Anti-aging is quite the buzz word, wherever I go. Just recently, at the Face and Body Expo in San Francisco, it infused many areas in the Spa World, such as facial products and their ingredients and of course healthy eating related topics.

Spa Cuisine takes on a whole new meaning if you really digest the fact that Diet is one of the biggest causes for aging!

At Destination Spas today you can eat healthy and gourmet !

In fact, the food that I have eaten at some of those Spas is delicious and you don't feel deprived of your favorite home foods at all. Most Destination Spas today offer fresh, organic foods from local farmers. The dishes are well proportioned and presented in most appetizing ways, ingredients are healthy and well balanced to meet nutritional needs. Desserts are part of the menu and not at all missing, everything is just offered in moderation.
The myth about healthy food being bland and boring belongs to the past.

Spa Cuisine gets so much attention these days because of the obvious. Most working professionals today are so busy balancing career, family life and just basic logistics of life that there is not much time left for taking care of body, spirit and psyche. Wellness - balanced nutrition, fitness and healthy food is often a mere afterthought. Yet most of us are concerned about our bodies. We know that we could do better but we are at a loss how to do it ? Where do I start ? How much of my precious time is it going to take ?

Destination Spas have realized that their visitors are craving for healthy and simple solutions, for easy to take home recipes, for easy to implement healthy routines at home.
So, taking a week, immersing yourself at one of those fabulous places in fitness, nutrition classes, eating well, feeling vibrant and alive for once is a result of fueling the body with what it really needs. This can make a difference and re-shape your life in essential ways.

Your typical spa week or 4 day retreat at a Destination Spa includes accommodation, healthy meals, fitness choices such as Yoga, Biking, Hiking, Pilates, Fly Fishing, Zen Meditation, Tai Chi, Dance Classes, Skiing ..... the list is endless. The Resorts usually include all known water features plus sulfur hot springs, tennis courts, saunas, fitness studios etc.

Spa Cuisine can be organic, fresh local foods, offer blood type specific menus, vegetarian and vegan options. The stays are not inexpensive, depending on the place you stay and can range between $1000. to $ 8000./per week. At the Canyon Ranch in Tucson for example you can pay between $ 4000 to $ 6000/ for 7 days, while at ‘The Golden Door' near San Diego you pay $ 8000 for 7 days. More inexpensive options are available as well. At the Tennessee Fitness Spa you can pay $ 1000 per week, at ‘The Oaks at Ohaj' near Santa Barbara around $ 1300./per week.

So what exactly is Spa Cuisine?

The key elements of Destination Spa Cuisine are :
Promotes health and wellness through a sensible eating strategy
Eat in moderation, several small meals 5 -6 times a day
The menu items consist of real delicious food, desserts are definitely part of it
The ingredients, herbs, meats, salads and vegetables are mostly grown locally at small farms, often organically grown
Preperation of foods and cooking methods are all about preserving the nutrients
The food is pleasurable and satisfying. The food appeals to the senses.
You feel vibrant and alive after heating vs. sluggish and tired.

More food for thought:
By eating healthy and balanced, by learning naturally thin eating strategies, you will most certainly develop a sense of what is healthy for you. Have you ever heard a friend say in total dismay: I have been eating less, stayed away from all fat foods and I am still gaining weight ?
The answer is moderation and developing a healthy eating strategy that is tailored towards what your body needs. Nutrition Consultants on staff at those Destination Spas can help with those questions. I am always surprised when vacationing in France or Switzerland. I'll have my favorite cheeses for breakfast, yet glancing at the label I'll find that the cheese I am in the process of eating contains 60 % Fat.
What is even most puzzling is the fact that hardly anyone in those countries is overweight or obese.

Some of these Destination Spas will include services like nutritional analysis, nutrition testing, food allergy sensitivity tests or weight management consultations.

So, for anyone with a real desire to get healthy through nutrition, attain fitness, get to know great like minded people, find relaxation and tranquility, and enjoy a fun and luxurious retreat which is all about your being and your body, take a week out of your life and finally give back to your self.