Leave the bad habits behind

AS editor in chief of Luxury SpaFinder magazine, Gary Walther has an enviable job, jetting to spas here and abroad to tell his readers about the latest and greatest.

But he had more than a professional interest in an assignment that took him in September to the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa near Miami.

“I had been exercising a lot but couldn’t seem to lose much weight,” said Walther, 54. While at the spa, he learned how to eat the Pritikin way, which emphasizes unrefined carbohydrates such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains, moderate amounts of lean protein and heart-healthful fats.

“I started losing weight there, and that charged me,” he said. Walther lost 16 pounds and now carries 164 pounds on his 6-foot-2-inch frame. His blood pressure dropped 10 points to a healthy 111 over 70, and his body fat decreased by 11%. “It changed my health,” he says.

Can a stint at a spa really change your life, as it did for Walther, and make you even healthier as you learn new ways to eat, exercise and react to stress? Can you shed bad habits at a spa as easily as you can slip into one of those thirsty white robes?

Probably not immediately, but a spa stay can be a productive beginning, experts say.

By itself, a one- or two-week stay won’t change your life, says Susie Ellis, president of SpaFinder, a New York-based marketing company that also publishes Luxury SpaFinder and other spa-related publications. But during that time, “you can change directions,” she says.

Other advocates say a spa stay can jump-start a healthier lifestyle. Travelers who go with a clear goal in mind -- whether it’s weight loss, stress reduction, health improvement or a thinking-through of major life changes -- can improve their physical and mental health, says Dr. Charles Sophy, an osteopathic physician and psychiatrist in Beverly Hills who regularly refers his patients to spa programs.

“It also allows us to lower their need for therapy,” he says. When patients experience downtime at a spa, coupled with the lack of distractions, they can better focus on their issues, and they often experience reduced anxiety, Sophy says.

Finding the right spa is no small task, especially since their numbers have increased dramatically in the last few years. About 9,000 operate in the United States, more than quadruple the number in 1994, according to SpaFinder.

The sheer array of offerings makes the task even more complicated. Some spas are pure pampering havens, where the menu includes massages, facials, pedicures and manicures. Others offer more-involved treatments, such as skin peels and Botox at centers that typically require the supervision of a medical doctor on the premises or nearby, said Hannelore Leavy, executive director of the International Medical Spa Assn.

If you’re trying to change bad habits, your best bet is to focus on your goal, then find the spa program that helps you meet it. Typically, the best opportunities for improvement are offered at two types of spas: the destination variety, where you stay overnight at the spa or at a nearby facility so you can immerse yourself in the program, and medical spas, which have overnight accommodations and a program that focuses not only on beauty treatments but also on health. (In spa lingo, a medical spa may or may not be an overnight facility, and it may indicate a focus on Botox and other injectable products that treat wrinkles, rather than your overall health. But not always.)

To find the program that best matches your goal, check out listings at www.spafinder.com/search, entering your goal and type of spa. For another directory, visit the International Spa Assn. website, www.experienceispa.com, which allows visitors to search for facilities by category and programs and treatments, and offers advice on how to choose.

The longer you stay, the better, Sophy and others say, although they recognize that economics does play a role, because even the “low-cost” spas can run $200 a night and the posh places $1,000, based on statistics from SpaFinder.

Once you’ve found the perfect program, participate smartly, experts urge. That means that once you are there, trust the program, Ellis says. “They have worked out the program [to help you meet the goal].” So it’s not time to pick and choose.

If you disagree with parts of the program, bring it up with your program counselor or the physician, says Dr. Thomas Rice, medical director of the Pritikin spa. “There should be continuing dialogue so these issues can be brought up,” he says.

Minimize distractions, suggests Dr. Richard Foxx, medical director of the Medical and Ski Spa at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort’s Agua Serena Spa in Indian Wells, which offers skin treatments as well as stress management programs. “Shut off the BlackBerry and the cellphone,” he tells guests. He says they often resist when he gives the “unplug” order.

Realize that change takes time. In fact, behavior experts talk about the stages of change, beginning with pre-contemplation (you haven’t even considered it, although your doctor or loved ones may have pointed out the need for specific changes) and continuing on with contemplation, preparation for change, action, maintenance and relapse, which is ideally followed by more maintenance.

Going to a spa when you are in the action phase can be ideal. But Walther suggests another plan that might also work: Start the behavior change at home, then book a spa trip to help you establish the new habit.

If you go during your action phase, it’s critical to find a program that helps you keep up the motivation at home. At the Raj, a spa in Vedic City, Iowa, that promotes the ancient Indian system of medicine called ayurveda, a health coach meets with guests before their departure to discuss the obstacles they’ll face in implementing changes recommended by their consultant. “We make the ayurvedic recommendations practical,” says Jean Tobin, a spokeswoman. (For instance, how a night owl can follow their recommendation to be in bed by 10 p.m.) “Guests really get inspired.”

To help its guests stay motivated, Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa will launch a Web page this year to offer information and support, says spokeswoman Marika Olsen.

Foxx of Grand Hyatt says that for many guests, the end of their stay is just the beginning. “Most of our guests stay in touch by phone calls,” Foxx says. “We encourage them to call back.”

Of course, returning for “tune-up” sessions can help too, but the timing can be critical, says Rice of Pritikin. “A significant number of people fall off the wagon [after participating in a spa program] at about seven months,” he says, citing a finding from his follow-ups with Pritikin participants. So, schedule a return visit about six months after the first one, he says.

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Healthy Traveler appears every other week. Kathleen Doheny can be reached at kathleendohenyearthlink.net