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At Lifestyle Health Retreats we believe that fitness at any level is one of the best ways to jumpstart your health and wellness. A daily routine of activity can vary and include running, working out in a gym, swimming, walking or practicing yoga. Yoga is an ancient form of exercise that originated in India centuries ago. Yoga serves to unite the mind, body, and soul through meditation, breathing, movements, and body poses. Many people practice yoga today for its health benefits which include stress relief, increased flexibility, and improved muscle tone. The physical focus of yoga is holding poses and positions with the correct alignment and posture. There are many different yoga positions and some are more challenging than others. When you begin yoga you can expect to see positions that are seated, standing, and lying down. As you progress the positions should get more challenging and will help to build...

At Lifestyle Health Retreats we believe that you CAN take control of what you eat by going for some healthy snacks that can be prepared quickly. The whole idea of planning, preparing and cooking food can seem overwhelming at times and it is early to quickly turn to fast food restaurants, microwaves, and packaged foods. Though these readily available foods fill up your stomach, they come with a heavy price.  All those fast foods and packaged meals are stuffed with myriad of unhealthy, artificial and processed ingredients. So refuel yourself on the go with these easy and healthy snacks. Fruit Salad: Take whatever fruits you have in the fridge, chop them up and drizzle a little lemon juice that acts as a natural preservative. Keep it in the fridge, eat at work, at school or on the go. Beef Jerky: This one is easy to grab it and go. You can go...

At Lifestyle Health Retreats we understand that a big part of establishing a daily practice of health and fitness is working out safely. Whether you are optimizing your health by running or walking, the point is to move more and establish habits that fit your lifestyle and fitness level. If you are someone that enjoys running, make sure you avoid the 5 most common running mistakes that most people make. That way you can minimize pain, while having a fun and effective running experience. Inward Knee Collapse. This basically means that while you're running, your knees are collapsing inward which can be caused by weak muscles. While running, your knees are supposed to stay aligned with your hips. If your muscles are weak, they won't be able to support you and your body weight. To correct this, performing exercises to build up your gluteus muscles will end up helping you support...

At LHR we believe that an integral part of over health and wellbeing is mental health. Often how successful we are is directly related to our thought patterns. Positive thinking is a mental attitude that expects good and favourable outcomes from life. A mind that is in a positive state allows you to anticipate happiness, health and a successful outcome from every situation and action. But in order to think positively, you first have to change your emotional and mental approach towards yourself, other people and situations. Here are few suggestions that can help promote health and wellness in everyday life. 1.Choose to be positive No matter what your life is like, the choice to be more positive is 100% up to you. You have to make a conscious choice to conquer the negativity that is around you. Do not allow people and situations to dictate how you react towards life events...

At Lifestyle Health Retreats (LHR), we understand that there is more to health and wellness then just diet. Many people try diets and find them unsuccessful. For instance; Jennifer, a middle-aged single mother with one six-year-old daughter, has been skipping sweets for a few weeks now.  She’s also become a stickler for portion control.  She feels as if she’s eating less than ever, and she’s been diligently exercising for an hour at a time at least four days a week.  Yet, she hasn’t lost a single pound. The question is, “Why?” This is a dilemma which affects dieters the world over.  They think they are taking the steps necessary to lose weight, but nothing seems to be happening.  In essence, they are trapped in a dieting rut and they don’t know how to free themselves.  As a result, they become frustrated and depressed and may then engage in binge eating. One of the...

At Lifestyle Health Retreats, we recognize that a healthy lifestyle is maintained by what happens once you get back home from your fitness, weight loss or yoga holiday. One of the important factors in long term weight loss is dictated by making the right choices when it comes to diet and nutrition. Avoiding fatty foods can do wonders for your body, as well as your energy levels and positive frame of mind. You should not forget that it is important to plan a proper diet chart in order to get rid of that excess weight. It is also important to understand that Nutrition & Fitness means understanding the difference between starvation and controlled food intake. We suggest you begin by having 6 to 7 small meals instead of 3 big ones in a 24 hour period. When opting for big meals, one tends to always over eat. It is important to realize that...

By Dr. Kostas Papadopoulos Have you heard of it before? Have you ever experienced personalized medicine or “Precision Medicine”? Let me introduce you to the “5 P” medicine system. It is defined as Precise, Personalized, Predictive, Preventive, and Participatory. This can change your life, and your health. Precision medicine can transform health care as you know it. Popular approaches to medicine today take an “average person/patient” or “one-size-fits-all” approach to health.  EVERY aspect of life is represented by the marketers and the industries that want to maximize their investment returns without thinking about your personal health. Think about it, few things are tailored to the “special person” that you are. Whether it is clothes, food, supplements, travel, or cars, few things are specifically made to address you as an individual or consider your needs. Big companies often position themselves to have services that require you as a consumer to “find yourself” in their system....

A group of yoga teacher friends and I were having a discussion recently about our students: despite our specific efforts to offer multiple versions, or levels, for some poses, our students almost always jump straight to the most difficult one. Often, this decision leads to a loss of strength and form, lots of shaking, and the constipated-grimace of overexertion and discomfort. We are all guilty of this sometimes, we join a class, look around the room, and want to feel like we are not the worst person in there. When I started practicing, having previously been focused on boxing, running, and weights, I was militant in my demands for physical exertion – to get my butt kicked, to get my work out! I found that yoga was a great way to accomplish this. It opened up new ways to use my entire body, to learn how to work each muscle, that each...

By Dr. Kostas Papadopoulos One of my latest patients and a good American friend; we call him John, came to me one day looking tired….really tired. I thought it was because John had been working too hard lately as an English teacher in Bangkok due to many late hours, early mornings and too many KFC meals! He was seriously overweight yet that alone could not explain his breathlessness.  I had him to do a routine test of his blood sugar and at 47-years of age; he learned that he was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. With that simple test result, he joined the 80 million of his fellow countrymen and women over the age of 20, the 500 million Chinese, as well as the 30% of Middle Eastern populations with pre-diabetes (not full blown diabetes). On top of that we see diagnosed and undiagnosed full blown type II diabetes in about 20% of these...

By Jeff Nieuwenhuizen “Should I do a detox or weight loss retreat?” This is probably one of the most important questions to ask yourself before booking a retreat. So many clients ask this question that it is worth explaining why a detox retreat is not the best choice if you want to lose weight.   Similarly, if you are facing severe health challenges that are diet related, (aside from weight issues) then you might consider detoxing a priority. First of all, let me say that doing a regular detox juice fast can be very beneficial, and belongs in everyone’s health toolkit.   And yes, you may well lose some weight whilst on a detox program. The problem is that detoxing and losing weight have opposing physiological processes. Some of the goals of detox programs are to give the digestive organs a break, allow the body to physically rest, and for the innate healing mechanisms...

The internet is full of articles to help you overcome the same challenges you face every year. Resolutions themselves are the problem! So this year, I want to do something different. Here we will offer you some inside tips to help you become that 20% and ensure your resolutions remain in tact and become achievements. Never again will you need to make these New Year resolutions....

At Luxury Health Retreats, we don’t just teach health or fitness, we help you to understand how to make it a part of your lifestyle.  Understanding values that drive you to achieve your goals is just one part of whats included in your retreat. ...