By Paul and Ann Malkmus
Two questions arrive at our office more than any others, and they come from two different types of people.
The first is where do I even start? Usually from someone who has had news they weren't expecting. A number came back wrong, or a doctor used a word that changed the week. They've been told to change how they eat and they're standing in a kitchen with no idea what that means.
The second is *will I actually be able to eat this food?* That one is rarely asked outright. It arrives sideways, in a joke about rabbit food, and it comes from someone who already believes the whole thing is impossible and is quietly certain they'd be hungry and miserable by the end of the second week.
We've spent thirty years answering both. And what we've learned is that a week here answers them in a way that nothing written down ever quite manages.
The Trouble With General Advice
Everything we publish is, by necessity, general. It has to be. We're writing for thousands of people at once and we don't know any of them.
But nobody has a general body. You have your history, your numbers, your medications, your kitchen, and the particular thing that's worrying you at two in the morning. General advice can tell you that whole foods matter. It cannot tell you where you should start, given everything that's true about you.
That gap is where most people stall. Not from a lack of willingness — from not knowing which of the hundred right things is the right thing for them, first.
This Isn't the Lifestyle Centers
Worth saying early, because a good many of you remember them.
For years we had Lifestyle Centers — homes where couples hosted people for a week of cooking classes and teaching. They were good, and a lot of people were helped in them. They were built around education: learning the food, learning the why and the ways.
The retreat is a different thing. The teaching and the food are still there, but the center of it has moved. The week is built around *you* — your situation, looked at properly, and a plan you take home that was written for your circumstances rather than for an audience.
If you've been holding a picture in your head of a cooking class in somebody's kitchen, set it down. That isn't what this is.
What Makes It Personal
It starts before you arrive. Once you've registered, you'll get a welcome letter with a health questionnaire in it — your chance to put down what you're dealing with and what you want to talk about, so the conversation begins where you need it to rather than at a different beginning.
Then three things, and they're the reason people who've read everything still get something out of the week.
A consultation that's actually about you. You sit down and go through your history, what you're dealing with, what you've tried, what's frightening you. Not a form. A conversation, with time with you.
Three bio-feedback scans across the week. These give us something to look at together rather than impressions and guesswork — a place to start, and a way to see what's shifting while you're here.
A plan you take home. Written for your situation, in an order that makes sense for you, with the things that matter most for you at the top. That's the piece people tell us afterward they couldn't have gotten anywhere else, and it's the whole reason the week is shaped the way it is.
Most people arrive expecting meals and classes. They leave talking about the plan.
And Then There's the Food
Here's the part almost nobody believes until they're sitting in front of it.
The most common thing we hear at Sunday dinner is some version of *oh wow! — this is real food.* People arrive braced for a week of salad and endurance. What they find is fettuccine alfredo. Meat loaf. Chocolate peanut butter pie that people ask for the recipe, before they've finished the slice.
All of it plant-based. All of it made from the same ingredients we've been talking about for thirty years. And that discovery does more for a person's next twelve months than any amount of persuasion, because the real question was never whether this way of eating is good for you. It was whether you could live like this without feeling punished.
Once you've had the pie, you know the answer. And you stop bracing.
That matters more than it sounds. Nobody sustains a way of eating they experience as deprivation. They white-knuckle it for a while and then it ends. The people who keep going are the ones who found out it actually tastes good.
Learning How, Not Just What
The other thing people underestimate is the practical side.
Knowing that whole foods matter is not the same as knowing how to get a good meal on a table on a Thursday when you're tired. So a portion of the week is demonstrations — how the food is actually made, how to shop for it, how to keep it from becoming a second job.
And the method we teach is the one we've watched work: "Replace Before You Eliminate."
Most programs start by taking things away, which is why most programs fail almost as quickly as they begin. We start at the other end. Put the good thing in. Get it established, get it enjoyable, get it into the rhythm of your week. What isn't serving you tends to leave on its own once there's less room for it.
