What Do The Best Fitness Retreats Have In Common?

Fitness retreats are designed for people who have realized that it’s nearly impossible to lose weight on their own and keep it off. 

These people have come to the conclusion that fad diets, miracle weight loss cures and simply trying to go to the gym won’t give them better bodies and healthier lives.

They understand that before they can really take care of their weight loss issues, they need to separate themselves from their toxic environments and start learning healthy long-term habits that will contribute to their overall physical fitness.

This is why they have chosen to make the effort to improve the quality of their lives by going to a fitness retreat.

They want to work with real professionals, lose weight now and keep it off for years to come.

They not only want to look better, but also feel healthier.

The problem is that there are a lot of fitness retreats to choose from.

How can they know which one is right for them? 

What can they expect from a high-quality fitness retreat? 

What should they look for if they want to go to the best fitness retreat?

Those are fair questions – because fitness retreats are a fairly new concept, and so many have sprung up lately it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

This leads to the question: What do the best fitness retreats have in common?

We’ve taken some time to look at many fitness resorts and spas (such as Weight Crafters, Canyon Ranch, Shane Diet Resorts, Green Mountain at Fox Run and more) to see what you should consider when you are looking for the best fitness retreat.

Here’s what we came up with:

The best fitness retreats work with your mind and body at the same time. 

You can’t really achieve long-term weight loss unless you understand your relationship with your body.

You need to know what subconsciously led you to gain weight, and what is psychologically working to make it difficult for you to keep it off. You need to know how to relate to your body in healthy ways, or else you will sabotage your own success.

When learning how to lose weight, you need to build up your self-esteem. 

Most people who have become overweight have negative views of themselves and their bodies. This is reinforced by media images of overweight people being lazy and to blame for their weight loss challenges.

The best fitness retreats know that your weight problems are not your fault. They are caused by a ton of factors beyond your control. Therefore, they try to build up your self-esteem while building up your body. They are not like 1950s fat farms that tried to bully people into diet and exercise. They make you feel better about yourself during the entire process.

You should be given a customized exercise program by the fitness retreat. 

Everyone has different weight loss challenges. Therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all program for you. The best fitness retreats will evaluate you both when you arrive at the retreat and during your time there to come up with exercise routines that are right for you.

Your exercise routine should also be varied. 

If you are simply given one type of exercise routine, you will reach a plateau and stop losing weight. Variety is an incredibly important part of your exercise program, and the best fitness retreats understand this.

The best fitness resorts will separate you from your normal toxic environment. 

They will be set up to keep you away from temptation, so you don’t backslide while you are there. This is important because it will help you break the bad habits that have caused you to gain weight and make it easier for you to pick up new, healthier habits that will help you keep weight off for the long term.

When you are at the fitness resort, you should be living in the lap of luxury. 

The best ones are set up like Club Med and other five-star vacation resorts. You should expect all of the amenities you would find at any high-class resort – including concierge service and all-inclusive packages.

While at the fitness resort, you should feel like you are part of a community. 

Everyone there – staff and guests alike – should be working together in order to encourage weight loss and healthy living. People shouldn’t be competing against each other. They should be making new friends and finding ways to help support each other with their efforts.

You should eat really well at the fitness retreat. 

The best ones serve meals that are just as tasty as those offered in five-star restaurants. The difference is that they are designed by nutritionists to be not only delicious but also very healthy for you. Then they are prepared by some of the most experienced and talented chefs.

Being at the fitness retreat should be fun! 

If you aren’t having a great time while you are there, then you won’t be motivated to keep to your diet and exercise program when you leave. Getting fit doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, it can be a really good time. The best fitness retreats understand this.

Your fitness retreat should be set in a resort-type location. 

You should have easy access to the beach. And it shouldn’t be hard for you to find great places to shop once you’ve lost weight and need a sexy new wardrobe!

Make sure your fitness retreat uses the most up-to-date exercise equipment and modern technology.

All of the best ones do. Modern exercise machines are much more efficient than older models, and the latest technology makes it easier for you to monitor your weight loss progress.

You should never be living in a dorm at a fitness retreat. 

Instead, you should have your own private room complete with premium cable and high-speed WiFi access to take advantage of during your downtime.

All of the best fitness retreats offer these services.

Any that don’t won’t be offering you what you are looking for.

The bottom line is that when you pick one of the best fitness retreats, you have the maximum chances of losing weight, keeping it off and enjoying yourself – all at the same time.

Today I walked into California, it was a strange experience. 

I just kind of stared at the sign for a while and then walked on past it. 

No big celebration or anything. 

I wasn’t quite sure what to think, I guess.

The plan from here to SF:

I’m staying with the WONDERFUL Dillwith family here in Gardnerville, Nevada. 

