Although causes of arthritis vary from case to case, experts agree that two major factors affecting the likelihood of developing arthritis is exercise and weight.

Preventing arthritis could be as simple as exercising more and losing weight.

Over the years, I have seen many of our guests see improvements in their arthritic symptoms during their week at the weight loss camp. In many cases, this has been because they didn’t realise how exercise would help, or perhaps felt limited in what they could do. A week of bootcamp and you soon discover just what the body is capable of.

My chiropractor, whom I saw recently, agrees with me in that the body is innately intelligent and has the capacity to heal itself. This was a well-known belief of Hippocrates, although it seems to have been lost throughout the age of pharmaceutical care.

The body is designed to move, and therefore, to keep it healthy we have to move it regularly. It is only designed to carry a certain amount of weight on it’s frame, and excess weight can be a burden on the whole skeletal system.

There are many things we tackle at the fitness retreat, which amongst other benefits, are preventive measures against disease later in life. We look at posture, alignment, muscular strength, and we use techniques to help people discover for themselves what they need to do to heal their own body.

For arthritis prevention and care, we would recommend a balanced exercise regime which combines both aerobic exercise and strengthening.

The following are particularly beneficial:
* Walking
* Tai Chi
* Yoga
* Warm water exercise such as swimming or aqua aerobics
* Cycling

Looks like just a typical day at fit camp!

The big question is whether those results can be maintained, or where needed, that the weight loss continues.

While you’re away in a the context of a bootcamp, it is usually a controlled environment, and you are not subject to the temptations that can be all around us. The supermarkets that pump the smell of fresh bread throughout the store, the adverts for the man-made snacks that you can’t stop eating once you start, and the friends who just seem to “lead you astray”.

Weekends can be especially difficult, as you don’t have your normal routine and there are usually more social engagements than during the week. I hear people say all the time, that they are “really good” through the week, then “it all goes to pot over the weekend”.

The answer is very simple.  You need to have a plan. And that plan allows for the 80/20% rule. Because essentially, for anything to be sustainable, it has to be realistic, and you still want to enjoy your life. In fact, I think socialising, taking time out to have fun, kicking back a little, being spontaneous, is all good for your health!

Unlike at a weight loss camp, you don’t need to restrict yourself 100% of the time.

It’s just a matter of finding the balance.

If it’s important to you, then find time at the weekend to do some exercise, even if it’s just walk with friends down the beach, or playing football in the park with the kids.

When it comes to eating, just eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full, you can’t really go wrong.

Eating out in restaurants needn’t be the nightmare you think it’s going to be.  Pick whatever you want off the menu, but eat slowly and mindfully, and  leave what you don’t need. Or just order two starters, insteadof a starter and main. Exercise portion control and you can fairly much eat what you like.

If you’ve over-indulged, don’t beat yourself up about it, and think that you’ve failed. Just ask yourself “Ok, so what am I going to do about it that is going to help get me back on track?”.

Be even more committed to get back on track the next day.

The key to it is that you still enjoy your life, you just have boundaries and find the right balance.

Actually, it has been practised for centuries in the East with practises such as yoga and tai chi, but until recently, it hasn’t been a widely used term in fitness.

It is now an integral part of the programme at Fit Farms, but what  exactly is mindful exercise?

In a nutshell, it’s about being aware of what you are doing, taking the exercise you are doing into your conscious mind.

It’s the exact opposite of mindlessly pounding the treadmill, looking around at what everyone else is doing, and daydreaming about what you’re going to cook for dinner or what you should have said to that person who jumped ahead of you in the queue.

When people come to our weight loss camp, we get them thinking about what they are doing, understanding what is happening in their bodies, and feeling everything that is going on.

Letting the mind wander means you are not fully engaging in the process, and you may be unaware of some of the damage you may be doing without realising. The ache in your neck which shows the shoulders are hunched up, the tight lower back, a symptom of the feet being turned out instead of parallel - these things go unnoticed when your mind is elsewhere.

In yoga, the exercise is all about what’s going on on your mat, where you are and you concentrate on every detail of what you are doing. So much so, it becomes like a moving meditation, with all the benefits that brings. This is especially important at fit camp.

As with any changes you want to make in your life, it’s an inside job. Your body is very intelligent, and if you listen to it, it will tell you everything you need to know.

You need to understand where you are now to understand where you need to go.

Only being “in the moment” allows this to happen.

As mentioned in the article, we spend most of our day sitting at work and even after we reach home. The advent of internet has made us somehow less physically active as we spend longer hours in front of our computer either browsing the internet, playing video games or simply reading online news. On top of that, it seems children and adult nowadays are spending more hours watching TV than before.

