Health retreats to jump-start a new healthy life 

I’m a 50ish male baby-boomer, with a wife, 4 kids and a farm to run. While still young at heart I’m successfully negotiating a mid-life crisis, learning to surf, ride a motorbike and have taken up Taekwon-do, all great activities; no crisis at all! I’ve always considered myself fairly fit and am looking forward to a long and happy retirement.

The grey hair does bring more with it though then cheap insurance and full membership of the Ulysses Motorcycle Club. Friends and acquaintances are starting to die of heart attacks, cancer or suffer debilitating chronic illnesses. Through much prompting from my wife I have taken some steps to ‘improve’ my health, like using organic milk and red wine, having no sugar in my coffee and eating whole meal bread; even ants won’t eat useless white flour!. In addition, I figured that I really should be eating more than one apple a week and a banana month.

My wife has been insisting for years that I should ‘detox’ the decades of accumulated herbicides and other farm chemicals from my body by a stay at a health resort. A health resort has always seemed something of an oxymoron to me. The word health doesn’t sit well with resort. If anything, a resort is a place where you purposefully go to jeopardise your health through over-indulgence. Still, she had been right about other things and a few days holiday would be great if I could focus on the ‘resort’ bit.

My stay at the health resort1 was for 7 nights with 2 extra nights as an ‘Optimal Health and Wellbeing’ option - one of many options available from day visits, ‘mini escapes’ and ‘pamper packages’.

The ambiguity between hospital and resort was foremost in my mind when I arrived. Was I a guest or a patient? The long passageway, the creaky floorboards, and the hushed silence were initial impressions that were dispelled immediately by the cheery staff at reception. As a first time visitor, I was given a guided tour. The dining room looked inviting, the activities board was full, there were several massage rooms, a library, a comfortable lounge with a burning log fire, and a pool. The ‘therapies room’ didn’t look too sinister, placed as it was across from the gift shop. My room was larger than most hotel rooms with all the features; TV, heater, small balcony, lounge chair, double bed and a hot water jug, albeit stocked with herbal teas, minus the cookies and coffee. There was no refrigerator as eating of any kind is discouraged in the rooms. Mobile phones were permitted only in the room or on the front lawn but there was a direct, personal number to the room.

My first lunch was an excellent vegetarian fare. As a hungry, non-vegetarian I piled my plate with the salad, not noticing the other hot dishes under the server; delicious vegetarian rissoles and a stir fry.

My lunch companion was Dave, a tall, fit looking young man. We discussed how long we were ‘in’ for and then the meal. We were joined by Joan, a woman in her early 40s. “How long are you in for”, Joan asked; this was her third stay. Evidently another woman here had been coming every year for 20 years.

On the verandah, I met James. James was a large man in his mid 60s with a “high pressure job” that was “getting out soon”. He explained that the time that you were staying and the food were always central to any conversation. James had been on the ‘fruit juice detox’, was “feeling much better and more relaxed”. In subsequent conversations, he told me of the long stressful hours that he worked and of his self-confessed excessive drinking. He’d seen friends his own age drop dead and had had time here to see where his life was taking him. He was going home to change his lifestyle and work habits. He was going to semi-retire and take his wife on a holiday to France and Italy. The ‘time out’ for James at the resort had done wonders.

After lunch, I had my visit to the naturopath (included in the package). I filled out a detailed 4-page questionnaire on my health and diet. The naturopath asked further questions, took my blood pressure, pulse and weight before testing my blood sugar levels and cholesterol, neither of which had I had tested previously. My heart and blood were fine – what a relief! My lower bowel problems, a history of diverticulitis, undoubtedly earned through a life-long aversion to fibre and fruit, possible Candida, recently acquired grass allergy and my long association with farm chemicals were a concern. It was suggested that a ‘detox’ might be a good idea; nothing but fruit juices and water for several days. This was optional of course and I could stop any time I liked. Well, I guess that was what I was there for – and it had done wonders for James.

Dinner day 1 was a small glass of juice to settle the stomach. Each juice was a combination of a diluted fruit and vegetable served 4 times a day at the Health and Wellbeing area, not the dining room, thank God. By lunchtime on my first full day of juice my stomach was telling me I was hungry but, surprisingly that contracting, bubbly sensation soon left – perhaps the stomach can only contract so far?

Each day included a visit to the naturopath. Pulse, blood pressure, urine, tongue coating and weight were checked daily and the progress of my detox evaluated accordingly. Each day included‘hydrotherapy’. For me this alternated between the Vibratraun, a vibrating padded base covered in a heated iron lung type canopy, and a hot/cold sitz, where a hot towel is placed 3 times on the vital organs, alternating with a cool, damp cloth. These treatments are designed to help the healing and detoxing of damaged tissue. Other treatments like hot and cold baths of the legs and feet are evidently to stimulate blood circulation and are helpful for such ailments as varicose veins, fluid retention, leg cramps, ‘jumping legs’ and chronic injuries.

