If you want to lose weight at the spa, it's important to pick the right spa. Destination spas (sometimes called health spas) are a much better choice than resort spas if you want to lose weight.
Destination spas serve healthy spa cuisine and plenty of exercise classes -- a combination that tones you up, burns calories, and gets you eating healthy foods. They're also good because everyone around you has the same healthy focus.
But not all destination spas are alike. If you're seriously interested in losing weight, you should look for spas that offer:
- Controlled or customized calorie counts so you know exactly how much you're eating.
- Daily lectures to help you make improvements to your lifestyle, including diet, exercise, and stress-management.
- On-staff nutritionists and exercise physiologists who can help you analyze and improve your eating and exercise patterns in one-on-one sessions.
- Highly focused weight-management programs with medical support are found at Hilton Head Health Institute, Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa, Cooper Wellness Program and Duke Diet & Fitness Center. Canyon Ranch has medical staff and lets you focus your stay on weight-loss or executive health.
- The Oaks at Ojai (affordable) puts everyone on a strict 1200-calorie a day diet.
- Luxury spas Cal-a-Vie and Golden Door customize the calorie counts for every guest, including those who want to maintain or even gain.
- Affordable weight-loss spas include Fitness Ridge, New Life Hiking Spa and The Oaks at Ojai.
- At Rancho La Puerta and Lake Austin Spa Resort, you can have as much food as you want -- and it's EXCELLENT. You can lose weight on the healthy, low-fat food, you have to be the enforcer.
- Red Mountain Spa usually lets you eat your fill, but during "Re-energizing Weight-loss" Weeks" the focus shifts.
- The Ashram is a no-frills throwback to the "fat farm" days, with 800 calories and all-day hiking for a week, with the goal of losing 8 to 10 pounds.
- Some spas like New Age Health Spa and The Raj offer special fasting programs. You will lose weight, but the primary focus is detoxification.
Don't expect to lose a lot of weight -- ten pounds -- in one week. Destination spas have dramatically changed their food philosophy since the "fat farm" days, when everyone was on 800 calories a day and rigorous exercise. This approach may cause rapid weight loss, but it also slows down the body's metabolism so that you gain weight rapidly when you return home. And some of the loss might be muscle.
The emphasis now is changing your lifestyle, learning healthy habits you can live with, and taking them home where you continue the process.
Choosing The Right Weight-Loss Spa For You
While you can lose weight at most destination spas, look for the style, approach and price that suits you. Here are some examples of the various approaches:
Prices range from $1200 a week to $8,000 a week, depending on the luxury factor, the degree of customization, and the depth of staff and programming.
