Weight loss spas come in many different shapes and forms, from those more closely resembling a health and wellness retreat to those that are nearer to fitness boot camps. The promises differ from one to the next, which makes it challenging to try to imagine what you can genuinely expect from the experience.
To start, it’s important to note that if you head to a high quality, well reputed weight loss spa, you will not be there for a long weekend only to lose a dozen pounds and turn all your lifestyle habits around forever. The best of these resorts do not make promises comparable to fad diets.
As much as it would be nice to have all your weight loss problems disappear within a spa vacation, that’s simply not how it works. Instead, these spas are a fantastic opportunity to step out of your life and the weight loss unfriendly habits that come with it. It gives you the opportunity to enter an environment where your main focus is your health and wellness. Your food is prepared for you and your day is scheduled around mental and physical fitness. Your nights are meant for relaxing and unwinding so that you can sleep effectively and be rested and recovered for the day to come.
Accommodations Designed for Wellness
A luxury weight loss spa is meant to treat you well on the inside and the outside. It is meant to provide you with a memorable experience that allows you to achieve the right mindset for facing your challenges and opening yourself up to making positive changes both while you’re there and once you head home again. This starts with your accommodations.
Whether you’re signed on for a boot camp program or you’re headed to a retreat focused more on calm but active enjoyment of nature, your accommodations should be comfortable and convenient. At the end of the day, you should be able to return to your room to a clean, comfortable bed and nice linens and a well designed and maintained bathroom. The windows should allow for lots of natural light in the morning.
If you’ve chosen an all-inclusive resort, you should enjoy freeing yourself from the stress of having to make many choices. Your food should be nutritious but flavorful and should fill you up without letting you overindulge. The staff should be pleasant, professional, friendly and accommodating.
Nutritious Meals That Taste Great
The most successful weight loss spas boast knowledgeable, creative and experienced chefs who focus on both flavor and nutrition. You should be able to trust that while each bite will be delicious, it is also well balanced, is made from fresh, whole foods and is reasonable in terms of calories, sugar, sodium and other factors that should be kept under control.
This should be an opportunity to expose yourself to some new flavors and combinations to enjoy and that you might be able to mimic when you return home. Allow yourself to enjoy what you taste but don’t lose the lesson it has to offer, too. The expertise of your chef can help you to bring home a new palette of flavors and ingredients that may not have been a regular part of your kitchen until now.
This type of clean eating can also help you to kick start a nutritionally balanced and portion-controlled lifestyle once you return home again.
Fitness Level Appropriate Exercise
A weight loss and wellness spa should offer you a range of different options in terms of exercise and workouts based on your unique fitness level. This shouldn’t just mean that there is a gym available for you to use when you want it.
Look for a resort that offers yoga classes at least once per day. Consider a spa that will take you on a long hike to enjoy the beauty of the nature surrounding the location. Look for the opportunity to swim in a pool, possibly with an aqua fit instructor if you will find that helpful.
The more fitness opportunities are available, the better your chance will be to try a new type of exercise that you will genuinely enjoy. Don’t hold yourself back. Instead, sign up for many different types of experience so you can sample them and get to know what you like. You may be surprised to find out what you find appealing as there is no way to truly know what you will enjoy until you try it out.
Start each day with an energizing yoga class. You can follow that with a hike and polish that off with a leisurely swim. On another day, you might find yourself cycling along a trail before you try some guided meditation and then ease your muscles in a hot tub.
At the end of the day you should be tired and possibly ready to go to bed earlier than you usually would. At the same time, you should feel positive and enjoy the fact that you are tired because you’ve been giving your mind and body a great day and you’re ready for a rejuvenating sleep.
Self-Reflection and Motivation
Each component of your stay at a weight loss spa should be designed to help to keep you motivated while it encourages you to take a look at yourself and the difference each step makes for you. This self-reflection can help you to gain a better understanding of who you are and why you do some of the things you’re doing. This can promote emotional healing, boost self-confidence and promote personal growth.
As much as you will enjoy being active and taking part in various tours and classes, try to remember that some of your time at the resort should also be dedicated to your own peace. Attend group lectures if they’re offered, join discussion groups and share your experiences when relevant. That said, take the chance to spend some time alone, too. Sit and meditate, enjoy the scenery, write in a journal, draw, paint, or wander around the grounds taking pictures you find beautiful and peaceful.
Taking the chance to shed your stress, be inspired and better understand yourself can be among the most important lessons you can take away from a weight loss spa retreat.
Despite the fact that you may be headed away in order to drop some extra pounds, allow yourself to bring further lasting value away with you. Get to know yourself a little better. Set some new and positive goals. Respect your relationship with food and activity. Keep in touch with some of the friends you’ve made. The inspiration and attitude shift alone can help you to get a great deal more out of each of the changes you make once you arrive home again. They’re changes that can affect your lifestyle for years to come.