Last weekend was my birthday weekend and it was filled with so much delicious food and wine! This whole month (like every other summer) I've kind of let myself relax a lot in terms of eating and working out. I've really been enjoying life and eating all the good things. I've also been a little less strict about my workouts because I started to feel a bit burnt out with everything going on. Going into this new month I'm going to try to be a little bit better about my eating habits and try to switch up my workouts a little bit. 

Buck's County Wineries

Last Saturday we took a little tour of the Buck's County wineries - such a cheap and fun thing to do! We stopped by Rose Bank Winery, Wycombe (my personal favorite), Buckingham Farms and Rushland Ridge Winery. 

Wycombe Winery was my favorite overall because of the delicious wines and complimentary food. They had this olive garlic dip that was so tasty I've already re-created it at home and it's already gone. Rushland Ridge was a close favorite, mostly because of our expectations. We read this Yelp review before going there:

This review was a blessing in disguise - we all love dogs, 'abundantly poured' tastings sounded pretty great to us, and 'personal residence' sounded like a laid back and relaxing environment! And then we went and were greeted by the most adorable black lab, we got to pour our tastings on our OWN, and the laid back feeling was everything. Melissa from Conshohocken, you suck. AND my favorite wine I tried all day was from this winery. I thought it was "up to snuff," Melissa. RUDE. 

Recent Eats

Anyway, here's what I've been eating lately...lots of eggs, salads, chicken, beef, the usual!! 

Breakfast of eggs, spinach, tomato, banana and peaches with peanut butter.

An egg, spinach, avocado, Sriracha, and a banana with peanut butter! 

A delicious lunch salad with romaine, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, castelvetrano olives (best olives ever), basil, a burger and my homemade olive garlic spread from Wycombe Winery (told you I made it).  

Another hearty salad this time with avocado, feta and chicken made in the crockpot. 

I've been making whole chickens lately either in the crockpot or in the oven and it's the best. Such a cheap way to have delicious protein all week. Look at that beauty. I've been saving the carcasses to make homemade bone broth. No food goes wasted! 

We went down to DC for a wedding this past weekend and all healthy eating goes out the door when on vacation - here's a pic of us devouring a Mortadella and Fontina pizza in the car...

And a pic from the wedding to capture that I do in fact sometimes shower...

Workouts

Monday - Unite Fitness class - I'm going to start coaching group fitness classes at Unite so I try to pop in when I can! This workout was great. All of the workouts focus on 30 minutes of cardio, 30 minutes of strength circuits and 15 minutes of yoga! 

Tuesday - 20 mins incline treadmill walking + a Thrive strength workout

Wednesday - Thrive strength workout. Butt was sore from this one - lots of split squats! I did this workout with one of my clients and it was fun to push each other! 

Thursday - taught 60 minute spin + Thrive team workout:

3x: Overhead slams, broad jumps and bear crawls 

3x: 10 KB swings, 3/3 KB snatches, 5 KB Goblet squats, 5 push-ups

10 min: one lower, one upper and one core (moving with purpose) I did jump squats, chin-ups and weighted sit-ups. 

We then ended with a nice little burst of spin that I taught! I don't know if these guys had fun with it but I certainly did ;)

Friday - Hill sprints with my co-workers. We only did about 20 minutes (if that) and my hamstrings were sore ALL WEEKEND!!! 

Saturday and Sunday - Heavy lifting of the fork to my mouth. Best workouts all week. 

Happy Tuesday!! Hope everyone's week is off to a great start. Running to work now to train clients for the rest of the night :)

How was your weekend?

Wineries or breweries?

What was your favorite meal all week?

How is it that today is new years eve?! I won't get too sentimental here, but I think it's extremely important to look back at how far we've come and set ourselves up for another great year. And you'll want to stick around for this one because I'm partnering with iHerb to giveaway a $50 SHOPPING SPREE to not one, but TWO lucky readers!!  But first can we please appreciate the beauty that is Florida? I was so happy to visit home over the holiday. I enjoyed some much needed refresh, reset and unplug time! 

