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Fantasy Fitness Spa: Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain

Well+Good — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:30:28 +0000

Today concludes Fantasy Fitness Spas of the West week, during which we whisked you away to our five favorite spas. (More precisely, the five spas we’ve visited recently and loved.) Given that our former life was dedicated to writing about spas, you can take our picks pretty seriously.

And we’re ending on a mountain high note—at the Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain. Here are three awesomely memorable experiences worth visiting this chic resort and spa for.

SANCTUARY ON CAMELBACK MOUNTAIN
PARADISE VALLEY, ARIZONA

It’s a boutique-hotel-style resort for healthy people. And New Yorkers.

The style of this 105-room resort is modern-mountain zendo, not howling coyotes. The infinity pool and spa are Dwell Magazine-worthy (see above). And my Spa Casita guest room had an awesome soaking tub.

You should leave your room for pool time, biking to then hiking up Camelback Mountain, and lingering at the spa. From coddling facials and energy work to Watsu (water Shiatsu), the treatments and therapists will leave you feeling mountain high. —Melisse Gelula

Chef Beau MacMillan's mod-American cuisine

1. Dinner by Iron-Chef-Winner Beau MacMillian
Elements is packed with monied locals here for MacMillian’s creative Modern American menu, devoted to organic produce, sustainable seafood, and hormone-free meats. There’s also Asian-influenced spa cuisine, with vegetarian and gluten-free options. I stayed here for nearly a week and was blown away by pretty much every meal.

2. Climbing Camelback Mountain
It’s a 1.25-mile, 2,704-foot ascent, and the first time I did it, local geriatrics passed me. There are no better fitness drill sergeants to get you up it in lightning speed than Melissa Branta and Mike Masood, two of the uber-competent trainers on staff here. (Others include Olympic swimmer Misty Hyman, who kicks off the 3-day Triathlon Prep Program here.)

Reformer Pilates

3. Super-Sculpting Pilates Reformer Classes
I’m the kind of person who loves Reformers but looks like a flopping fish out of water on them. While that was no different at Sanctuary, Kara Thomas gave me great advice on keeping up with the class, a group of seriously fit women.

Room rates start at $459 per night, 800-245-2051, www.sanctuaryoncamelback.com

Fantasy Fitness Spa: Cal A Vie, California

Well+Good — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:30:35 +0000

To banish the winter blues, we’ve declaring this Fantasy Fitness Spas of the West week! What exactly does that mean? Are we sending flying you and a friend to Palm Springs? Not exactly.

Instead we’ve dedicated a week to cubicle travel (cause who really sits in armchairs?), during which we skirt you away to our five favorite spas. (More precisely, the five spas we’ve visited recently and loved.) Given that our former life was dedicated to writing about spas, you can take our picks pretty seriously.

While luxe details like bedding thread count make for good living, they don’t necessarily make for good reading. So we’re focusing on the top three awesomely memorable experiences at each of our five fantasy spas. Here’s today’s…

CAL A VIE, IN VISTA, CALIFORNIA

Cal A Vie feels like it’s run by perfectionists. So, not surprisingly, it’s where Hollywood celebs, Fortune 500 CEOs, and OC housewives come to get svelte and healthy.

Fitness is top notch, and tough. Food is calorie-restricted spa cuisine, customized just for you down to the broccoli spear. And even fashion’s a consideration, as workout clothes are provided for you. (Not Lululemon, though.)

And everyone gets treated like they’re Natalie Portman. (She was actually there when I visited.) —Melisse Gelula

The open-air spinning studio

1. Extra Special Attention
Cal A Vie hosts just 25 guests at a time, and they get tons of coddling. What makes this possible? A staff to guest ratio of 5:1. It’s not a stoop-and-bow kind of place, though. It’s just that the staff and kitchen actually puts your preferences to memory. Need a bowl of greens with every meal? Done. Need an eye mask to sleep well. Delivered! As one guest said to me, “I’ve been here five times, and they never say No.”

2. High-Intensity Workouts and Hikes
Every day starts with a hike, which builds in difficulty over the week, followed by back-to-back fitness classes. So you’re working out for about five hours in the morning, then everyone heads to the spa for treatments in the afternoon. Lots of spas use this formula, but what’s different here are all the high-intensity fitness options, like spinning, cardio sculpting, kickboxing, and power yoga—and how well the highly trained instructors carry them out.

