plan.

Detoxing is a way of giving your body a new start. A safe detox combined with a gentle exercise programme and tools to support a positive attitude towards life gives a fabulous boost to everyone.

At The Body Retreat our Spring Clean Detox Retreat is designed to provide the tools, resources and environment to make detoxing not only, simple and safe but also a real pleasure. Our Detox Programme follows a juicing plan, based on vegetable juicing, supported by nutritious broths and towards the end of the week a menu that incorporates healthy nutritious meals. The purpose of the plan is to reduce the load on your digestive system while at the same time flood your system with enzymes, vitamins and minerals in their most absorbable form.

When you are detoxing you do not want to redirect your bodies energy into high intensity exercise, but increasing your activity levels will support the process as well as provide you with a mental lift. So it is a great time to explore low intensity exercise, Pilates, yoga, nordic walking, swimming are all great options.

The body detox is only half of the equation. This is also a fantastic opportunity to detox your mind, to lose the internal negative chatter or toxic emotions that may be keeping you stuck in situations that are not healthy for you. On our Spring Clean Detox Retreat we use NLP along with relaxation techniques and guided visualisations to help overcome any mental obstacles that may have held you back in the past and help you to refocus on new positive goals.

When body and mind are detoxed you feel lighter, brighter, clearer ad re-energised ready to embrace life. At our Spring Clean Detox Retreat there is the added benefit of around 6lbs weight loss in the 4 days, which gives a great confidence boost as you start to shed your winter layers.

Want to try a detox plan at home?

Follow our top tips to getting started.

It will come as no surprise that increasing your water intake is No1 on the list. Aim to drink at least 1.5 litres per day
Start your day with the juice of half a lemon with hot water to give your liver a boost.
Get into the habit of dry skin brushing daily, it will take a bit of time to begin with but you will soon find a rhythm and you will be amazed at the difference in your skin tone.
Cut out Caffeine, Dairy, Meat, Carbs from your diet. Your meal plans should be 80% veggie based, go organic and local where possible.
Go Green… green veggies are packed with chlorophyll helps flush out environmental toxins.
Garlic in almost everything, it activates liver enzymes that help filter out wastes. Counteract the garlic by eating lost of parsley, which also happens to be a great detoxifier 😉
Keep the good fats in, Avocado, rapeseed oil, seeds and nuts all in small quantities
Get into the fresh air for at least 15 mins every day and breath fully and deeply
Spend at least 5 mins every day in quite contemplation.
Get your hands on The Detox Plan by Jane Alexander, this great book will take you through a weekend or month long safe detox programme

If you are a first time detoxer or would enjoy a break to boost your well-being and balance your energy while at the same time lose a few unnecessary pounds this spring then our Spring Clean Detox Retreat starts on 17th March 2014

Healthy Sweet Treat for Days like These

Im having one of those days… well actually its beginning to feel like one of those weeks 😉

After a fabulous Monday the last two days have seemed a little more trying, nothing major has happened, perhaps its the weather, perhaps it my hormones, perhaps it my mind allowing me to be sidetracked from the positive jobs I need and want to do and keep on harping back to other stuff.

Days and even weeks like these can happened, thats life. But isn’t it the truth that when these things happen that little gremlin in your head pops up and say “chocolate will make this better” or “what you need is a treat”. Happens to us all, even here at The Body Retreat!!

You know what, some days you need to just go with it. There is no reason why you can’t have a treat and still be healthy, still maintain your healthy eating plan, still stay on track. You have to remember that it is still all about choice. Those of you who have joined us at any of our Body Retreats will know how important choosing your choice is.

So rather than choose to have something from the shop that is full of rubbish why not make your snack a double treat…how about a healthy, gorgeous, chewy, chocolately, nutty bar that is actually doing you some good. How about if it took you under 5 mins to prepare and then only 15 mins to bake and you probably have most of the ingredients in your house already. The only problem you may have is waiting for them to cool before you eat them… but to be honest I find that I’m so productive during that time as I’m soo looking forward to sticking the kettle on, having my healthy snack and enjoying 15 mins out.

Introducing our Chewy Peanut Banana Bars

Makes 8 delicious generous healthy snacks

Ingredients:

1 level Tbsp coconut oil

3 very ripe bananas

1 Tsp Honey

2 Tbps Crunchy Peanut Butter *

275 gm Porridge Oats

2 Tbsp Gournd Flaxseed

1 Tbsp Pumpkin Seeds

25 gm 70% Organic Dark Chocolate

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180.
Grease and line a 20 cm baking tray with a little of the coconut oil. (If you use baking parchment too you will find you need to use less oil)

In a large saucepan melt the coconut oil, honey and peanut butter together over a low heat.