Those on the juice detox diet are given a list of Dos and Don’ts. The Dos included, in capital letters, REST! Short walks and gentle stretches permitted only and all within the grounds. It was important for the body’s energy to be conserved for healing and rejuvenation. We were advised to drink 1 – 1.5 litres of distilled water each day and there was a carafe delivered to your room each day for this purpose. It was important to keep warm, rise slowly and be aware of possible symptoms of detoxing that may include, amongst others, headaches, sleeplessness, weakness, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, irritability and boredom. There are emergency alarm buttons in each room – just in case.

The Don’t’s included noise, movement, late nights and frequent visitors. We should not take long hot showers or use the pool in case we become light-headed. Naturally smoking, alcohol, narcotic drugs and medications are absolutely forbidden while fasting or, indeed, on the premises at any time.

I became a little light-headed on day 3 and felt what might be called a ‘flat’ feeling. I think that what I missed most was not the food but the hungry to full cycle of the daily body rhythm; a comforting routine that has been with most of us since birth, if you’re lucky. It is not a wholly distressing feeling but rather disconcerting. I would have expected a lot worse considering that I’d thought previously that I could never last 24 hours without food. According to my naturopath, on my daily visit, I was progressing well. My ‘vital signs’ were fine and the urine analysis showed that my body was detoxing, although a raised billirubin level, evidently the waste product that results from the breakdown of haemoglobin molecules from worn out red blood cells, normally excreted in bile, showed that my liver was under some stress. Ketone readings of 8 and later 16 indicated that I was burning fat for energy: an important differentiation from fasting and starving where there is no fat left to burn.

“How did I feel?” I could start on solids if I liked. “Should I go one more day”, I asked? Well, it seems from what my naturopath said, and according to a book I was given to read2, a few days on juice is only a partial detox; many days on water is the ideal. I did feel good, never thinking that I could achieve 4 days without food; perhaps it is possible to go 10 or 20 days on just water to heal a chronically ill body. I elected to go for a fifth day.

The glories of the bistro were not to be mine; the reintroduction of food was to be staged over 3 days. My first lunch was sliced pear and dinner was a plate of fruit. As an occasional apple and banana man I was astounded to find the pear delicious and the fruit fantastic. I couldn’t believe that I could enjoy 7 different fruits so much; none of them were apple or banana! The steamed vegetables were wonderful and the bistro, eventually, a paradise. I felt great; pleasantly gaunt, energetic and totally free of that “I should be eating better” syndrome. Food never tasted so well nor the body so – well, I’m not sure, I’ve never quite felt like this before!

I felt good enough to start participating in some of the resort activities: I was warned to take exercise slowly for a couple of days while the body replenished its muscle glucose levels. There were all sorts of organised activities or classes each morning, afternoon and evening. These ranged from mild exercises like Walk and Stretch, Relaxercise, Dance 4 Health, Yoga, bushwalking, Tai Chi, Stretch and Splash, Boche, Pilates and meditation to the more strenuous Cardio Combo, Aqua aerobics, Salsa Class, Cross Training, Body Blast and ‘Woggle’ Workout. Classes included Nutrition and Food combining, Skin Fitness, Weight Management Workshop, Cooking Demonstration, Fasting for Health, Successful Management of Stress, How to Change Unwanted Habits and Aromatherapy Workshop. It was my first experience at Pilates, Boche, Tai Chi and Yoga, all of which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed the Sunday evening fireside presentation on good nutrition by author Roger French3, the president of the Natural Health Society of Australia4.

Eating in the dining room and taking the various exercise classes and courses gave me a chance to meet more of the guests. On average, there are around a dozen guests in residence: rising to 100 at peak times. Half seem to be on short stay packages, taking various skin treatments, massages, pedicures, reflexology, Reiki and the like, and a similar number on the Optimal Health and Wellbeing package, not all of which undergo the juice detox but rather a regulated diet of prepared meals. About half have been to this health resort before, usually several times. Without exception, everyone was pleased with their stay and intended to return for a longer visit. The most often stated comment was ‘relaxed, energetic and wonderful”.

I couldn’t agree more. My stay at a health resort was a wonderfully easy way to jumpstart a new, healthier life. I’ve discovered fruit, vegetables and salad; the large bowl of cut fruit each morning is easily prepared and devoured by the children. Months after the health resort stay I’ve continued to lose weight. I’m finding it easier to resist the potato crisps, pies, ice cream and hot chips and if I can’t, then as Roger French says, “it’s not what you eat 5% of the time but what you eat 95% of the time. I feel more confident that I can live that long and healthy life. I feel great!

References:

• 1. Hopewood Health Retreat. 103 Greendale Road, Wallacia NSW 2745 Australia. Tel: + 61 2 4773 8401 Fax: + 61 2 4773 8735 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• 2. Fasting and Eating for Health, by Joel Fuhrman. First St Martin’s Griffin Edition 1998. ISBN 0-312-18719-X.
• 3. The Man Who Lived in Three Centuries - The Secrets to His Freedom From Illness and Early Ageing, by Roger French available through the Natural Health Society
• 4. Natural Health Society of Australia (NSW) Inc. (not-for-profit organisation). 28 / 541 High Street, Penrith NSW 2750. Tel: (02) 4721 5068 Fax: (02) 4731 1174 E-mail enquiries to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it