2017 - Page 5 of 5 - The Body Retreat

Women Only Healthy Holiday is The Anti-Bootcamp

Just back from a glorious two weeks in Andalusia where we held our first Healthy Holiday for the year.

As usual, we had a high proportion of returners on each week, about 80%, we really are so lucky that so many of our clients choose to return to us year after year.

Of course, it doesn’t take long before old and new retreaters alike are getting on and enjoying the retreat and each others company.

So perhaps unsurprisingly, as we sat around the supper table one night enjoying a glass of sangria we started to talk about why these women had chosen to join us at The Body Retreat and why the Healthy Holiday in particular.

Why Choose A Healthy Holiday

Many of our retreaters holiday alone and so they look for a holiday that is safe for solo female travellers, where they can be a part of a group but not required to be part of the clique.

They want to take time out from their busy lives and by doing something physical they can actually enjoy a mental break too.

They want and need to relax but even the thought of lying by a pool day in day out sends their stress levels up.

They want a holiday that allows them to recharge the batteries but one where they return home feeling stronger and more balanced. If they can return home a dress size smaller, well that a bonus.

They want variety in the days, to pick just one activity like walking or yoga or painting requires you to really like that one thing…but what if you are not sure.

They want to feel supported, nurtured even, not be shouted at or even punished for lack of performance….this is a holiday after all.

Ironically, most of the women who joined us had started their search for this healthy holiday by Googling Bootcamp, Activity Holiday or Fitness Holiday.

Is a Bootcamp What You Are Looking For?

But very quickly they realise that this is not what they are actually looking for.

A Healthy Holiday Is Not….

To be part of a mixed group of up to 30 clients.
Age restrictions for the over 45’s.
Around 8 – 10 hours of exercise or activity per day.
3/4 bedroom dorm style bedrooms and/or shared bathrooms!!!!!
Big beefy military types leading the groups.
Being the oldest, largest, slowest client.
Being on a strict calorie controlled diet.

They begin to realise that they don’t want a bootcamp…they want an Anti-Bootcamp

By process of elimination, they find themselves on The Body Retreat website.

The Healthy Holiday – The Anti-Bootcamp

All our images on our website and gallery are of real retreaters.
We keep our groups of women only retreats small, no more than 8 retreaters.
The average age is 43, but our oldest client is a sprightly 78.
The days are full of varied activities but it’s all optional, you choose what feels right for you.
Gorgeous private accommodation in remote locations meaning that you really are retreating from the daily grind.
A hand-picked team of female instructors, cooks, therapists with decades of experience in women’s health.
Meals that are based on local dishes prepared from fresh season ingredient, portion controlled but never diet food.

The Body Retreat Healthy Holiday ticks all the boxes.

Which Healthy Holiday Would You Choose?

The only problem then is choosing which Healthy Holiday suits you.

Do you want to really get away from it all, enjoy challenging daily hikes in unspoilt countryside? Eat Mediterranean style food and get a great tan? Then Andalusia, Spain is for you.

Or perhaps you would prefer to walk through pretty local villages, cycle to local landmarks and take in cultural outings too. Enjoy classic cuisine given a clean eating touch. Then Charente, France best suited for you.

Or maybe you don’t even want to leave the UK, but you want to enjoy some time in the countryside balanced by time in a heated pool or hot tub. Then Monmouthshire, Wales is perfect for you.

Why Fly & Flop When You Can Tan & Tone

Would you choose a Fly & Flop Holiday or a Healthy Holiday for Women?

This week sees the official start of British Summertime and so naturally our thoughts begin to turn to holidays, taking time off work and getting away from it all for a week or so.

If you live in the UK then it’s quite understandable as our weather is so unpredictable…sunny one day and hurricanes the next. Everything feels easier when you feel the sun on your skin, your mood is lifted and your feeling of wellbeing just seems naturally higher.

The Danger of A Fly & Flop Holiday

Did you know that it is estimated that the average British women gains 8lbs on her annual vacation!! That is a dress size!!!

It’s a shocking statistic, but you can understand how easily it can happen…the lure of the cocktail bar, the all you can eat buffet, the ice cream sundaes. Not to mention that the height of your activity may be walking to your poolside lounger. Ok ..there may also be some cardio in the form of some retail therapy and maybe even a spot of dancing of an evening.

The reality is that the Fly & Flop Holiday can be dangerous to your waistline and long term wellbeing.

What Is The Alternative?

If you want to enjoy some sunshine, have some time to recharge your batteries…your holidays are about having time for you.

But what if there were a sunny healthy holiday for womennwhere you actually returned home a dress size smaller than when you arrived, where you get off the plane feeling energised, reinvigorated and motivated? Even better is that the good feelings don’t fade after just a few hours back at your desk…but somehow seem to keep going.