In a bowl mash the bananas.

When the nutty mixture is melted, take off the heat and mix in the mashed banana. The stir in the oats, flaxseed and pumpkin seeds and mix well.

Tip the mixture into the baking tin and press down with a spoon to ensure the mixture is highly packed.

Bake in the oven for about 15/20 minutes until golden.

Once cooked, remove from oven and transfer to a baking rack to cool.

Once cool, slice into 8 portions.

Now take your chocolate and melt, I use the microwave for such a small amount of chocolate, just break the pieces up and pop into a small cup then blast for 15 seconds medium setting until gently melted.

Using a teaspoon drizzle the chocolate over the bars, leave for another 10 mins then enjoy.

*Pls, Pls, buy organic whole peanut butter not the supermarket brands. Your butter should contain 100% nuts and nothing added, no added sugar or oil or other “stuff” , just nuts. Our fav brand is Meridian which you can get at most supermarkets or Holland & Barrett. 🙂

Time to move from Burnout to Balanced?

Did you return to work this new year with renewed vigour and excitement for the year ahead. If so, Fantastic! But for some this return to “normal” has already started to take its toll.

The average working day is now 9 hours and if you work for yourself that’s probably more like 14 hours! When you do get home, or clock off, there is still much to be done, whether that be housework, helping the kids with homework, perhaps working to secure a second income….when you finally get to put the kettle on and your feet up; you realise how late it is, so you go to bed, spend up to an hour on social media and then the next day, start the same routine all over again. All of these demands on your time can cause you to feel stressed. Stress comes in a variety of forms. Some stress is good for us, but too much can have a profoundly detrimental effect on our health and wellbeing.

Our bodies simply are not designed to cope with chronic stress. We are programmed to react to danger, back when we were roaming the plains and we saw a sabre toothed tiger the fight or flight mechanism kicked in, your adrenals kick out some cortisol to give you the energy to deal with the danger, we either try to kill the tiger or we run away. Then we rest, recover our strength, before we face the next challenge, the next danger. But here’s the thing, our fight or flight system has not evolved to deal with getting stuck in rush hour traffic, of the email from the bank manager, the looming deadline, the harsh word from your mother in law… but your system reacts to these as threats in the same way it did the share tooth tiger. But of course you can’t kill the mother in law and you can’t run away from the bank manager…mores the pity.

So, what are the signs to watch out for that your health might be negatively affected by this “normal life stress’?

Regularly feeling tired and worn out
Reliance on caffeine or other stimulants
Craving sugary /stodgy foods
Increased anxiety
Poor sleep pattern
Mood Swings/Irritability
Vulnerability to illness
Minor aches and pains
Skin conditions and breakouts
Extra half stone around the middle that wont shift

Sound familiar?

If so then you may be suffering the negative effects of stress or Burnout. Fatigue, insomnia, skin problems, mood swings, weight gain, aches and pains, vulnerability to illness and low sex drive are just some of the common effects of stress.

Not everybody reacts to stress in the same way. But if this is you, then now would be time take some action to redress some of the stressors in your life.

In the short term stress is annoyingly inconvenient, in the long term it can lead to burnout, depression, high blood pressure, adrenal failure, diabetes and even heart disease.But it doesn’t have to be like that, that’s why we set up the Stress Re-set Retreat programme at the Body Retreat, to help people step off the burnout treadmill, before it’s too late.

So what can you do now at home?

Make 2014 the year that you decide to be good to yourself, and adopt simple strategies to overcome the inevitable impact of daily living and having lots to do.

First thing is to clean up your diet, so ditch the stimulants, caffeine, sugar, artificial sweeteners.
Digital detox in the bedroom, surfing twitter before you go to sleep might seem innocuous but it could be over stimulating your mind and so preventing you from getting off to sleep.
Get outside for at least 10 mins every day, preferably in the daytime, take a short stroll or even just sit and relax.
Talk about how you feel. It can be so cathartic to verbalise your frustrations or concerns. Don’t keep it all bottled up.

Tag: The Body Retreat

Weight Loss Retreat or Boot camp?

Helpful Snacking beats the Afternoon Slump

Is it time to Spring Clean Body and Mind

Healthy Sweet Treat for Days like These

Time to move from Burnout to Balanced?

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