That's not a softer version of the truth. It's what actually lasts.
What a Day at The Retreat Actually Looks Like
This is where most people are surprised, so it's worth walking through properly.
The day opens with devotions, then breakfast. Unhurried, together.
Then from around 10:00 in the morning until 6:00 in the evening, with an hour for lunch in the middle, the day is full. Your consultation. Your scans. Teaching sessions. Food preparation classes. Gentle movement. And at least four therapies.
That's the part almost nobody pictures beforehand. People imagine a quiet week with some good meals in it. What they find is a schedule — a full one, built around them — and by Wednesday most of them are saying some version of I had no idea there was this much to it.
Evenings are yours. Conversation, a walk, an early night. A Nighttime Devotion is slid under your door. Nobody schedules those.
Sunday you arrive in the afternoon and settle in; dinner together, a meeting to acquaint you with the week ahead. **Friday** the week finishes after lunch, so you can make an afternoon flight.
And we tell everyone the same thing on Sunday: this is your week. There's a schedule, and most people follow it. But if you wake up on Wednesday and what you need is to sit with a Bible on the porch, or sleep until ten, or walk by the river and not talk to anybody — do that. Nobody will come looking for you. You didn't come here to be managed. The schedule stays for those who want it.
The Therapies
These occupy a good part of every day, so they deserve more than a list.
They fall into a few groups, and none of them requires anything of you but showing up and lying down or sitting still.
Warmth. Far infrared saunas, which warm the body directly rather than heating the air around you. And the HOCATT — a personal ozone steam cabinet combining ozone, carbonic acid, warmth and infrared in a single session. Both can be run gently if you'd rather not sweat, and plenty of people prefer them that way.
Circulation and cellular support. PEMF — pulsed electromagnetic field — delivered through full-body mats, including the HUGO, which works from above and below at once. The Healthy Wave mat, which layers infrared heat, PEMF and red light together. Vibration plates. Laser therapy. Red light.
Detox. Ionic foot baths every day — those and the other core therapies are part of the daily rhythm rather than an occasional extra. Ozone therapy. Grounding mats.
Rest, properly. A medical-grade massage chair, available whenever you want it — no appointment, no therapist, no conversation required. And a session called Rescue, which uses sound to guide brain waves down into the ranges the body uses for deep rest. For a lot of guests it's the first real switching-off they've had in years.
Measurement. Bio-resonance scanning, so there's something concrete to look at alongside how you feel, and a wellness review that pulls it together with your consultation.
What matters is the combination. Any one of these on its own is a nice afternoon. However, daily, for a week, alongside the food and the rest, it's a different thing entirely.
Meals, juices, accommodation, supplements, classes, therapies and Wi-Fi are all included. There is nothing to buy once you're there.
About the Cost
We'll be straightforward, since it's what most people are weighing.
Nearly everyone arrives having thought hard about the price. It's a real amount of money and we'd never suggest otherwise.
What we hear at the end of the week is remarkably consistent, and it's some version of *I had no idea I was getting this much.* People add it up afterward — the consultation, the scans, eight hours a day of therapies and teaching, every meal made from scratch for them, a plan written for their situation — and a surprising number of them tell us we should be charging more.
We mention that not to press you, but because what people worry about beforehand and what they say afterward are almost never the same thing.
Dates and pricing are on HealthRetreat.com, since both change through the year.
What People Notice
We won't promise you a result. Bodies aren't machines, and we'd be careful of anyone who talks as though they were.
What we can tell you is what guests say most often by the end of the week: they're sleeping better, digestion has settled, and they have more energy than they arrived with. That's not everyone and it isn't a guarantee — it's simply what we hear.
There are testimonies on HealthRetreat.com in people's own words, and if you'd rather talk to a person about your own situation, call us. That's a better conversation than anything we could print.
Where It Is
We're near Kingston, Georgia, tucked along the Etowah River between Cartersville and Rome. Quiet country — the loudest thing at night is usually the weather.
