Local Spa Offers New Approach to Dieting, Weight Loss

With summer finally approaching, clothing stores have begun their yearly advertisement of swimsuits in every size, shape and color. However, for many women, the mere thought of actually having to put on one of these nylon creatures sends fears crawling from every direction.

Everyone has either been that person or knows someone who has made countless resolutions to shed those unwanted winter pounds by going on a diet, trying a new grueling exercise routine or fasting, only to wind up more frustrated than ever and back at square one.

However, what most people don’t realize is that a lifestyle change is the only key to results and lasting success.

To find out where to begin, look no further than your own backyard of Utica, location of the .

Celebrating its tenth anniversary as part of the Utica community next year, the wellness center takes pride in being one of only two such businesses in Michigan to offer treatments like Sudatonic heat wraps and mineral body wraps that are aimed at detoxifying and ridding the body of any impurities.

“We are coming into contact in everyday life with so many toxins, not even including the ones you put on your own body,” said Lisa Jendza, owner of New You.  “Everything we specialize in is natural, and is either marine-based or botanically-based so we’re not putting anything artificial onto your skin.”

Often featured on television health programs such as The Doctors, these types of procedures consist of a process where clients are wrapped up in special garments while placed in a very humid environment. The calorie-torching treatments help shed inches instantly, lasting anywhere from 4-6 weeks, while reducing cellulite, lowering stress and improving the overall skin appearance.

However, unlike other procedures elsewhere, clients are given a demonstration on how to easily keep up with their new healthful habits at home with remedies such as dry skin brushing, Epsom salt baths and hot and cold showers, all of which are gone over in detail. The salon also offers foot treatments, massages and facials, among other services, for extra on-site pampering.

Yet in order to make a true lifestyle transition, a change in the way a person eats and thinks about food is also needed. Partnering with Pamela Ferrara, a certified nutritional chef, New You is now offering raw-foods education classes to the public.

“Anything that has not been cooked at over 118 degrees is still considered raw because it maintains all the digestive enzymes in food that gives off the maximum nutrition possible,” explains Ferrara. “If you’re not killing off those enzymes, your body won’t have to break down that food and it will give you a lot more energy.”

Ferrara will be holding weekly support group classes throughout May for her active 21-day detox program. Future events with the wellness center are also in the works, in a partnership Ferrara calls a “great marriage of detoxifying”.

For those who might just be brave enough to put on that swimsuit this season, the purifying services offered by the wellness center combined with the transition into a raw foods diet could make for a whole “new you” inside and out.

The New You Body Wraps & Wellness Center is located at 8801 Hall Road and is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Thursday:  1-8 p.m., Saturday: 9 a.m.–2 p.m. and is closed Sunday and Monday. To find out more information visit the New You website or call (586) 323-0355.