“The difference between try and triumph is a little umph.”

Marvin Phillips

Last weekend I went away to a yoga retreat with my soul sista. Do you have one of those? Everyone needs that one friend that they can escape with… one that goes with the flow, loves to try something new and will support you in your goals and passions. We vibe off of each other and make each other stronger and more confident. She also just happens to be crushing this program with me. How lucky am I?!

This yoga retreat was tucked nicely into the mountains and was one word – INCREDIBLE. Of course I went there with the intention of rest, relaxation and a little yoga love. What I got was go, go, go, activity, activity, activity, but plenty of sleep at night which is completely surprising! Lol. I did do this to myself… my poor girlfriend ended up tapping out on Sunday to get some relaxation time with a good book, while my poor book remained untouched until I got home Sunday night. We tried everything the retreat had to offer though: A 7km (450 m elevation) summit hike, meditation by a beautiful creek, practiced an insane amount of yoga, danced, laughed our butts off, climbed rock walls, canoed and stayed present with each experience. Such a beautiful time to reconnect! And on top of all of this activity and busyness, we also got in our workouts to stay on track with this program. Yeah, we are crazy like that.

We are well into the second half of the program now… Less than 50 days remain! I am so tired, but also have so much more energy. It’s really hard to explain and understand why that is… Weird hey? As the progressions in these workouts become more advanced, I find myself trying to keep up as much as possible. Some of these moves are challenging for me as I find my body, joints, etc may not be able to bend/ flex in certain ways. I just continue to focus on making adjustments that help me get the most out of each exercise.

Like the above quote states, if you haven’t tried, how will you ever succeed?! Completion isn’t enough for me at this stage, it’s different than when I first started and my goals have shifted. Now I want to push myself as hard as I can. I want to see an amazing transformation. I want to prove to myself that the small goal of completing this program will be followed by greater more amazing things to come. I’m focused on the Triumph.

My nutrition has been awesome at times and not the greatest at others. The yoga retreat had an evening bar and amazing food, neither of which helped my progress. This week I’m tightening up the ropes more. I am almost through a 7 day sugar detox (only slipped with honey once because I forgot!) and I have also started up a 4 week no alcohol challenge for myself. I wouldn’t call myself a huge drinker though I do enjoy wine and beer, but I also feel that continuing to drink at this stage is reducing my progress and it’s not necessary right now. I will be seeing how this goes and maybe extending from there. Sugar however is a lot tougher. I’ve become quite the snacker over the last few years and eat frequently out of boredom. The more bored I become, the more processed, sugary foods I want to devour. Vicious cycle. This detox is bringing to the forefront a lot of my poor habits, so I’m at least becoming more aware and mindful of what I’m consuming. It’s a good start so far.

What do you do to stay on track? Any advice or things you found helpful while being on a sugar cleanse? I feel like I could eat ALL THE TREATS right about now… so anything you’ve got would definitely help a sister out!

Until next time ❤