It's about an hour-plus northwest of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and an Uber from the airport runs somewhere around a hundred dollars one way.
Dates and pricing of retreats change through the year, so rather than print numbers here that go stale, we keep those on HealthRetreat.com.
What This Is Not
Worth saying plainly, because people arrive with assumptions.
Not a medical clinic. We don't diagnose anything, we don't treat anything, and we won't tell you to stop something your doctor has you doing.
Not a bootcamp. Nobody is going to shout at you about sugar. If you want to sit on the porch on Wednesday afternoon instead of attending something, sit on the porch.
Not a guilt exercise. What you've eaten for the last twenty years is not going to come up as a moral matter.
Not a cure. We won't promise you outcomes, and we'd be careful of anyone who does. What we can tell you is what we've watched happen for thirty years when people put living food back at the center of the plate and give their body a real rest.
Who Comes
More kinds of people than you'd guess.
Some arrive knowing almost nothing, sent by a diagnosis or a set of numbers, needing someone to look at their situation and tell them where to begin. Some have read everything we've ever written and simply cannot get it to hold at home. Both get a great deal out of the same week, for different reasons.
A lot of people come when something has just changed — after news, after a birthday that landed hard, after watching a parent go through something. When a decision is genuinely being made, the week does more.
And a good number come with nothing wrong at all. They're tired, they've been carrying more than usual, and they want a week of rest, good food and quiet. That's a completely legitimate reason to come, and we'd never talk anyone out of it.
Some of those people come back every year for a tune-up. They know what the week does for them, they put it on the calendar, and they treat it the way other people treat a holiday — except they go home in better shape than they left.
It works particularly well for couples, or two friends together. What one person drifts away from alone, two people tend to hold onto.
And please don't wait until you're in better shape to come. That has never once been a requirement, and plenty of people spend a good part of the week resting. That's often exactly what was needed.
The Part We Care About Most
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth." (Genesis 1:29)
We've built our lives around that verse, and a week here is the most concrete way we know to hand it to someone.
Not as a rule — as an experience. A week of eating from the garden as described in Genesis 1:29, and finding out what your own body does with it. Most people don't need to be argued into it after that.
There's something quieter that happens too, when a person steps out of their own environment for a week. People sleep. They pray differently. They have the sort of conversations that don't fit into an ordinary weekday. We didn't design that part, and it may be the part that matters most.
If You're Thinking About It
Bring your questions written down. The consultation is yours, and the people who get the most from it arrive with a list.
Come with someone if you can. It roughly doubles what makes it home.
Come when something is being decided, rather than waiting for a calm season that may not arrive.
Don't get in shape first. Come as you are.
Look at the dates early. Retreats run roughly every other month, and weeks usually fill — so if a particular month matters to you, it's worth checking well ahead.
Questions We Hear Most Often
What actually happens at a health retreat?
At ours, the day opens with Devotions and breakfast, and then runs from about ten in the morning to six in the evening with an hour for lunch. That time is filled with your personal consultation, bio-resonance scans, teaching sessions, food preparation classes, gentle movement, and a rotation of therapies — far infrared sauna, HOCATT ozone steam, PEMF mats, daily ionic foot baths, a medical-grade massage chair, vibration, laser and red light among them. Evenings are your own. You go home with a plan written for your situation. Meals, juices, accommodation, supplements and Wi-Fi are included, and you arrive Sunday afternoon and finish after lunch Friday.
What therapies are included at the Hallelujah Diet Health Retreat?
Far infrared saunas; the HOCATT, a personal ozone steam cabinet combining ozone, carbonic acid, heat and infrared; PEMF full-body mats including the HUGO; the Healthy Wave mat, which layers infrared, PEMF and red light; vibration plate; laser and red light therapy; ionic foot detox baths daily; ozone therapy; grounding mats; a medical-grade massage chair; and Rescue, a sound-based session that guides brain waves into deep-rest ranges. Bio-resonance scanning runs through the week alongside a wellness review. All of it is included in the week — there is nothing extra to buy once you arrive.