Okay, SO much happened in 2015!! Let's just take a quick look at my favorite 8:

1. ahealthfulheart.com was born, which has brought me so much joy.
2. I graduated from the University of Florida, AKA the best damn school ever. 
3. I got my first job out of college at an advertising agency. I'll remember that feeling of relief for the rest of my life. 
4. Philadelphia became my new home. Although it's not always sunny, I'm so thankful I landed here - this city ROCKS.
5. Michael and I moved in together! What are we, adults? 
6. So many weekend travels commenced, which was one of my 2015 new years goals and I'm so thankful to have been able to see different parts of the country!
7. I've connected with so many other incredible bloggers through the BGB Community. (If you're a blogger check it out.)
8. Group fitness has remained a huge part of my life and I've been lucky to be able to teach for three different gyms up here in Philly. I love it so much!

These are a few of the highlights, and it's important to remember that along with all of the good times, there's also been a LOT of challenges. Moving to a city I've never lived in, starting a brand new job and trying to succeed in said job while balancing it with a blog, teaching & spending time with family & friends has not been the easiest (OK serious first world problems, amiright?!) But I'm trying my best to always enjoy the progress :)

Now what about YOU?! How was your 2015 and what are you looking forward to in the new year? Maybe it's winning this awesome giveaway? ;)

Okay, now onto the fun part. iHerb.com is a wonderful online shop for all of your health food, environmentally-friendly cleaning products, herbs, supplements and beauty products. When I was in college, I shopped on iHerb all the time for snack bars and nut butters that were so much cheaper to buy in bulk online than in the health food stores around my university. I love shopping on iHerb.com because there's always great deals. iHerb sells more than 35,000 products from over 1,000 popular brands. In the US specifically, all orders over $20 get FREE shipping!

I recently just completed a HAUL of products that will help me stay energized and healthy at the start of a busy new year and I want to help you do the same! It's simple: To enter to win a $50 shopping spree to iHerb.com...

1. Comment below with what product you would purchase if you win the prize!
2. Follow @ahealthfulheart  and @iherbinc on Instagram

You will be able to enter today until FRIDAY JANUARY 8! iHerb.com is sponsoring not one, but TWO winners to have a $50 shopping spree! (Winners, you MUST register on iHerb to claim your prizes; International readers, you must check that iHerb ships to your country, details at the end of this post)

In the mean time, you can follow iHerb on Facebook & Twitter and shop on iHerb with my code, LCV378, to receive $5 off your first purchase! 

Now go ahead and get commenting and/or shopping!! GOOD LUCK! 

***

Thank you for your support of my partnership with iHerb! All opinions are my own. 

Winners MUST REGISTER to iHerb to claim their prize.

Shipping will be taken care of for both US and non-US winners. The following only applies if the winners are out of the US. Specifically for winners out of the US, they are responsible for any additional taxes/duties/brokerage fees levied to them by their Customs Agency and/or Postal Service.

International readers: go to iherb.com, add a product to the shopping cart and click the "Country" drop down menu to see if your country is listed.

XO- Rach

What product would you purchase if you win the giveaway?

Around the holidays, a lot of us tend to get so stressed out at work, stressed about family, stressed about getting gifts, the list goes on! But the absolute most important part about the holiday season - and any time of year, for that matter, is G I V I N G.  Although it's a hobby, blogging has brought so much joy into my life in the past couple months. I was invited to share my thoughts, challenges & support into the Bloggers Gonna Blog Facebook group a little while back, and it has changed the game for me. I never thought I could meet such talented, motivated & supportive people over the internet! The group has played a huge role in teaching me that blogging and building your personal brand is oh, SO much more than that. It's about CONNECTING with others and GIVING the support that you want and need as well. It takes a whole community to build a community. I'm so thankful to be part of such an awesome group of like-minded peeps. Georgie & Christina coordinated a big gift exchange for us all and I was so excited to give and get my gift! 

Secret Santa

My beautiful bloggy secret santa was Cassie from Almost Getting It Together! Cassie is a blogger in San Francisco who works full time in marketing and has time to run her awesome website. I love reading through all of her tips and lifestyle posts! