Indian retreat is the place to Goa to take weight off your mind says GEORGIA PETTIPHER

THE boy's grin spread from ear to ear as he snapped one of our skipping ropes into action.

"Look! look!" he cried, as his giggling friends mimicked our yoga poses.

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It was some light relief from the "warrior" position we'd eased our aching limbs into again.

We were on Sernabatim Beach, Goa, winding up an exercise class during a "weight management" week at The Beach House Retreat.
Already we looked decidedly healthier - and trimmer.

A few days earlier we'd been met at the airport and taken deep into the Indian jungle.

From the moment the gates of The Beach House opened, calm and serenity took hold.

We were greeted in the sunny courtyard dotted with vibrant pink and yellow flowers - and handed coconut shells brimming with sweet juice.

The retreat comprises a main house overlooking the beach and a cluster of split-level studio apartments in the grounds.

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Decorated in neutral tones, each apartment has a living area and large bathroom downstairs while a dark wooden staircase leads to a bedroom and washroom.

Floor-to-ceiling picture windows next to huge four-poster beds give views over the tropical gardens.

The mini-bars are brimming too - with bottles of mineral water.

A series of thatched huts form the spa area, surrounding a central water fountain.

At the main house, known as the Hub, friendly staff members are on hand to see to every need (other than pizza delivery, of course) and there's a lounge area with sumptuous sofas.

Infinity pools may be all the rage but Sernabatim has an infinity beach. Its sands stretch further than the eye can see. Every morning, fishermen haul in huge nets and drag their catch on to the beach.

Families gather from Colva (the nearest village) to paddle in the warm water and watch the breathtaking sunsets.

It is "the" place to be for the local community. Even farmers stick to the beach, herding cows across the sand.

It was best to walk briskly past the beach bars offering two-for-one cocktails, though a regular supply of virtuous drinks are provided at the retreat.

At the sweeping breakfast bar in the Hub, tall glasses of all kinds of liquid concoctions were lined up for our delectation.
Solid food is kept to a minimum and in the evenings you choose your juices and smoothies for the next day - beetroot, orange, carrot or weet pineapple.

Dark green wheatgrass or superfood drinks were served in shot glasses - I knocked them back with both nostrils firmly clenched.
We were also given potent vitamin supplements and psyllium husks - a natural source of fibre, which xpands in the belly and helps to clean the digestive tract.

The main "meal" of the day was a vegetarian lunch such as rainbow salad (shredded beetroot, cabbage and beans shaped into a rainbow).

On day three we had a more filling roasted vegetable and chickpea salad, which sparked near hysteria among our group.

Roast turkey dinners, mince pies and booze may still be fresh in the memory but at The Beach House, tofu, pea soup, pomegranate and mung beans start to look like the future.

Our personal schedules were set a day in advance too. The more time filled, the less opportunity to focus on rumbling stomachs.
The Beach House's bespoke body and mind healing makes it all about you, you, you.

In one day I had a session with the programme's nutritionist, where my weaknesses were identified chocolate and booze) and healthier alternatives worked out.

I also had an Ayurvedic full body massage and a hypnotherapy session.

We were encouraged to de-junk our lives - and a few tears were shed in the process.

If we had ever doubted the point of it all, it was put into context by the retreat's owner, Ajit Patel.

In a former life as a stressed-out pharmacist, he was reduced to such a debilitating physical condition that his colon had to be removed. If anyone has learned the importance of a healthy body and mind, it's Ajit.

Suddenly, our daily selfadministered enemas didn't seem such a hardship. In fact, by the end of the week my housemates had become ma junkies. An "interesting" account (legend has it even Lego and worms have been "passed") was met with whooping and high-fiving.

A number of the group even took their enema kits (plastic jug and rubber tube) home with them.

A day trip to a beach market took us back into the real world. People, dust, motorbikes, honking horns, haggling with market traders and converting currency all seemed a bit much after being wrapped in cotton wool at Sernabatim Beach.

On the plus side, we all stocked up with Indian spices and jewellery at bargain prices and saw monkeys, giant reptiles and even a snake.

Back at the Hub on the last day, we faced the final "reveal" - how much weight had we shifted? One of us (not me) had lost a whopping 12lb.

I lost 8lb, a collective 14 centimetres from my body - and a huge weight off my mind.

Fact File
AN all-inclusive stay at The Beach House in Goa costs from £770 per person for three days on the Weight Management package or £622 per person for two sharing.

See thebeachhousegoa.com for more information.

Return flights with Monarch start at £200.

See monarch.co.uk or call 0871 423 8642.