Soaking in a spa tub

3. The Place Looks Like Tuscany
Vista is in a secluded valley, just north of San Diego. And Cal A Vie is a private forested enclave of 200 acres, filled with hills. It truly resembles Italy more than Southern California. There are no neighbors for miles. The design of the spa and guest villas, with terracotta-tile roofs peeking up through the trees, reinforces the transporting idea that you could very well be in Tuscany.

The popular 4-night all-inclusive stay, includes 9 treatments, all fitness classes, and airport transfers from San Diego, $5,595. A week 866-SPA-HAVENS, www.cal-a-vie.com

Fantasy Fitness Spa: The Ranch at Live Oak

Well+Good — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:30:11 +0000

Don't fooled by this gentle looking hike: The Ranch has taken off as boot camp for those who love a challenge.

To banish the winter blues, we’re declaring this Fantasy Fitness Spas of the West week! What exactly does that mean? Are we sending flying you and a friend to Palm Springs? Not exactly.

Instead we’re kicking off a week of cubicle travel (cause who really sits in armchairs?), during which we whisk you away to our five favorite spas. (More precisely, the five spas we’ve visited recently and loved.) Given that our former life was dedicated to writing about spas, you can take our picks pretty seriously.

Something we’ve learned along the way: While luxe details like bedding thread count make for good living, they don’t necessarily make for good reading. So we’re focusing on the top three awesomely memorable experiences at each of our five fantasy spas. Here’s today’s…

THE RANCH AT LIVE OAK IN MALIBU

The Ranch at Live Oak, in Malibu, California, is a five-star boot camp. It combines a seriously strict program of long hikes and workouts with a spartan (yet delicious) diet. There are 16 just guests at a time, and everyone stays in luxe private cottages.

Kettlebell workouts—after a 13 mile hike

The Ranch says the reason to visit is to detox and lose weight. (And you will—I lost 3.5 pounds, a lot for me percentage-wise.)

But we think the real reason to go—and why the Ranch has become so popular since it launched in October 2010—is to prove that you can, like climbing a mountain or running a marathon. That, and you feel INCREDIBLE when it’s done. Hence it appeals to the already somewhat fit and Type-A personalities galore.

You have to consent in advance to the Ranch terms, like no second helpings, cell phones, or watches. And absolutely all of the fitness experiences are mandatory, rain or shine.

But if you’re like the rest of us who got through a week here, you’ll be bragging for the rest of your life that you did. —Reporting by Ann Abel and Melisse Gelula

1. Tough-Love Workouts
The main part of every day is spent hiking a 10-to-13-miler, rain or shine, and in the gym (four hours or so). There’s no sleeping in, skipping a class, or bowing out early from a hike. You’ll feel like a bad-ass when you’re done. Or a stupid ass, if you didn’t take the program’s advice to begin to wean yourself from your vices 30 days in advance. Vomiting and migranes are common to those who don’t heed the Ranch’s instructions to cut out sugar and the like. And, no, getting sick doesn’t excuse you from a hike.

Napping central: Your guest cottage

2. Massage and Napping
Hurray for daily therapeutic massage, which is included in the package price. You’ll need it badly after the back-to-back workouts, and never call massage “pampering” again. Because of the 5:30 a.m. wake-up calls (and grueling fitness regimen), afternoon napping is commonplace. And amazing.

3. Anytime They Feed You Anything
The dietary deprivations are as follows: no sugar, meat, dairy, wheat, alcohol, caffeine, processed foods. You’ll be served a beautifully presented vegetarian diet that’s 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day. A mid-hike snack? Four almonds and two cashews. So food becomes a highlight. And your palate adapts: a carrot—pulled straight from the garden!—was incredibly sweet.

The 6-night all-inclusive stay (including a massage per day) is $5,600, theranchmalibu.com

Fantasy Fitness Spa: Miraval in Tucson, Arizona

Well+Good — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:30:59 +0000

To banish the winter blues, we’re declaring this Fantasy Fitness Spas of the West week! What exactly does that mean? Are we flying you and a friend to Palm Springs? Not exactly.

