Blissed Out Retreat - Day Four

Day Four has been a very laid back, more traditional, chill-out-in-paradise type of day. It began with a refreshing yoga practice in the Meditation Room with an excellent and attentive instructor.


Breakfast was the usual, delicious fare - except we had a surprising addition to our spread:


Coconut crepes! Made from rice flour, they were filled with fresh, shredded coconut and totally divine topped with palm nectar.

Shortly after breakfast, our hostesses held a discussion on developing fitness goals and building one's own exercise plans. The talk, along with all of the fresh food at every meal, got me jazzed about focusing on my own fitness goals when I return home by doing more healthy meal planning and checking my mental baggage at the door each time I do a workout.

The next few hours were filled with great conversation (and even greater laughs) with people I can now call new friends. I've said it before and I'll say it again: There's nothing like connecting with a group of vegan/plant-based/aspiring veg*n folk because there's already an unspoken connection based in compassion. I was hoping that this trip would be akin to the social experiences I have had at the Vida Vegan Conferences and my expectations have most certainly been met. These people are amazing.

We all sat and chatted and, before we knew it, it was lunchtime again!


Rice with corn and sambal hot sauce, curry tofu (BEST tofu dish so far!), steamed and stir-fried veggies, roasted & herbed potatoes with the best chunky-garlicky-mildly-hot sauce ever, and a big salad with beans, cashews, and an oil-free mango dressing.

My tummy needed to properly process the amaze-balls meal it had just consumer, so sitting by the pool in the hot sun (and refreshing breeze) was in order.


The afternoon had circuit training in store!


Using a 40:20 interval program with all sorts of movements meant we got a total body workout in less than 25 sweaty minutes. These ladies are so much fun as workout partners!

A group of us jumped in the pool afterward to cool down and pass the time before dinner. Today's weather was cooler during the day and the pool was the perfect temperature for an early evening dip.

Dinner was Indian-themed tonight and the menu, again, boasted fresh ingredients with flavors that popped.


Dal soup, roasted sweet potato (so simple and YUM), tomato and eggplant salad, tofu in a mouth-watering turmeric sauce (which gave the curry tofu a run for its money...), "chana masala" that was made more authentic-tasting by eventually adding the same chunky-spicy sauce from lunch, and steamed veggies.


And for dessert? Black rice pudding with coconut milk! Wow. So different, but so satisfyingly yummers.

My night was rounded off by a hot stone massage and a relatively early retirement back to my room in preparation for a day at the beach tomorrow. After spending so much glorious time in the mountains, I am ready for some sand and snorkeling! Stay tuned. :)