Such activities promote us to sit idly and it is oftentimes complemented with popcorns or pizzas along with soda drinks. Others continue their unhealthy habits such as smoking and drinking. Thus it is no wonder that more people now are overweight and are suffering with chronic diseases even at a young age. This can be blame to our way of life.

Just imagine if we try to trade off our “computer or TV time” to some activities that will engage us physically. For instance, instead of sitting in front of the TV for 2-3 hours after your office work, try to split it. Spend half of it watching your favorite show and the remaining time for exercise. If it is really difficult, then take baby steps like trading off only 30 minutes for exercise for the first week. Then the next week increase it to 45 minutes.

Remember that increasing our physical activity is really beneficial to our health. So try to stay active, move around and cut back your time spent in front of the computer and TV. It is not easy but it is definitely doable.

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It’s a once a year job, usually after indulging too much over the holiday period, and it involves clearing out the body of the toxins that we have put into it.

In the context of a weight loss camp, the detox process is somewhat different.

We know that severe calorie restriction doesn’t work long term; the body goes into starvation. We recognise that living on prunes and pears for the week isn’t adequate fuel for the brave souls that are doing six hours of exercise a day.

We do know, however, that the most difficult part of a detox is breaking the habits.

Yes, there will be some that will suffer the usual side effects of a low sugar, low caffeine, alcohol-free week, and of course, there will be benefits of cleansing the body of the build up of waste products, especially if processed foods have been part of their staple diet.

Yet the most powerful detox effect on a weight loss retreat takes places in the mind.

It is our habits, our behaviours, not specific products, which have the most toxic impact on us. Our bodies and our minds suffer if our habits are unhealthy.

I call these habits your “old slippers”. They are comfy because you have been used to wearing them all the time. The fact that you do the same thing again and again gives you certainty, you know what to expect, and that is reassuring.

You may not even notice you are doing it, which means you have unconscious behaviours that are most likely the causes of weight gain or illness in the body.

The most common ones I come across at Fit Farms are: constant grazing in the evenings, comfort eating, rewarding a bad day with something “naughty”, and lack of portion control, mainly caused by mindless eating (on the go, or in front of the television).

The boot camp aspect of the course is the confiscating of the old slippers. The fitness retreat is a controlled environment and you can’t do what you usually do. There is no chocolate on hand when you’re feeling a bit low, no coffee to keep you going when you’re tired, and you can’t hit the snooze button when you have to be at the wake up workout at 645am.

This can be a shock to the system for many, but it’s part of the process. In order for something to change, you have to do something differently, and the first step of this is breaking the pattern.

Or simply put, clearing out those dusty cupboards.

When you want to purchase for a cheese, there are many kinds of cheese in the supermarket. On top of that, there is low fat, non fat and the regular one. Indeed those people who are keen on their health tend to evaluate each food item that goes into their grocery cart. How many calories? How many grams of fat and sodium?Despite of this, people still tend to be obese and the numbers are escalating both for adults and children. Sometimes it is ironic that people care intensively about the calorie content of their food and yet the indulgence of their consumption continues.

We cannot blame them as well. We are living a fast paced lifestyle wherein we are left with little time to do important things for ourselves and families. Like for example, each one of us knows the importance of a healthy breakfast. Yet we continue to grab instant breakfast meals in the food shops as we rush to our offices. In the end, our regular breakfast is comprised of high sugar content donut and coffee. This type of breakfast may not significantly impact your health but regular consumption of it will definitely lead you to additional pounds.

It seems that we never run out of food choices in our lives but it is our choices that will make who we are in the next five years. Daily healthy choices of meals like fruits, vegetables, brown bread, and so on will definitely reward you of a healthier and fitter body. Indeed it is a matter of what we choose to eat that will define our health in the future.

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Read more Health and Fitness Articles on our Partner Site’s Blogs
- FitParks UK Fitness Boot Camp Website
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- FitFarms Fat Camp Website

I’ve been an avid fan of meditation for a long time now, having used it to overcome depression, but only more recently did I understand the impact it would have on weight management.

My research has not just been through reading the scientific evidence supporting this, although this is now well documented and widely accepted. It comes from first hand experience, and through observing the thousands of women who have come to the weight loss retreat.

The common factor in many of those trying (and often failing) to lose weight is that they are suffering the effects of chronic stress, whether that be in the form of worry, anger or any other negative emotion.

Busy lifestyles, work stress, looking after others, information overload, not enough sleep, the inability to switch off - these are symptoms I see each week in those that are trying to lose weight.

People coming away on a fitness holiday are often getting a break from their busy lives, and find it more of a mental and emotional break than they had expected. It usually takes stepping off the treadmill (excuse the pun) to do this.