Is this the same as the old Hallelujah Acres Lifestyle Centers?
No. The Lifestyle Centers were homes where couples hosted a week of cooking classes and teaching, built mainly around education. The retreat keeps the teaching and the food but is built around the individual — a personal consultation, three bio-feedback scans, and a plan written for your circumstances that you take home. If you remember the Centers, this is a different experience. You don't have to prepare your own food.
What is the food like at a health retreat? Will I be hungry?
This surprises people more than anything else. The food is plant-based and it's genuinely good — fettuccine alfredo, meat loaf, chocolate peanut butter pie that people ask for the recipe to. Nobody goes hungry, and most guests say within a day or two that they'd assumed they were in for a week of salad. Finding out that eating this way is enjoyable is a large part of why it lasts once you're home.
Where is the Hallelujah Diet Health Retreat?
Near Kingston, Georgia, along the Etowah River between Cartersville and Rome — about an hour northwest of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. An Uber from the airport is around a hundred dollars one way.
How much does it cost, and when are the dates?
Both change through the year, so the current schedule and pricing are on HealthRetreat.com rather than here. Retreats run roughly every other month and weeks usually fill, so it's worth looking well ahead if a particular month matters to you. We keep the retreat groups small to ensure everyone receives individual attention.
I don't really know anything about this way of eating. Is a retreat too advanced for me?
It's often the best place to begin. A great many people arrive knowing almost nothing, sent by a health concern, and the week is built to meet that — the consultation starts where you are, the demonstrations cover the practical basics, and you leave with a plan in an order that makes sense for your situation rather than a general list.
Can I come just to rest, or do I need a health problem?
Rest is reason enough. A good number of guests arrive with nothing particularly wrong — they're tired, they've been carrying a lot, and they want a week of quiet, good food and no decisions. Some of them come back every year for a tune-up and treat it the way other people treat an annual vacation. You don't need a diagnosis to be welcome.
Do I have to do all the therapies and classes?
No. We tell everyone on Sunday that it's their week. There's a schedule and most people follow it, but if what you need on a given day is to sit on the porch with a Bible, sleep in, or walk by the river and not talk to anyone, that's yours to choose. Nobody will come looking for you.
Is it a medical program?
No. It isn't a clinic, we don't diagnose or treat anything, and we won't tell you to change what a doctor has you doing. It's an educational and restorative week built around food, rest, teaching and a personal plan. If you're under care for something, keep whoever manages it in the loop.
Can I come with my spouse or a friend?
Yes, and we'd encourage it. Couples and pairs consistently carry more of it home — what one person drifts away from alone, two people tend to hold onto.
Can I stay for more than a week?
People who have significant health issues need to be using the therapies and experiencing the food and juices for longer than a week. Give us a call and we can discuss if the extra time works for you.
Where to Start
If you'd like to see what a week actually involves, day by day, we've put it on one page — the rhythm, what's included, what to bring, and what people usually say afterward.
Or if you'd rather go straight to dates and pricing, they're on HealthRetreat.com.
You may also find these helpful:
- Genesis 1:29 Diet Prevents and Corrects Diabetes
- A Beginner's Guide To Understanding The Jesus Diet
-
How to Balance Your Health Holistically with The Wellness Wheel
We offer these teachings freely to support clarity, stewardship, and responsible care. If this article was helpful, you may explore additional resources here:
- MyHDiet.com — plant-based nutrition, enzymes, detox foundations
- WipeOutToxins.com — toxin-free living and prevention
- CleanseYourBlood.com — circulation and blood-flow support
- AMPMForHealth.com — stewarded health for the rhythm of real life; tools and products we've personally vetted
- HealthRetreat.com — Hallelujah Health Retreats
Thank you for being part of a community committed to thoughtful, responsible healing.
