Our Weight Loss Strategy At Vita Vie Retreat

Weight loss is important for a whole host of reasons. Many of our potential guests call or email before attending one of our retreats to ask about our weight loss philosophy and to inquire about what they can expect with our program. It’s completely understandable that you’d want to get as much information as you can before attending one of our fitness retreats. Because it’s one of our most frequently asked questions, I thought I’d write a blog post on our overall health and weight loss philosophy and answer some of your most asked questions below.

Weight loss is important for a whole host of reasons and we want you to experience real, long lasting weight loss if that’s your goal. Some of the benefits of losing weight are:

• Look and feel better - improved mental attitude

• Better movement - less pressure on joints and spine

• Better sleep

• Improved health markers

• Better hormone regulation

• Reduced risk of disease

• So you can fit into your jeans!

While we understand that many of you want to jumpstart your weight loss and shed a few pounds, our philosophy is to improve health and everything else will fall into place. With improved health comes weight loss, improved health markers, more energy, better mood and so much more. We are not a rapid weight loss retreat (sorry to disappoint). We are an organization that aims to help each guest find better balance within nutrition, movement and mind body wellness so that you can achieve the desired weight loss goals you’re looking for. Each person and each body is different. Finding what works best for you is the only way to long lasting results.

Healthy habits and skills are the name of the game. We want you to see the best results possible. Our belief is that it’s not only what you eat but how you eat. Combining healthy nutrition practices with sensible everyday habits will build a solid foundation for real, true weight loss that is translatable once you return home. Maybe you need to change what you eat but maybe you need to simply tweak a few of your daily patterns to feel and look your best — either way, we’ll help you figure out the changes that need to be made.

Measuring Weight Loss Results

It’s not just about food and the number on the scale. How else can you measure your results and progress? Here are a few more ways that weight loss can affect you positively:

• More energy

• Glowing skin

• Desire to be active

• Better endurance

• Improved mood

• Feel happy and free in your body

• Dropping a pant size

• Increased strength

• Less desire to eat unhealthy foods

The majority of our guests measure weight loss by the number they see on the scale. While we understand this is common practice, it’s not a practice we recommend unless combined with other measurements. If you’re going to measure weight on the scale, we also recommend doing one or all of the following:

• Measurements - Shoulders, chest, rib cage, waist, hips, right thigh, left thigh, right bicep, left bicep (you can do all or just the major measurements).

• Body composition - Check your local listings for a way to do hydrostatic weighing or a bod pod to determine your body composition. If you can’t find either of those, check with your local fitness practitioner to see if someone can do a caliper assessment or another type of body composition assessment.

• An article of clothing - One of our favorites, this is an easy way to tell if you’ve made a body composition change. Choose an article of clothing that is fitted (pants, jeans, dress, jacket) that will enable you to tell when they feel a little looser.

• Take pictures - Take a before picture and compare it along the way. Sometimes, we begin to get smaller but don’t notice. A picture is worth a thousand words as they say and it can tell a story about your body too.

HOW WE INCORPORATE WEIGHT LOSS AT THE RETREAT

We have guests that come for many reasons — to jumpstart weight loss, get re-inspired into fitness, develop or renew their healthy habits and to enjoy an active vacation. Because of this, we give you a guide to help you dive deeper into your weight loss, health or fitness goal and we also offer options to customize your fitness retreat based on your needs.

We believe real, sustainable results begin with the healthy habits you practice on a daily basis. To help you with that, we provide these tools at the retreat:

• The retreat journal - Each guest is provided with a simple retreat journal in your welcome folder. It includes a nutrition and wellness guide along with a journal so you can track what you eat, how you felt that day, which workouts worked for you, what you can incorporate at home, any changes you want to make once you return home and more. This way, no matter if you’re here to lose weight or improve your health and fitness, you have a journal to help you along the way.

• Retreat fitness and wellness session - With Vita Boot Camp, you get the choice of one assisted stretch session, one personal training session, one health coaching session or one 50 minute spa treatment. This allows you to customize based on your goals and needs. *Private retreats include one 50 minute spa treatment and one health coaching session for all retreats.

• Add on sessions - You can also add on any of our personal training, assisted stretch or health & nutrition coaching sessions to your retreat for an additional fee. These sessions can be added on for a discounted rate during the booking process — another way to customize and enhance your retreat for your goals.

• Practice healthy habits at the retreat - We incorporate learning tools and ways to practice your healthy habits. We offer a healthy eating guide that aims at bettering your health by adopting a few eating habits to increase better absorption, increase the number of nutrients you’re getting on a daily basis and recognizing when you’re full and what makes you feel your best. These all add up to weight loss in the end as a result of better healthy practices.

Your Frequently Asked Questions About Weight Loss

How Much Weight Will I Lose?

First of all, our retreat packages are 3 - 6 nights with some guests extending to 9 nights. This isn’t very much time to tackle your weight loss goals. Consider a jumpstart for your weight loss goals when you visit us. Each person is different and each person is coming from a different place in terms of where their body is at with fitness and nutrition. It would be difficult to say how much weight you would lose. More importantly, come to the retreat to get the jumpstart you need — get re-motivated, gain some healthy insight, practice good habits and relax your mind.

Is It A 1200 Calorie Diet?

No! Every person is different and has different calorie requirements so it doesn’t make sense to have a specific number of calories per day. And 1200 calories has never been the gold standard for intake in the nutrition world. You’ll be moving a lot with us so chances are you’ll need more than 1200 calories. That being said, calories can be off by up to 20% (positive or negative) so counting calories isn’t really reliable. You’ll learn to go by how you feel, how you eat (portion control, fast, slow, without distraction, etc) and your appetite awareness at the retreat to determine how much you need.

Is The Menu Healthy?

Yes! The menu is comprised of protein like fresh fish and shellfish, chicken and beef as well as lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. In additional, healthy carbs like potatoes, quinoa, spaghetti squash, farro and rice are included with healthy fats. Our menu is customizable so if you’re vegan, paleo or pescatarian, the kitchen is happy to accommodate you.

Is There A Weigh In And Weigh Out?

We don’t do weigh ins and weigh outs. Again, the amount of time spent at the retreat doesn’t allow for big change so while you’re here, we suggest you focus on health, energy and mood. We are happy to schedule a body assessment session ($30) either at the beginning or end of the retreat so you can go home with information you can track. It includes weight, measurements, BMR (basal metabolic rate) and simple posture + movement recommendations.

I hope this post has helped answer your questions about weight loss at Vita Vie Retreat and give you a better idea of where we’re at in terms of our philosophy. If you have any other questions, please feel free to email us or leave your comments/questions in the comment section below.

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