MIRAVAL IN TUCSON, ARIZONA

I didn’t go to Miraval to jump off a pole. (Though I did, and so did Oprah.) I went for the promise of mindful-living tools and for the integrative wellness program, created by Andrew Weil, MD, the integrative health pioneer and best-selling author. Turns out they’re all interlinked.

The spa runs like a 5-star inner-life hotel. It’s on a 400-acre swath of desert that makes you feel somehow calmed by nature. The beautifully executed spa cuisine, which gets lots of kudos, is calorie-controlled at dinner. (Just watch the buffets at breakfast and lunch, and cocktail hour. Not kidding.)

With about 100 fitness activities and mindfulness classes to choose from—and just as many spa treatments—it can be hard remember to chill out.

Here are three key experiences to help narrow it down, all of which I’d do again in a heartbeat. —Melisse Gelula

Well+Good's Melisse Gelula about to take the Quantum Leap at Miraval

1. Mind-Body Challenges
Miraval’s forte is creating physical challenges and experiences—like grooming a horse and jumping off a 25-foot-high pole—that translate into inner-life lessons. When your horse doesn’t respond to your request, it tells you reams about how you communicate with others and yourself. And when you willingly climb and jump off a freestanding 25-foot pole, your reasons for rigging up for the challenge and the fears it brings up makes for good therapy. These challenges, or Clue-In Activities, as Miraval calls them, are great for those a little allergic to more woo-woo approaches of finding yourself.

2. Integrative Health Experts
James Nicolai, MD, was handpicked by Dr. Weil to head up the Integrative Wellness Program. Going over my intake form together, I quickly learned what a polymath of a physician he is. Dr. Nicolai pulls from Western and Eastern medicine—and the supplements aisle—to broker your path to better health. He’s capable of citing pharmaceutical data and Buddhist teachings in a single sentence. Two prescriptions I got: Breathe deeply—not like a person in crisis. (He showed me how to “breath walk.”) And plan chill-out time in my week, not just workouts: Cortisol contributes to belly fat.

You must book one of the fusion—or futuristic—treatments at Miraval (Pictured, the TAIZ Sensorium experience)

3. Super-Progressive Spa Treatments
Note to massage lovers: Save it for home. Miraval’s the place to book one of many un-gimmicky fusion treatments that will rock your world. And your chi. The Qi Journey ($320), which combines cranial-sacral work, Thai massage stretches, and acupuncture, places in the top five treatments I’ve had (that’s including my time on staff of Luxury SpaFinder Magazine). Don’t miss the one-of-kind vibrational therapy session called TAIZ Sensorium ($250), with Kephart Taiz, who built this contraption that takes you into some deep place with healing frequencies. Some spas play an ocean soundtrack to soothe you, but this one made me feel like a wave rolling into shore.

All-inclusive rates (including meals, airport transfers, and $130 spa credit) start at $595 (doubles), www.miravalresorts.com

Fantasy Fitness Spa: Montage Laguna Beach

Well+Good — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:30:18 +0000

The Montage Laguna Beach sits on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean (Photo: Alexia Brue)

To banish the winter blues, we’re declaring this Fantasy Fitness Spas of the West week! What exactly does that mean? Are we flying you and a friend to Palm Springs? Not exactly.

MONTAGE LAGUNA BEACH

The Montage gets all As from us, and an A+ for service. Try coming with a request they won’t accommodate. Need towels? They arrive 63 seconds after you put down the phone. Your child loses a stuffed animal. They launch a major search and recovery mission. Complain of soreness after a tough workout. The fitness instructor sends an Epsom salt care package to your room. We experienced all these feats of service finesse and more.

You can also expect a dramatic perch over the Pacific Ocean, a legendary spa, and a fitness program that can be bootcamp bad-ass or beach walk gentle. And a visit from Ashley Turner, who’s the “yogi in residence here,” is worth planning a trip around. A recent visit to this luxurious resort delivered the perfect winter pick-me-up and the high lasted for weeks—the good habits even longer. —Alexia Brue

Beach Bootcamp is no walk in the park (Photo: The Montage)

1. Beach Boot Camp
I usually dial down my vacation workouts because of lack of inspiration. Beach Bootcamp, however, hurts so good, and the setting’s so spectacular, that I did it three times. Imagine super challenging sprints and circuits on the sand while waves crash 20 feet away. I literally spotted dolphins during jump squats.

