Billed as a luxury health and wellness holiday, our splendid hotel, La Maison des Oliviers, where we will do most our activity programme, definitely looks the part – visualise traditional Moroccan riad design, quaint courtyards, swaying palm trees and immaculate swimming pools. It’s around a 10-minute drive from the centre of the country’s fourth largest city: bustling Marrakech.

The rest of the group on the course are women; 12 in all, of varying ages – over half are millennials – from Western countries, although some Asians have taken part previously. At 7.30am sharp on the first morning of the programme, we meet the New You Escapes team: Yusimi, the charismatic boot camp manager; nutritionist and yoga teacher, Rosa; and Dave, the physical training instructor (his former role in Britain’s Royal Air Force). Bald, stout and with forearms as thick as lampposts, it looks as if he could run through brick walls – just as long as he does not expect me to bulldoze them down, too, during my weight loss exertions.

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At the induction, I feel slightly the guinea pig because a series of vital statistics are taken with a tape measure: biceps, thighs, waist and – the one I dread most owing to my comfort eating – the buttocks. One’s fat percentage, total body water, optimal ranges, body mass index (BMI) and metabolic rate are also calculated, inter alia – so it all appears a tad scientific. And then Dave asks me my goal for the week. Still a bit worried about what awaits me, I whisper: “To survive”.

On a typical training day, which lasts from 7.30am until 7pm, there are three intense, 60-minute sessions.

For instance, on the first one, we do “Morning Glory” where, despite the risqué title, the only thing that is stiff are certain leg muscles after a deluge of shuttle runs on a sandy dirt track in the hotel grounds; a boxing stint that enables my inner Rocky to emerge, as it involves hitting a partner’s pads with uppercuts, hooks and various combinations; and “Tonne-up”, an uber-tough workout of 10 different circuit exercises (abdominal crunches, press ups and walking lunges, etc) that we do 10 sets each of in a particular sequence, which specifically target distinct sections of the body – upper, lower and core.

As we do 10 sets (if we are able) in this drill, the final result is an astonishing 1,000 individual exercises. “This high-volume session is included as it shows that if clients put their mind to it, they can overcome any sort of mental or physical barrier,” says Dave.

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That being said, after such a long initial day, lying on the floor with a body that could not seem more wrecked if I had done the Great Wall marathon carrying a sack of potatoes, for a nanosecond I think: “What the hell am I doing here?” Surely putting myself through such a vigorous schedule in an attempt to shrink my moobs just isn’t worth it.

However, there has been an explosion in military-style wellness boot camps. According to Paul Joseph, the 37-year-old co-founder of Health and Fitness Travel: “Since 2010, we have seen an increase of 48 per cent in terms of inquiries and bookings. Most of these [72 per cent] come from female clients between 30 and 60 years old, while males in this bracket account for 28 per cent for these types of retreats,” he says.

“Three major reasons are: a growing number of people lead busy lives and, thus, find it trickier to juggle the work-life balance, so are time-poor; there has been a dramatic [worldwide] surge in obesity; and the proliferation of boot camps on TV shows has made them additionally popular. Thus, given the chance, more and more folks opt for a quick reboot, where they can focus on themselves and get into good habits.”

Indeed, at the New You Escapes gig, as well as being here for one of these general reasons, others visit to kick-start their fitness; to build extra confidence; because they are preparing for an endurance event, such as a 10km run and, of course, as in my case, just to slim down.

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Naturally, it does not matter how much you take care of your body in relation to exercise, if your idea of a healthy snack is a Big Mac or a litre tub of ice cream. Another reason why individuals attend a boot camp is to do with nutrition, as it plays just as important a role in any fitness regimen or general well-being.

This break was top-notch in this regard, in two ways. Firstly, our daily breakfast, lunch and dinner contain no wheat or processed sugar and is low-salt, and thus constitutes a low-carb diet with the right balance of fats and proteins to optimise our training.

Incidentally, this does not mean we subsist on the supermodel sustenance of a lettuce leaf and half a peanut every other hour, or some other bland fodder. Indeed, we always have mouth-watering native dishes – Berber or lamb tagine, chicken with preserved lemon and olives and so forth.

Secondly, each day Rosa gave a 60-minute talk on nutrition, covering subjects such as how our eating habits affects our sleep and fasting. These chats are continually informative; for instance, in one concerning sugar, I learn about its extremely addictive qualities and that monk fruit, stevia, yacón syrup and xylitol are all useful substitutes.

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One thing that keeps this retreat so fresh and engaging is the sheer variety of 60-minute workouts we do each day – one cardio-centred, a volume-based one and a high-intensity training session (to tap into different energy systems) throughout the week.

During one such stint, the Red Zone (a kind of HIIT – high-intensity interval training), the intention is to get all individuals exercising at their maximum capacity for as long as possible, by having us remain in the upper ranges (eight to 10) of the Rated Perceived Exertion scale. I find this activity the hardest and it is one of the occasions I am out of my comfort zone, but there is never any time I am forced beyond my capabilities, or to do something I don’t want to do.

I had heard horror stories of inhumane, overzealous fitness instructors barking out orders as their clients throw up, break down or walk out. Here, although the programme is jolly demanding, the whole New You Escapes team offer a calming reassurance, their only aim being to push and motivate everybody to get the very best out of them.

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The fact that daily yoga sessions are incorporated into our routine is one reason we are able to take it to the limit, as this ancient Indian mind-body practice engenders relaxation and counters stress – massages and a hammam (a communal bathhouse) are also available.

As part of the wellness plan, everyone also does a hike up the tsunami of ochre-coloured rocks that coalesce into the Atlas Mountains.

And, after an ultimately fun and adrenaline-fuelled seven days, we all climb our own personal (fitness) peaks too; in my case, instead of sitting at home munching doughnuts, I lose a bit of bulk from the one around my waist.

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