Mission To prolong my keep-fit kick beyond the end of January by attempting a 100 per cent raw diet and daily yoga over one week at hippy-style hang-out in Lanzarote.

Ambience It’s certainly not luxurious. Sharing a villa (though thankfully not a room) with your fellow guests, expect cold swimming pools, cold showers and a feeling that you have joined a strange cult where eating dairy, meat, fish - or indeed, anything cooked - makes you an instant outcast.

USPThere is a point to all this deprivation: gourmet raw food. Prepared by the UK’s leading raw chef, Russell James, and Daniel Francisco and Celia Garcia, Spanish experts. Forget carrot sticks and start thinking of mouth-watering salads, almond milk, courgette pasta and, surprisingly, raw pizza. Match that with daily three-hour yoga lessons on the terrace and superb Ayurvedic massage from Chrissie Ashbroke, and the uncomfortable beds soon don’t seem quite so bad.

Quality of experience James and Anna Summers, the retreat’s owners, believe in teaching rather than treating guests, so expect a lukewarm welcome and long lectures from James on the benefits of wheat-grass. Going 100 per cent raw (not to mention caffeine, dairy, gluten and meat) can take some getting used to. By day two my head ached, I couldn’t concentrate and I longed for steak and chips. However, I was soon won over. And, of course, it helped that my skin glowed, my thighs were slimmer and I was waking up at 6am with the enthusiasm of a ten-year-old.

Products This retreat is all about the food preparation equipment, so expect juicers, blenders and dehydrators (a kind of cold oven) galore.

Exercise Dynamic yoga, created by Godfrey Devereux and taught at the retreat by José Luis Cabezas, is not for everyone. Slow and intense, a three-hour class will seem long to anyone used to more active forms such as Ashtanga. However, if you’re trying to improve your understanding of bhandas (yogic “locks” or muscle contractions), the gentler pace is illuminating.

In crowd A mix of dressed-in-hemp hippies and raw foodists, so leave your designer gear at home. If you're looking for something a little more active, Famara Beach is a celebrated surfer haven and Lanzarote's mountainous landscape is populated with walkers, cyclists and runners.

Wallet watch One week, at £750 per person, for full-board, daily yoga tuition and a massage on arrival, Winter Sun Retreats is good value for money. Guests can also opt for self-catering accommodation at £450 per person, though preparation of non-vegetarian food is discouraged.

Need to know Winter Sun Retreats is at Villa Andreas, Las Cabreras, Lanzarote. For further details (07624 139608; www.wintersunretreats.com). Return flights from London to Arrecife start at £49 (www.gbairways.com).

IF YOU LIKED THAT...

The Complete Retreat, Spain This luxury raw food spa in Andalucia is one of the few retreats recommended by the Fresh Network (the UK’s main raw food organisation). The spa has fabulous accommodation, expert nutritional advice and a string of Alist clients. Its director, Lisa Jeans, will be spending the next month in Los Angeles helping clients to prepare for the Oscars.

Contact The Complete Retreat; www.thecompleteretreat.com

Healthy Adventure, Florida Founded by Brian Clement, the man credited with inventing the American newspaper health page, Healthy Adventure is all about great food (courtesy of “chef to the stars” Chad Sarno) and as much (or as little) outdoorsy adventure as you can handle.

Contact Living Adventures 001 561 626 3293; www.healthyadventure.com

Karuna Retreats, Devon A back to basics retreat for first-time fasters, Karuna, held at Ham Farm, offers a week-long hit of yoga, juice meals and colonics. Guests intersperse juice meals with talks, swimming and hikes around the local area.

Contact Karuna Retreats, South Brent, Devon; 08456 341466 www.karunaretreats.com

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