2. A Surrender Treatment
You book time, not treatments, at this forward-thinking spa. A thorough intake form tells the therapist what she needs to know to weave together a curative spa experience just for you. My prescription included reflexology, which was both diagnostic and relaxing, then segued into a massage and a facial. My liver needed some support, she said, and she sent me off with all the tools (detoxifying clay and mylar) to do a hydrotherapy detox back in my room.

The Spa Pool is ideal for swimming laps and soaking in silence (Photo: Alexia Brue)

3. Reading a Novel. At the Spa Pool. While drinking a Blueberry Lemon Whey Smoothie.
This is where the true decompression happens. We loved swimming laps in the heated, adults-only spa pool while it was 20 degrees back in NYC. Then snuggling up in the Montage’s butter-soft robes and enjoying a blueberry lemon smoothie. And I don’t remember when I last read more than 50 pages of a novel at a time. Divine.

Montage Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach, California, 866-271-6953, www.MontageLagunaBeach.com; Rooms start at $645 per night

Check back tomorrow for an inner-life spa retreat in Arizona!

Never Diet Again: The successful diet program that teaches you not to diet

Well+Good — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:30:24 +0000

Considering that diet books, programs, and products are a several billion dollar industry, it’s impressive to see a spa shirking all that for a program called Never Diet Again.

The program is the brainchild of Nina Smilely, who has a Phd in psychology and is the author of The Three Minute Meditator.

Its premise? Replace the food-deprivation mindset with a mindfulness one.

By using self-awareness—instead of self-criticism—when it comes to hunger, and teaching “skillful action” in place of mindless scarfing, the two-night program deals with what goes in your mouth by looking at what’s going on in your head.

The program’s offered at Mohonk Mountain House, the historic spa resort in New Paltz, New York (where Smiley’s also the marketing director).

Never Diet Again deals with what goes in your mouth by looking at what’s going on in your head. That's all the better for when you're back at home

And it draws weight-watching aficionados, recovering obsessives, super-self-critical types (know any of those?), and editors galore, including Jennifer Barnett, Shape magazine’s former weight-loss diarist.

We sat down with Barnett to understand why this diet program is different.

“If there’s a diet, I’ve tried it,” admits the life-long dieter. “The Dolly Parton cabbage diet, the hot dog diet. So I was really intrigued by the program’s promise.” And its method.

Why? “Like a lot of women, I know a lot about nutrition and fitness, and I’ve had a trainer off and on. But I’d never looked into the internal, self-talk part of diet and weight loss,” says Barnett.

Turns out, these principles may be the missing link in keeping weight off.

“Weight loss is most often approached by seeking to find an expert who will solve the problem with his/her pre-packaged game plan,” says Mohonk’s Smiley. “In this program, You are the expert on yourself!”

Some of the key things you’ll learn?

Mohonk's Nina Smiley created Never Diet Again

Self-checking tools: “We paid attention to hunger level before or after we ate, and jotted it down in journals. I learned to ask, ‘Am I really hungry?’” says Barnett. When you become aware of what’s happening in the present moment,” explains Smiley, “you can create the opportunity for real change.”

No food is forbidden: Instead, participants deal with super-size temptations, like the legendary Mohonk buffet, and learn to make skillful choices like they’ll need to do at home. “I circled the buffet without my plate, then I returned with it for a few things I really wanted,” says Barnett. “It was such a better strategy. And I was super satisfied, and way less anxious.”

How to soothe a critical inner voice: “I didn’t really know how to meditate, but by the end of the weekend I was able to make some progress. And I found a mantra, a positive phrase to focus on instead of the not-very-helpful ones going through my head,” says Barnett.

The Takeaway: If a successful weight loss program is a measure of whether someone’s still practicing what they’ve learned, Barnett is still journaling up a storm, practicing skillful choices at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the scale is rewarding her a year later. —Melisse Gelula

Never Diet Again program dates for 2012: January 20–22, April 27–29, and November 2 –4.

Rates at Mohonk Mountain House start at $390 per person, per night (two night program), and include accommodations, three meals daily, all program sessions, materials, and most resort activities. For more information, 800-772-6646, www.mohonk.com

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