TRAVEL TO TRIM DOWN: Post-Holiday Detox Destinations
Well, Healthy Lifers, it’s that time of year again — Post-Holiday Detox (PHD). And while I’m usually happy enough to break in the workout pants from my Christmas stocking, by the second week, the treadmill inevitably tires and inspiration wanes, and I always end up thinking how much better PHD would be if someone else could do just a little of the heavy lifting for me.
Someone like Emerson Resort and Spa in the Hudson Valley: The dreamy Mt. Tremper resort with the four-star Indian-influenced spa offers small classes or private sessions of yoga, Pilates, cardio and resistance training. (Check the website for package deal, one of which starts at $660 a night and includes a $200 spa certificate, spa lunch for two, dinner for two, breakfast for two and one fitness class per person, per day.) There are also massages galore, skin and body treatments, tub soaks, Reiki, and even Ayurvedic consultations to help you strengthen the mind-body connection. A few days of that combined with the light lunches (with made-to-order veggie- and fruit smoothies, seasonal salads, etc.) and reasonable dinners from one of the two in-house restaurants would undo quite a bit of the Champagne-soaked, gingerbread-stuffed holiday damage, I should think — and actually feel like a treat!
And speaking of treats … you may have heard of the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in sunny Florida. For 30-some years, the decadent retreat was the destination for boatloads of Philadelphians looking for ways to manage weight, heart disease, blood pressure, diabetes — all sorts of things — via the Pritikin special program of healthy diet, daily exercise and lifestyle education. These days, the still-renowned health resort and spa has stunning new digs at the famed Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, which boasts beaucoup swimming pools, five championship golf courses, tennis courts, and positively breathtaking grounds (take that, Canyon Ranch!). As vacations go, it’s an investment, to be sure $5900 for a week stay, but given the personal fitness prescriptions, physician counseling, stress-management workshops, it’s a life investment. New year, new you, indeed.
DO IT FOR LESS: Like the idea but can’t swing the cash? Check out the slew of options for doing the Pritikin at home, from books and CDs to meals delivered right to your doorstep.