The Body Retreat has been working with busy professional women since 2011 on a range of residential retreats in the UK and we kept hearing the same stories. Women who are so busy that they really need time off the hamster wheel, they need a week when they are not looking after everyone else, a week when they can recharge their batteries, catch up on their sleep, read that book they have wanted to finish for months.

Now of course if they wanted an activity holiday they could take themselves off trekking up Matcha Picchu, or cycle around the Alps..but really that seems like a bit too much hard work.

If they wanted to shed some quick weight there are plenty of Bootcamps in the sun….but up to 10 hours a day of being grunted at by big burly military trainers is not their cup of tea.

So that leaves a Spa Getaway.. days of relaxation, indulging in spa treatments and maybe a spot of light yoga or a short guided walk…but that sounds wonderful for a couple of days but a whole week might send them round the twist.

A Healthy Holiday Designed By Women For Women

That was when we came up with our Health & Fitness Holiday… it does exactly what it says on the tin..a holiday that improves your health and fitness. It’s a healthy holiday for women.

So first is was important to have an amazing venue. We pride ourselves on having venues that are not the run of the mill holiday villa or part of a complex. Can you image going on a retreat holiday and sharing a pool with families, or being bused out to use a local gym. That probably says more about me than it does anyone else..but I’m a private person and when I retreat I want to retreat away from the masses. So off the beaten track for us. A private cotijo in the Andalusian foothills where the drive from the main road is about a mile long. Seclusion, peace and quiet. Bliss.

Next holidays are all about the food aren’t they??? Who wants to go on holiday to be fed meagre diet food. How miserable would that be! Food is meant to be enjoyed not endured.. so our menu is inspired by Spanish and North African cuisine but all the dishes have been given The Body Retreat treatment and are clean and healthy and nutritiously balanced. So this means that you can enjoy local dishes and even a cheeky glass of Sangria and still shed the unnecessary weight.

So far so good… but what about exercise. Health & Fitness Holiday sounds like it’s going to be full on. On the contrary, our healthy holiday is all about balance. Yes, we do start our days with a Wake Up Workout, we like to exercise when it’s cool and before your brain comes up with any excuses not to. Just get it done and set yourself up for a good day. We spend our mornings walking the local hills and villages of this unspoilt and very untouristy side of Spain. Back in time for a pre-lunch dip in the pool to refresh yourself and then after lunch, it’s siesta time. Top up your tan by the pool, read a book in a shady garden spot or even catch a few Zzzzz’s. It’s your choice. We have and afternoon schedule that might include stretching, boxing, pilates etc etc…but it is all optional. It’s your holiday…it’s your choice.

To help you to achieve that sense of relaxation and balance we even include a complimentary massage treatment and a group Hypnotherapy Relaxation. We believe that a healthy holiday for women should leave her feeling balanced and renewed…not broken down and ragged so this is very important part of our Health & Fitness Holiday.

Ok so we are biased…but we feel that we have ticked all the boxes with our Healthy Holiday for women.

We take a maximum of 10 women on our Healthy Holiday so you won’t be lost in the crowd but nor will you be lost for good company. So if this sound like your kind of holiday then get in touch.

Right now we have a Special Offer for our Andalusian Healthy Holiday for women starting on Saturday 13th May 2017. Contact Us Now and Quote Tan & Tone Blog to get up to £500 off your Health & Fitness Holiday.

Is it time to stop the diet merry-go-round?

Are you ready to stop the diet merry -go-round?

How many times have you “tried” to lose weight?

I can tell you from both personal experience and about 6 years of working here at The Body Retreat that trying to lose weight is pretty much setting yourself up for failure.

I started to put on weight after the death of my mother when I was aged six… I literally ballooned over night. I went from a little string bean of a kid to a round faced cabbage ( to keep the vegetable analogy going LOL)

I went to live with my maternal grandmother who was a one woman feeding machine… and one that never said no. I can only surmise that she felt that having lost my mother I should never be deprived of anything else.

Naturally, children push boundaries, test limits, try their luck and so I wanted to enjoy all the treats, snacks puddings and favourite dishes that I could get.

Over the years I just kept on growing , out as well as up.

All through my teens and into my twenties I was always known as “big girl”…its something of a term of endearment where I’m from in Northern Ireland. “What about you big girl”, “Nice to see you big girl”. You get the picture I’m sure.

Of course, there were others who were less endearing…being the but of a group joke as being a pot bellied bear still stings even now some 30 odd years later.

As a young girl I “tried” my first diet…it was called the F’Plan. I was about 11.

It worked …for about a week and then the lure of the puddings and my grandmothers cooking lured me away from the high fibre bran and back on the bacon and eggs.

