Seven Best Spas for Weight Loss

Spa Vacation = WEIGHT LOSS Results

Does it sound too good to be true to lose weight while on vacation?  It makes more sense than you might think.  Going to a spa for weight loss offers you an immersive experience that allows for a greater level of transformation.  And greater results than just trying to make the changes on your own.

Let’s face it, it’s hard to lose wight.  NO matter how you do, it requires focus – new foods and new recipes, new rules, or restrictions.  All that requires a lot of focus.  To build these new habits, you need time, and you need to keep your usual triggers (aka life) to kind stay at bay, which doesn’t happen.   Will power honestly isn’t enough, because our habits and lifestyle are so dominant, they are automatic.

Why Choose a Spa for Weight Loss?

The best thing about a weight loss retreat or spa is that it provides a totally immersive experience for you to begin your weight loss, or jump start a new fitness routine.  First, it provides a fresh start, a clean break from your old habits and lifestyle choices,

Second, you can focus solely on your new habits and nothing else.  Your schedule revolves around fitness classes and getting movement and activity, and taking classes to learn more about how the body, health, weight loss, nutrition, etc.

And third, you are in a nurturing environment that supports you in your goals.  The work is done for you here.  There’s no meal planning or menu to figure out because it’s figured out for you. And personally, my favorite part is someone prepares all the healthy and delicious for you!  There’s no cooking or cleaning up!

The challenge is always coming back home and reintegrating what you learned back into your life.  This is where I really partner with my clients on helping, they do this.  They get a much better return on the money they are investing into their health and wellbeing.

So, what are the best spas for weight loss?

There’s a four different types of weight loss retreats and the 7 best weight loss spas:

Classic Weight Loss Spas

These are the some of the original destination spas that started in the 70’s and 80’s.  These are what I consider classic weight loss spas.  This isn’t about any crazy detox.  Instead, your spa itineraries usually include a specific amount of daily exercise.  This is combined with low-calorie spa cuisine.  Also included are cooking and wellness classes so you can learn what you need to live healthier after you leave the spa.  Spa treatments are really centered around soothing sore muscles and helping to enhance the benefits of your week.

1. Rancho La Puerta

For Rancho La Puerta, the cornerstone of its program is daily morning hikes. Unlike with some more extreme places, guests are encouraged to start at their own pace and progressively build over the course of the week to more challenging hikes.  After fitness packed mornings, the afternoons are spent with spa time, cooking classes and other educational programs.

($$$$, www.rancholapuerta.com, Tecate, Baja California, Mexico)

 

2. Golden Door

The Golden Door, structures it’s day around fitness activities in the morning and a more passive afternoon. This includes daily spa treatments.  A personal exercise therapist is assigned to each guest to oversee the schedule and chart progress.

($$$$ www.goldendoor.com, Escondido, CA)

 

Note: Both Rancho La Puerta and the Golden Door were founded by Deborah Szekely.  Truly she is the grand dame of the spas!  And she is proof positive at 99 years old that a spa lifestyle is the secret to longevity.

 

3. Canyon Ranch

Canyon Ranch has two primary locations for weight loss (their Las Vegas location might not fit the bill with too many temptations).  Here you can get their Life Enhancement Program.  You will also have access to delicious meals (their cookbook is one of my fav’s) and cooking classes.  Your choice of immersive experience is either the woods of Lenox Massachusetts or the desert of Tucson Arizona. ($$$ www.canyonranch.com)

 

4. Chiva Som

It’s easy to be encouraged to abandon your old, unhealthy eating habits in a beautiful tropical resort.  Here you’ll be shown a healthier and more nutritious way to enjoy life that will benefit your weight and appearance, as well as your overall health and well-being.  Their Sustain weight program has three main facets: Detox, Physical Fitness, General Health Improvement. The approach is to nurture the body, rather than extreme changes or restrictions to your lifestyle. It is tailored to your needs to promote the end-result that achieves weight loss. In addition, on each day of your retreat, you can select a treatment of your choice from our daily menu. ($$$$, www.Chivasom.com, Thailand)

Spa Weight Loss Boot Camps

Spa Weight Loss boot camps are a different experience altogether.   Here, the itinerary is much more regimented and usually includes grueling sequences of high-intensity workouts.  These may include mandatory morning hikes.   The idea is really to achieve weight loss through physical and mental strength.  Learning that you can push through and persevere will help you in your weight loss journey when you return home.   But, while you will be pushed to the brink, you will still get to experience spa treatments to soothe those sore muscles, because you will need it!  And of course, they too offer education and lifestyle programs.

5. The Ranch at Live Oak Malibu:

Set on a beautiful setting in California, this is the ultimate in weight loss bootcamps.  You’ll get mandatory hours of hiking every morning and then return for afternoons of yoga and weight and strength-training sessions.  You’ll absolutely need the daily massages included with your package.  The cuisine is very innovative but strictly plant based.

($$$$, www.theranchmalibu.com, Malibu, California)

6. SHA Wellness Clinic

SHA Wellness Clinic is where spa meets medicine.  They have several health programs to choose from, one of which is their Optimal Weight and Detox Intensive. This program seeks weight loss via metabolism, detoxification, and the body’s physicality.  It includes intensive physical exercise, a food plan, and strict monitoring of weight and body composition. Spa therapies and treatments focus on reaching optimal weight and eliminating toxins. ($$$$ www.shawellnessclinic.com, SPAIN)

 

 

 

 

 

Medically Supervised Weight Loss Retreats

If you have a medical condition or have a significant amount of weight to lose, a medically supervised weight loss retreat is your best bet.  These will be supervised by a physician and medically trained staff. Usually, these types of destinations offer more medical testing and usually will include an evaluation at check-in.

7. Pritikin Longevity Center

This is your “Weight Loss University”.  You will work with a multi-disciplinary team of internists, cardiologists, endocrinologists, physiologists, nutritionists, and psychologists.  On day one, you’ll have a bunch of diagnostic tests to measure where you are at.  In the mornings you will have two-hours of gym-based work outs in addition to the mandatory group sessions.  Because of Pritikin’s approach and some insurance companies will reimburse you for some of the services.  Making it one of the only “spa” programs to be covered by insurance, including Medicare. ($$$$, www.pritkin.com, Miami, Florida)

Which Spa to Choose?

Ultimately, the most effective program for you is the one that meets your individual needs and fits into your lifestyle, so you can maintain the efforts when you get home.   This is exactly where I partner with my clients in The Escape Coaching Program.

We look at their goals and find the most effective spa or retreat for they individual goals.  If I am working with a client looking specifically at a weight loss spa or retreat, we will consider if it’s more medically driven or more spa driven.  Whether there are additional services like testing at check-in.  And if there are meal plans to take home.  We also consider if there is anything they should be doing ahead of the trip to make sure they are ready for the best possible experience.  This could be keeping a food diary or maybe getting some stamina ahead of the trip.

Once home, is really the I partner with my clients to help them keep all these changes going after they get back.

Summary

There are some great spas for weight loss, here in the US and abroad.  Starting that weight loss vacation starts with choosing the right type of spa for your weight loss journey.  That could be a classic spa experience, a boot camp or a medically supervised retreat.  But there are plenty of options for you to go on vacation and lose weight! After all, who wouldn’t want to kick old habits in a beautiful scenic destination.

Interested in working with me to help you achieve a transformative experience through wellness travel?  Learn more here.