At the Vitarium Spa & Clinique centre, guests spend several hours a day in the SlimFit, VitaDetox, and ImmunoRebalance programmes with trainers and therapists. That’s why they often talk openly about their problems and indulgences. We notice some of them ourselves and try to help them with good advice. But above all, we help with activities, treatments, and healthy, balanced meals that guide them and help them get accustomed to a healthier way of life.

Excessive alcohol consumption

Alcohol is quite a common indulgence. Guests often openly admit at the first meeting that they regularly consume alcohol. Drinking is frequent with both sexes, especially after the age of 50. Many people occasionally open a bottle of wine in the evening and slowly drink it until bedtime. Some use it to deal with loneliness, others with stress or sadness. Alcohol cheers them up in the short run, maybe it even comforts and relaxes them, but they are aware that it harms them in the long run and brings great misery. Alcohol can not only make them addicted but also causes health problems and often leads to weight gain. Alcohol has many calories and it also makes people lose their self-restraint with food.

We talk openly about alcohol consumption and try to find the cause of drinking for each individual. We also try to find a substitute for what they’re lacking in life. Some people need to relax more, some need more exercise, and some need to socialize more or feel loved. In our programs, guests only drink tea, water, and lemonade during their stay. Many of them give up alcohol and cigarettes a day or so before coming to Šmarješke Toplice. The dynamics of everyday activities are so high that guests simply don't feel the need to consume alcohol. When they realize at the end of the program that they lasted a whole week or two without their indulgence and that they even felt much better without it, it is easier for them to cope with their issues and reduce alcohol consumption or give up excessive drinking.

Overeating or improperly spaced meals during the day

Guests often say that their working schedule doesn’t allow them to eat regular healthy meals, so they’re often hungry and tired in the evenings and eat too much late at night. Some take comfort in food, others reduce stress with it, and many just make up for the daily food deficit this way. The consequences are quite grave – they don’t sleep well, they have stomach aches, start accumulating belly fat, and they wake up hungry and tired. The result of all this is weight gain, poor body regeneration, and numerous health issues.

While staying at Šmarješke Toplice, our guests enjoy three main meals a day, and they get a morning and afternoon snack. After consulting a dietitian, a special menu is tailored individually, so that guests get exactly what they need for their health and in appropriate quantities. A healthy balanced breakfast and a light early dinner are very important. Guests soon notice that they have more energy and that it doesn't fluctuate during the day, so they don't crave those extra snacks at all. Their skin looks better, their digestion improves, their waist is slimmer, their nails and hair are stronger, and they have fewer problems with heartburn, stomach, and blood pressure.

We teach our guests how to correctly portion their meals and choose the ingredients, and they receive detailed instructions. Our advisor teaches them how to eat healthy and nutritious meals each day despite their busy schedules.

Phone addiction

Do you ever find yourself unable to spend at least a few hours a day without thinking about your mobile phone, messages, and emails? Some are preoccupied with their phones because of closing deals and accepting orders, but for many, their phone is a source of information and entertainment. It replaces their social life, so it can easily happen that they can’t spend a relaxing day without their phone. We rarely realize that constant calls, text messages, and all kinds of information are the source of additional stress. Since the information we obtain is more often negative than positive, they adversely affect our thinking and feeling.

Let's become aware of this indulgence. Let's ask ourselves if we really need to be available 24 hours a day. Let's establish order. We should leave our phone in our workspace or leave it at home when we go on a day trip. Or we should at least disable sound alerts and limit our time for replying to messages and checking the news and social media.

Don’t let yourself be bombarded with information right before bedtime, because it will reduce the quality of your sleep. Your mind will inadvertently drift into problem-solving mode or even process new problems. So make sure there are no electronic devices in your bedroom because every vibration and every beep arouses our neurons - let's make sure they get a beneficial rest as well.

In Šmarješke Toplice, we offer many activities designed to help our guests disconnect from technology - various forms of sensory training, interesting outdoor activities, grounding, saunas, and much more.

Preoccupation with appearance and fitness addiction

Regular physical exercise is of course healthy and taking care of a healthy and beautiful body is necessary. But many people are already too thin, yet they still want to lose more weight. Some are experiencing job burnout but they want to do intensive training. And people who are overly concerned with their body image can simply forget to live.

We also help those guests by objectively presenting the real situation with testing and a medical examination, and then adjusting their diet and exercise to match their physical and psychological needs. Sometimes we also have to stop them, and we have cases when people completely break down and have a good cry. We help lift them up and improve their self-image. Everyone wants to be praised and heard, to feel tenderness, safety, and understanding. When people realize the lack of that in their lives, it can sadden them to the point where they cry like children. And that's quite all right, let's cry and be aware of our vulnerability because that's the only way to become stronger. We have to learn to accept ourselves, and our goal is to help you with that.

Over-caring for others

On the other hand, we welcome many guests who have completely forgotten about themselves and tend to spend all their energy on excessive care for others. They always feel bad because it seems to them they haven’t done everything they should have.

These are most often mothers with small children and those who care for sick partners, children, or parents. It’s right to be compassionate, help others and be responsible, but let’s not forget our responsibility to ourselves. In Šmarješke Toplice, guests find out more about their health status and get to know activities that restore will power, energy, and health.

Lack of time

In Šmarješke Toplice, we hear many sad stories about the lack of time. We see the consequences of this on burnt-out bodies and tired minds. At first glance, these people are full of energy, they laugh a lot, more than others do, and they are very compassionate, some even very gentle. But many of them complain that they can't sleep even when they could, that they’re completely exhausted in the evening, some are quite easily upset, perhaps they experience arrhythmia, while others are very sensitive and sometimes cry over small things when something doesn’t go their way.

Unfortunately, many such people have no one to confide in so anyone who listens is welcome, be it a massage therapist, a receptionist or a trainer. We all need someone to talk to, a good listener - sometimes that's enough. If we have no one to listen to us, it can also be helpful to put our feelings down on paper and write about what’s troubling us.

We help such guests to calm down, we listen to them, teach them proper breathing techniques and relaxation exercises, and connect them with nature and water, which are both very calming.

Addiction to food and fad diets

There are many forms of food addiction, but the background of all of them is similar to that of other addictions. We notice a bit more of this in women. All forms of starvation and overeating have been well-researched and can be treated if people recognize them and become aware of them. Quite often, they first speak of these addictions publicly at our nutrition consultations.

It’s a little harder to recognize or become aware of being addicted to excessive care for eating healthy food, which escalates and can be very disturbing for the everyday life of not only the person suffering from such addiction but also their loved ones. This excessive care can lead to certain extreme dietary patterns, which can be harmful and can lead to illness.

Our basic task and mission are to provide our guests with an excellent practical experience of new dietary habits and help them create simple and healthy balanced meals in a short time. We try to make them aware that they can let go of their indulgences and correct the mistakes they’ve made so far. The biggest motivation for moving forward is if the new dietary habits we teach our guests in this programme make them feel better, give them more energy and less trouble with digestion and flatulence if they lose excess fat, strengthen their muscles, and are better hydrated, etc.

Let's make time for ourselves and our well-being

All addictions and problems have something else in common. Let's ask ourselves when was the last time we completely calmed down, were relaxed and enjoyed the moment, and gave ourselves love. Let's find balance in all of these things and every once in a while take a week just for ourselves to spend quality time without indulgences. That’s the only way to feel how our body and mind can come to life. Let's accept ourselves and the fact that we can’t influence everyone and everything that happens to us. It's not all up to us.

In conclusion, let's love each other in a way where we will first try to do what’s good for ourselves and then also for others. You will feel life become easier and more beautiful.