Beauty Starts With A Healthy Attitude

THE pursuit of beauty, in these days of quick, surgical fixes, may still be a matter of mind over matter. The Zen Institute, A Medical Spa, which is both a fitness center and an aesthetic treatment facility, anchors its existence on this premise.

"With the advent of medical intervention, we'd like to create awareness that the first line in aesthetics and fitness and health is non-surgical, "says proprietor and aesthetic medicine specialist Dr. Mary Jane "MJ" Valdecañas. "We have to go back to the basics. Surgery is always the last recourse and there's no miracle cure. What's happening with people nowadays is that they go through surgery first then if there are complications, they resort to non-surgical. That should not be the case.

"What we're also trying to preach at The Zen Institute is that beauty, whether treatment for the skin, the hair, or especially for sculpting the body, involves a change in lifestyle. It's how one maintains the sculpted body even when outside the center," she adds.

Treatments at The Zen Institute are all dependent on the age and the requirements of a particular person. "For the young, it's those exercises that can push them regarding their cardiovascular protocol or capabilities. For the older clients, we'll trim down the physical aspects. The programs are customized for every specific need of every customer," Dr. MJ explains.

The team at The Zen Institute has specialists like fitness trainors and a dietitian or nutritionist to look at specific caloric requirements in terms of body sculpting and weight loss. Their Body Sculpting program is a non-surgical body sculpting technique that introduces Ultracontour's High Intensity Focalized Ultrasonic technology and complements the fitness protocol at The Zen Institute. They also have specialists at the spa, in addition to Dr. MJ and other assistant doctors, for the invasive treatments.

And what's unique about the treatments is that they are specially programmed for those who hardly exercise, including this writer. Which means that even if I come only once a week to the center, the center's fitness specialists still would be able to integrate a certain physical activity that my body will look for even if I just stay at home.

Dr. MJ further explains that diet is central to the program. "Diet is still number one. We'll recommend a shift in terms of the quantity of what they eat and encourage them to undergo that shift. It's not just a change in look that we are after but also in mindset and checking body metabolism. Physical activities at the center are all supervised. Even if you're at home, we'd check you regularly to see your progress," she explains.

In the end, wanting to look good, she avers, is a healthy attitude. "It's not really vanity. It's feeling good about yourself. That should be the prime motivation."