My stay in one of the best wellness clinics in the world

I spent one week in Spain at the SHA to join their Detox program. I am always looking for new ways to optimise my health and my well being and I love learning new things about fitness, nutrition and longevity that I can apply not only in my life but with the clients I coach too. As a personal trainer and nutrition and lifestyle coach, it’s important for me to stay up to date with the latest research so I can provide my clients with the best information so they can thrive too. 

SHA is a longevity and wellness clinics, with insane facilities: a gym, a tennis and golf court, countless pools and jacuzzis and all types of baths and saunas, a library, a kitchen to learn how to cook healthy food, a chappel, a yoga and meditation room, and an actual clinic with all kinds of doctors who do a full body check up, from your skin, your teeth, your blood etc. A lot of appointments are included in the program, medical appointments but also massages, body wraps, colon hydrotherapy, underwater therapy, and PT sessions. I also had a cooking class and appointments with a nutritionist to get customised advices on how to improve my nutrition, and even a mindful eating session with a therapist. And you can book additional treatments in any department, for example I booked: two kickboxing sessions, botox injections, massages, one deep teeth cleaning (and they also removed an old metal retainer from my teenage years), an acupuncture session and a facial. 

My goals for that week were to relax, to learn new things, and to detox. I had been bulking the two months before and even though I ate mostly healthy food, I ate quite a lot of UPF (protein bars in my case) and just a lot of food in general so I felt bloated and my digestive system overworked a little. I also went a bit wild on the coffee, and I stopped drinking coffee two weeks prior to my stay because it gave me too many energy crashes that I cannot afford with two kids and an intensive job. I wanted to feel lighter and more energetic to be able to experience my life as a mother and a PT and an entrepreneur in the best way I can.


I tried a lot of treatments, and while most of them are nice (colon hydrotherapy not so much!) I think they are more accessories and definitely not necessary and what you really need to detox is mostly about nutrition. It’s like a facial, it’s relaxing but it’s not going to do anything if you have a terrible diet and a poor skin care routine. What matters is what we do consistently so I don’t believe so much in punctual treatments except massages and underwater therapy, which are great for athletes and people who exercise a lot. For detox purpose, the really restrictive diet, herbal teas, exercise, sauna, pool and massages helped a lot. 


When I arrived they tested everything that could be tested, I had blood tests, urine tests, saliva tests, gut health tests, body scans etc. And the only bad thing was my stress levels. If you know me a little, you know one of my daughter has been going through a lot of health issues and this is something I’ve had a hard time dealing with, especially when I was struggling with post partum depression at the same time. A few months ago, my doctor started me on Fluoxetine (Prozac) and it was incredible for my anxieties and depression and my life got much better. But what I understood here is that while the medication helps with what my brain feels, it doesn’t address the actual stress in my body and stress is eating me from inside. It is really important because stress is one of the main cause of death worldwide and I definitely wanted to adress this. My goal is also to not depend on medication for the rest of my life so I am looking for ways to address that stress in a natural way. Obviously exercise is one of the best stress relief and it helped me through so much but there’s so much exercise you can do and my physiotherapist said I’m already there! Quitting coffee helped a LOT too. And here I’ve been learning to eat food that is non inflammatory and which is good for both my body and my mind. I also tried Traditional Chinese Medicine and I did acupuncture for the first time and I would like to keep that habit back home.


So overall I am super happy with my stay. I feel lighter, less bloated, more energetic and really focused. I learnt a lot of new things, and I confirmed that a lot of things I’m already doing are great. I’ve been eating healthy in the past few years but I definitely want to improve things that can be improved to make sure everything I eat works for me, not against me.