I was taken to the GP who told my granny off for being soft with me, so we were left to our own devices trying whatever new diet seemed the rage.

My Personal Diet Merry-Go-Round

The South Beach Plan

The Cabbage Soup Diet

The Beverly Hills Diet

Slim Fast

Weight Watchers

Atkins

Decades I have spent trying to lose weight, with varying degrees of success.

It wasn’t until about the ripe olde age of 39 that something clicked…

Shift your Mindset to Shift the Weight

Having studied NLP (neuro linguistic programming) I began to realise that all the negative self talk and feelings I had about food, weight, the way I look, how much I weighed were all mixed up with the feelings I had about my mother, my grandmother, who I was as a girl and now a woman.

I was trying to lose weight by any means necessary but at the same time I found food to be a comfort, it felt like love, food made me feel safe. Why would I stop those feelings!

My brain was filled with so many mixed up messages… and these in turn led to self sabotaging behaviours.

I was like a hamster on a wheel…round and round the diet merry go round I went…getting smaller, getting bigger but getting more and more ground down by it all.

I never found the prefect diet…because that doesn’t exist . If it did there would be no obesity crisis, every one would be slim.

What I found was a healthy mindset…one that let me define myself and let me make my own choices.

I lost about four and half stone and give or take a few pounds (ok who am I kidding I put on 7lbs over Christmas…im only human) I never regained the weight.

Mindset is a Key Pillar of Health

That is why Mindset is the first pillar of Women’s Wellness on all our retreats but the one that is so important on our Weight Loss Retreat. Changing your Mindset is the first step to stop the diet merry-go-round.

Mindset is about acknowledging where you are at, you don’t have to like it, but you do need to acknowledge it. Then start to make small changes that all add something positive to your health. Not because you have to …..but because you want to. Because you care about your body and your health.

Trying to lose weight and keeping yourself stuck on the diet merry go round will grind you down.

Perhaps its time to try something new?

Maybe it is time to change your self talk. Shifting from being negative and critical of ourselves being positive and encouraging

Self Talk Exercise

Get yourself some small index cards or note cards.

On each card write one individual negative thought or belief that you currently hold about yourself, your body and your health.

For example:

I am always going to be fat

I hate my body

I cant lose weight

I am not good enough

I can’t exercise

Next over the next couple of weeks take each card in turn and take 5 five minutes to review the statement you have written.

Now under your original statement write down a new positive statement.

So for example if you wrote “I hate my body” you might now right, “I like my face, eyes, ankles, hands etc etc”. You do not have to like everything but there is always some positive to be found if you choose to look for it.

As simple as it sounds…looking for the positive, no matter how small it might seem helps to move your brain from a negative into a positive frame of mind. You shift from thinking it is impossible, to possible and then probable.

Chipotle Veggie Burger

This may well be my most favourite veggie burger ever.

It actually came about by accident as I had forgotten to get an ingredient for my planned burgers. It was a case of Ready Steady Cook…as I scoured the cupboard and fridge with an hour to go before lunch service.

Everything that goes to make up this veggie burger you could possibly have already in your kitchen and it take only about 15 minutes to rustle these up.

Try them for yourself…I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Makes 6 Generous Burgers

1 can chick peas

1 cup cooked whole grain basmati rice

½ cup grated cauliflower

½ cup cooked split yellow peas

½ carrot, grated

½ courgette, grated

½ onion, grated

1 tbp Tahini

1 tbps Chipotle Paste

2 tsp Rapeseed Oil

Salt & Black Pepper

To make 6 very generous veggie burgers

Heat the rapeseed oil in a large frying pan and when hot add the carrot, courgette and onion and cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until soft and just starting to brown. Remove from the heat and leave to one side.

Place the rice, cauliflower and yellow peas into a food mixer and blitz until smooth.

In a large bowl mix the softened vegetable with the mix from the food mixer. Now add the chick peas to the food mixer and give just one blitz to break up some of the chickpeas.. you want to keep a good texture.

Add the chickpeas to the other ingredients along with the tahini and chipotle paste and mix thoroughly. Season with Salt & Pepper to taste.

Now form into burgers ( they will be just smaller than the palm of your hand), I like to pop my veggie burgers into the freezer at this point to help them to firm up before you are ready to cook them. Even just 5 – 10 minutes will mean that you can handle the burger more easily.

When you are ready to eat heat up a tsp of rapeseed oil in the frying pan you used earlier, when nice a hot add the veggie burgers and brown on each side, then place them on a lined baking sheet and pop into a hot oven ( about 200) and cook for about 15 – 20 minutes. They should be hot through the middle.

We served our veggie burgers with a green salad and topped with a yoghurt mayo dressing.

If you want to freeze these veggies burgers then do that once you have formed them before they are browned.

Year: 2017