in:spa, Monasterio 16-23 August 2012
To
put things in perspective, I’m not (I think) fat. But, apart from times when
I’ve been ill (once in my late teens in Thailand), I’ve almost never been as
thin as I’d like. So I can scarcely remember a time when I haven’t had what
psycho-babblers call “ishoos” with food. I love it. I love cooking it and I
love devouring it. But every mouthful comes freighted with notions of “good” or
“bad”. Fruit, vegetables, pulses, complex carbs, protein – all good. Processed
food, saturated fat, sugar – all bad, very bad.
The
result is that I seem to have spent my entire adult life on a diet. I have endured
Dukan, Atkins et al at home; I have been abroad and done deprivation in extremis at the Mayr, macrobiotics
and colonics at SHA and dosha diagnosis at Ananda. I have learned, through exhaustive
empirical research, that a couple of factors are pivotal to success:
camaraderie and scenery. Dieting it on one’s own, at home, is a slog. What most
of us need is company, encouragement, guidance, sunshine and the occasional
shaking of the stick.
Armed
with this knowledge, I signed up to spend a week on an in:spa detox. I’ve never
managed to detox autonomously. It always seemed at odds with the day-to-day
demands of, well, living, and to require the discipline of an Olympic athlete,
which my errant willpower fails to yield. And yet the benefits seem to be
universally acknowledged: glowing skin, sprightlier spirit and, of course,
weight loss.
Kathryn
Brierley, Director of the Healthy Holiday Company (and former high-flying city
executive) explains that her objective in establishing in:spa was to devise the
ultimate luxury fitness holiday. Whilst the juxtaposition of those three words
-‘luxury’, ‘fitness’ and ‘holiday’- might sound somewhat oxymoronic, I can
attest that the holistic approach to health - a magical amalgam of fabulous,
wholesome food and a teeming timetable of activities in a stunning setting –
resulted in as enjoyable and sumptuous a break as I have ever experienced.
No
in:spa holiday is identical, but the essential formula is the same: a group of
up to thirty guests, plus a cook, dietician, yoga teacher, masseuse and
personal trainers, takes up temporary residency in one of a range of enchanting
boutique properties in Spain, France or Morocco. I had booked myself onto an
‘intense’ week, the setting for which was a somnolent converted monastery in Southern
Spain. I was trepidatious when, on day one I was presented with a formidable timetable.
My schedule for the week seemed distressingly full – exercise, nutritional
consultations, massages, exercise classes, even lectures. I was worried that I
had bitten off more than I could chew.
In
fact, as the week went on, I found that I couldn’t get enough. Never an early
riser, I found myself up at dawn, while the air was still cool, in the converted
stables doing hatha yoga, or running 5k, on days when I felt more energetic. I
enjoyed doing masses of exercise: hikes, circuits and personal training sessions,
especially the dance class with Malcolm (a world renowned dancer who has worked
under the direction of Ben Elton). The twin highlights of the week for me,
though, were my sessions with the outstanding masseur, Ethan and the
fascinating personal nutritional consultation with Lorraine.
To
complement this action-packed agenda, the daily menus were assiduously planned
and executed by Sophie, the superb chef, in consultation with Lorraine. Certain foods were firmly out: wheat, dairy,
gluten tea, coffee, alcohol, salt, sugar and red meat. The compulsory removal
of these things made it all – relatively – easy – it turns out that absence
does make the heart forget, especially when there was such an abundance of
yummy alternatives: outrageously fresh fruit, fish, nuts and vibrant
vegetables. I learned from Lorraine that starving the body is not what losing
weight or being well is all about. There were compulsory snacks at 11am and 4pm
daily (“If you go too long without eating,” Lorraine told us, “your body thinks
there’s a famine and starts hoarding fat”).
I came back detoxed, re-educated, de-stressed and re-energised -
bright of eye, bushy of tail and a couple of pounds lighter, which admittedly
isn’t a lot, but my week at in:spa had introduced me to the novel notion that I
wouldn’t die if I gave up tea, coffee and alcohol, and to the key concept that
diet must be combined with exercise.
Best
of all, I came back with a clutch of new chums from my cohort (the staggering
majority of which were repeat guests) – including a former ambassador and the CEO
of a multinational company.
in:spa
is a blast – whether you’re feeling tubby or tired, take your friends, have a
ball and come back glowing, minus a few kilos.