During our nutrition seminars, we talk about the effects of the “stress response”, and the impact of long term over-production of the stress hormone cortisol. We know how this leads to weight gain, specifically round the stomach area.

At our weight loss retreats,  we now offer the chance to learn how to counteract this effect. Meditation, and specifically breathing exercises, can have induce the “Relaxation Response”, bringing the body back into harmony. As both of these responses come from the same place in the body, the hippothalmus, its not possible for both to be happening at the same time. So, by switching on the Relaxation Response, we simultaneously switch off the Stress Response.

The Relaxation Response can be induced through meditation, and this should be an integral part of any weight loss bootcamp. Failure to provide time for yoga, guided meditation, and even enough sleep can lead to people holding onto the weight for long. Simply put, the body thinks its in danger and will hold onto the fat.

I have seen better results at Fit Farms since we have introduced meditation and our “biggest loser“, who lost 19lbs in a week, is now actually teaching, as well as practising, meditation

It is not only the direct physical benefits of meditation that come into play, there are also many beneficial “side effects“, which will have an impact on your success losing weight.

A recent study by Kalms claimed that 44% of people over-eat when they are stressed. More research will show that the primary cause of obesity is emotional eating.

By boosting serotonin and endorphin levels, meditation is a very effective remedy for this. You will find yourself less stressed, fatigued and irritable, therefore less likely to overeat.

Practising mindfulness allows you to take control over your emotions, and therefore your eating habits. When you’re on a fitness holiday, and you are made more aware of what you have been doing subconsciously, you can start to be more mindful. Awareness is the first step to change.

There are so many other benefits to meditation, I  simply cant write about them all.

However, in my next blog, I will share with you some simple exercises you can do, so you find out for yourself.

Basically, we don’t like being told what to do, we like to make our own choices and decisions.

And so we should.

After all, we are the experts on ourselves and our lives, therefore it is only ourselves who have the right to say what is best for us.

I learned this many years ago when I was training to be a coach.

If you try to tell people what to do, they will resist. They may do it for a short time, as in the case of boot camps, but if they haven’t “bought in” to the idea, and made the choice for themselves, it is unlikely they are going to stick to it.

People who have something they want to achieve need to find their own intrinsic motivation if they are going to stick to it.

At weight loss boot camps where people are being shouted at as a means of motivation, they may tow the line while they are there, but the minute they leave and go home, the first thing they will do is rebel against the enforced authority and go back to their old ways.

In contrast, a coaching approach, where trainers are skilled at empowering individuals to change is likely to get better long term results.

There are two factors in ensuring readiness to change. Firstly, how important it is the individual, and secondly confidence levels.

Trainers with a coaching approach, who ask the right questions, can help individuals keep in the forefront of their mind why they are doing it, and help them see the value in it to them. To do this, they need to understand what it means to them personally, as this is different in everyone. Workshops and one-to-ones on a weight loss retreat will help with this.

The second factor is confidence, in that the individual feels that they can do it.

Going in too hard, creating painful experiences with exercise will destroy confidence and this may never be regained.

With a supportive and compassionate style, with achievable steps at every stage of the process, people feel a sense of self-efficacy.

“I’m confident I can do this” is a lot more empowering than “I have to do this because they are telling me I have to”.

Long term is how we feel about what we are doing that is going to keep us on track. If we feel good, we feel confident, and we feel rewarded for our successes, we will keep it up.

Weight loss camps can’t change habits in a week, but they can help people find their motivation to change.

That motivation has to be an inside job.

According to a study from California State University, Fullerton cited in the article, traditional weights are still better than kettlebells in as far as maximizing your strength. However, proponents of kettlebells think that their benefits extend beyond gaining strength provided you use them well.

The CSU study compared the two and found that their testers gained more upper body strength after using free weights over using kettlebells. However, it should be noted that kettlebell users were able complete other exercises beyond those that build strength.

Still, you can actually switch between kettlebells and dumbbells depending on your fitness goals but the idea is to use kettlebells to work on aspects you normally wouldn’t be able to with free weights.

“If your goal was just to get strong, you don’t need kettlebells. If your goal is to burn fat, increase power endurance, and get strong, then kettlebells are a great tool,” says Jason Brown, C.S.C.S., owner of Kettlebell Athletics in Philadelphia. After all, kettlebell exercises were designed for higher and faster reps compared to free weight exercises which are about low reps and more weight. These are to increase your body’s fat-burning metabolism and to heighten your body’s power endurance.

Again, it really depends on what you’re aiming to do. Developing a muscular body like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s means more free weights like barbells and dumbbells. For a full-body workout that will get you ready for that pick-up game over the weekend, kettlebells are your best bet.

To learn more about the benefits of either, check out the entire article at Men’s Health magazine’s website today where you can find other articles to help you keep healthy and fit!