They are taking care of me for the next couple of days, and then the plan is that I’ll walk the rest of the way into Lodi, CA (not very far at all), and set up camp there until my mom gets into San Francisco on the 8th. Could be there a week or so, but I’m looking forward to it. 

Will be some good time to just relax, read, write and think. From October 8-14 I’ll have car support from my mom, and will be staying in Napa when I’m not walking. Very excited for this.

Then I’ll walk the final little bit to Ocean Beach on the morning of the 15th, and the walk will be over.

I know a lot of you have offered help and support in the San Francisco area, but it’s looking like I won’t be needing it now that I will definitely have car support from Lodi on. 

I really appreciate everyone offering. 

You continue to be way too awesome.

So yup, here I am. 

Can’t really believe it.

~Nate

Adirondack getaway helps young women lose weight

It's 3 p.m. at Camp Wellspring and like an army of ants, young women file furtively into a dormitory kitchen to get their fair due.

Moments later, a counselor appears with box in hand, and meanders through the crowd to a table. But as quickly as she sets the box down, hordes of impatient hands plunge into it and empty it.

One girl ambles in late, looks at the empty box and is bewildered.

"I didn't get any snack," she says, disappointedly.

While snack time is a common fixture at most summer camps, it is about as integral at this camp as swimming lessons are at others.

Located at Paul Smiths College in the northern Adirondacks, Camp Wellspring is a summer weight-loss camp for adolescent girls and young women 15 and older. Summer 2004 marked the camp's first year of operation, drawing 85 girls from around the country and the world -- two from the Middle East and two from Mexico.

The camp's philosophy is simple: eat low-fat foods in moderation, exercise daily and monitor everything you eat. No food or drink passes a camper's lips without it being written down in a calorie-counting journal.

"You look so different, so ... skinny," said Perri Hamma, 17, to another camper, a 15-year-old who was diligently recording her 90-calorie snack in her calorie-counting journal.

"I dropped four pant sizes, thank you very much," replied the teen, who, after four weeks at the camp, looked every bit like the average American teenager.

Owned and operated by Aspen Education Group of California, the camp was founded by Daniel S. Kirschenbaum, clinical director of Healthy Living Academies and professor at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. Kirschenbaum also is the author of "9 Truths About Weight Loss," which is read by all campers and widely considered gospel.

At $3,800 for four weeks or $6,800 for eight weeks, girls and young women are afforded a spa treatment at Camp Wellspring that includes housing in Paul Smiths dorms, meals in the college dining halls and access to a wide range of campus facilities.

 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 1999-2000 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey indicated an estimated 15 percent of children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 are overweight or obese.

In addition to the health implications that are associated with being overweight or obese -- diabetes, asthma and heart disease -- research indicates that overweight children are likely to become overweight adults.

"It's a combination of genetics, lack of exercise and poor diets," said Utica bariatric surgeon Dr. Kenneth Graniero. "We are killing ourselves, literally."

One girl pointed out that while she'd like to look like Drew Barrymore, her dad has suggested she should emulate Britney Spears. In modern society, it's hard for teen girls to ignore pressures they feel from society and even at home.

"For some people, weight is a way of protecting themselves from the world," said Barbara Casey, a camp therapist.

While a typical day at Wellspring attempts gradual weight-loss with an action-packed schedule, low-fat meals and individual therapy sessions, most girls achieve the success they crave, even at the most moderate levels. But how can they maintain their success when camp closes its doors?

"Over a certain weight, diet and exercise don't work. You can lose 20-30 pounds, but can you keep it off?" Graniero asked.

That's why the camp instructs the girls that they have to be ever-watchful.

"Wellspring encourages life changes," camp co-director Chris Roy said. "We are teaching girls and women the individualized skills they need to be successful beyond the summer."

Wellspring's Web-based after-care program, enabling campers to continue to self-monitor themselves under the supervision of camp staff via e-mail, is just one way the camp attempts to ensure continued success in weight loss.

"The majority of our girls came to camp with high fat/high calorie eating habits and very poor exercise habits. There are many reasons for this. Our goal at camp is for girls to identify their own issues and properly address them," Roy said.

One 20-year-old camper, Ashley Welch, said getting away from her daily life for a few weeks has helped her recognize her own personal responsibility for decisions regarding eating and her health.

"I just needed a break from everything," Welch said. "You have to make sure you get what you put in."

As the setting sun casts a fiery glaze over Lower St. Regis Lake, the campers gather inside the Paul Smiths student center for a going-away party for Casey.

A hula-hoop contest is in full swing, and even the most self-conscious camper waits her turn to whirl the timeless plastic ring around her hips.

And it seems that for this moment in time, the campers at Camp Wellspring let loose -- cheering robustly and howling with laughter.

Article & Photos by Heather Ainsworth, Observer-Dispatch