Take a Weight-Loss Vacation to Kick-Start the New Year

Picture this: eight days full of adventure and excitement, mouth-watering meals, massages, yoga, and a team of professionals working around the clock to meet your every need. Now picture doing all of this and losing weight.

If you're like many adults, you don't have two or three months to dedicate to a residential weight loss program, but you know you need to get away to jumpstart a newer, healthier lifestyle. Instead of overindulging and coming home more stressed than ever, take a vacation that soothes the mind, body, and soul - go on a weight loss retreat.

What Is a Weight Loss Vacation?
A weight loss vacation is a unique opportunity to lose weight, have fun, and work through any underlying emotional issues with a therapist. "On a weight loss retreat, you take a week to do what you want to do, get away from work, and use the time to truly focus on your body and your health," says Ryan Madamba, the director of Wellspring Retreats, a celebrated weight loss vacation program designed to help adults ages 21 and over develop the skills and motivation to achieve lasting weight loss and lifestyle change.

Just over a week in length, the Wellspring retreats are long enough to launch a weight-loss plan and see real results, yet short enough to allow a brief vacation from work without disrupting your regular life. In 2008, the average weight loss was an impressive four to six pounds in eight days, with the "biggest loser" losing approximately eight pounds in that time.

Much more than diets, fat farms, boot camps, or fat camps, Wellspring retreats are life-changing health and fitness retreats designed to change the way your body looks and feels. Combining educational sessions about nutrition and fitness, experience preparing healthy meals, exposure to various ways to incorporate fitness into a busy daily life, and group therapy each night, weight loss retreats transform people's philosophies on food and healthy living.

An Individual Journey with Built-In Support
In groups of six to 10 people, made up of singles, spouses, partners, family members, and other groupings, weight loss retreat participants enjoy the shared experience of losing weight and improving their health. Some participants ultimately want to lose 100 pounds, whereas others simply want to shed the first or last 10 pounds to reach their goal weight. Whatever their backgrounds and goals, Wellspring believes every retreat is an individual journey.

"Everyone has their own valid reasons to be here," explains Madamba. "The purpose of the retreat is to be challenged physically and emotionally, which will mean different things to different people. The experience can be as intense as the participants want it to be. We will meet every individual where he or she is and provide the appropriate level of challenge for each individual's abilities and goals."

The small group setting allows Wellspring to individualize the experience and ensure that each group member's particular needs are being met. Within a couple of days, the participants form a tight-knit group and look to one another to help them through the challenges of adopting permanent lifestyle changes, both during the retreat and afterward. With ongoing support and encouragement, the group makes a lifelong commitment to become successful long-term weight controllers.

A One-Week Vacation for Lasting Lifestyle Change
Participants leave the Wellspring retreats inspired by the way it feels to shed a few pounds, eat well, and get moving, and are empowered to continue their progress at home. "By the time participants return home, they have created value-forming experiences they can look back on and take inspiration and motivation from to help them continue on the path toward lasting weight control," says Madamba.

Wellspring retreat participants also have the distinct advantage of receiving three months of intensive continuing support online that allows them to log on to a website and monitor their progress, as well as communicate with the therapist they worked with during the retreat. "Our clients know that when it comes to weight loss, there are a lot of things stacked against them socially, emotionally, and biologically," notes Madamba. "But we give them the tools they need to fight the fight on a daily basis and win."

Choosing the Right Getaway
There are a number of weight loss vacation options to choose from. Wellspring, for example, offers two different weight loss getaways: a "travel and spa retreat" and a "vacation retreat." On the travel and spa getaway, participants visit three or four exciting destinations throughout the eight-day period, starting from a local hotel and exploring different activities each day, including whitewater rafting, hiking, mountain biking, water sports, and other adventures. In addition to daily massages and group therapy, the retreat ends at a world-class resort and spa.

The Wellspring vacation retreats are based at a beautiful lodge or large private home where every guest has a private room. Participants start every day with yoga and breakfast and explore a wide range of physical activities from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. In the evenings, the vacationers enjoy free time, massages, and group therapy sessions that are facilitated by a cognitive-behavioral therapist.

On both retreats, nutritious and delicious low-fat meals are catered by the resort or prepared by Wellspring chefs, with lessons for participants on healthy food preparation techniques. At the start, all participants receive textbooks, a pedometer, a self-monitoring journal, and a range of outdoor gear as part of their introduction to the retreat experience.

In 2009, Wellspring will offer 14 adult weight loss retreats at some of the country's most desirable destinations including northern California, Asheville, NC, southern California, Charleston, SC, and Texas. Take advantage of the New Year to plan a weight loss vacation, and return to your daily life refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to take on the challenges of long-term weight loss.