Detoxing. Clean eating. Cleansing. These are pretty unpopular words within the food community. And trust me, I get it. A few years ago, I met with a nutritionist to discuss my lifestyle and dietary habits. (I’ve heard time and time again that it’s 80% diet, 20% exercise.) She told me I could never eat chicken skin again.
Who wants to live in a world with no chicken skin???
Not me, that’s for sure. So I never met with her again.
But I’m not the 29 year old that started this blog anymore and certain things need to be addressed. Luckily my blood pressure is low and so is my cholesterol, but it’s everything else that needed some attention. Overall diet, stress levels, caffeine and alcohol consumed…hopefully you get the picture.
I’m a strong believer in collecting expert advice and uh, also paying money to make problems go away. So I decided a two week detox somewhere tropical made an awful lot of sense for me at this point in my life. I needed a kick-start. I called a bunch of travel agents and interviewed them all. (It’s amazing how helpful a knowledgeable travel agent can be.) My simple question…where was the best place to go for a big ole dose of healthy living?
Kamalaya Koh Samui was the resounding answer from all four travel agents that I spoke with, and they all enthusiastically endorsed what a great place it is for the solo traveler — the community table at mealtimes was a nice selling point. I’d be alone, but only really alone when I wanted to be. So I booked through Healing Holidays because their prices were the best and they also seemed to be the largest UK travel agent partners of Kamalaya, which I liked. They also threw in a £150 quid gift card that I could use on spa services. While some other travel agents offered me a small incentive, the Healing Holidays incentive was by far the best.
I’ll get more into the particulars of my visit to Kamalaya in other posts, but my two weeks were absolutely, positively beautiful. The food was delicious, the staff were lovely, the spa treatments were amazing, and the grounds were gorgeous. (Although there were many stairs. About 100 steps uphill to get from the spa center to my room.) I returned to the UK refreshed, clearer, and lighter — both physically and spiritually. I discovered a previously untapped knack for meditation (good to reduce the stress I let myself experience), and I have an entirely new appreciation for both lemongrass and ginger tea. I also read five books and made a good start on a sixth. Most importantly, I abstained from meat, caffeine, refined sugar, soy, gluten and booze for 14 straight days. Complain about clean eaters all you want, but I think it’s a good thing to abstain from crap every so often.
Of course, as soon as I got home, I had a glass of rose and some delicious cold Middlewhite at St. John. You know what they say about old habits…
