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The Body Retreat

The Body Retreat

Women Only Weight Loss & Wellbeing Retreats

Year: 2014

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.

 

  1. First thing is to clean up your diet, so ditch the stimulants, caffeine, sugar, artificial sweeteners.
  2. 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.
  3. Get outside for at least 10 mins every day, preferably in the daytime, take a short stroll or even just sit and relax.
  4. Talk about how you feel.  It can be so cathartic to verbalise your frustrations or concerns. Don’t keep it all bottled up.

Soup saves winter lunch times and waist lines

We’re now well and truly into winter, the temperature has dropped, wind and rain seem to be a permanent feature. When it comes to finding a healthy lunch option salad doesn’t seem so appealing. It’s time to bring on some soup! It may surprise you to hear that not only are soups a great option nutritionally, but certain types of soup have also been proven to help support weight loss.

In particular, vegetable-based soups are a great option as they combine a high nutrient density with a low energy density – this means that we get lots of key nutrients including vitamins and minerals for relatively few calories. Increasingly, research has revealed that consuming soup improves satiety (the feeling of fullness at the end of a meal) so that we eat less which is great for weight loss.

These soups are easy to make, easy to digest, low on calories, relatively inexpensive to make, are filled with fibre, nutrients, vitamins and because of the high water content can add towards your daily water intake.

We like to keep things simple here at The Body Retreat and never more so than when it comes to recipes, no one has the time or the inclination to prepare complex or long winded meals, not unless its a special occasion.  So these soup recipes are simplicity itself, all you need is one pot and a knife and nothing needs finely chopping you can make these soups as rustic as you like.

We would love to hear why your favourite Veg Soup Recipes are, or perhaps you would like us to help you to make a favourite soup healthier, pls leave us a comment below.

All soups serve 4.

Winter Vegetable Soup

1 onion chopped
2 sticks celery chopped
2 carrots chopped
1 courgette chopped
1/2 small white cabbage finely sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 ltr Veg stock
Handful fresh basil and parsley

Fresh ground black pepper and a drizzle of virgin rapeseed oil to serve.

Place all the ingredients except the cabbage and peas in a pan and bring to a simmer for about 10 mins.

Add the cabbage and simmer for another couple of minutes, then finally add the frozen peas.

Just before you are ready to serve stir through the chopped fresh herbs and season with black pepper and drizzle the oil.

Celeriac & Apple Soup

1 tbps Rapeseed oil
1 large celeriac, peeled and chopped
2 onions, sliced
2 stick celery, chopped
2 large apples, peeled and chopped
1 ltr veg stock

Heat the oil, then sauté the onions and celery over a medium heat until soft but not browned.
Add the chopped celeriac apple and cook for 10 mins. Then add the stock and reduce to a low simmer for 15/20 mins.
Transfer the soup to a blender and blitz to a smooth consistency. Season and serve.
If the soup is a little too thick you can let it down by adding a little unsweetened pure apple juice.

Tomato & Chickpea Soup

1 onion
1 red onion
2 stick celery
1 can good quality chopped tomatoes
1 ltr vegetable stock
1/2 chickpeas, drained
1/2 ts dried chilli flakes
Salt & Pepper

Add all the vegetables to a pot and add the stock, simmer on a low heat for 10 mins. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas and dried chilli flakes and continue to cook for a further 15 mins. Transfer the soup to a blender and blitz to a smooth consistency, season and serve.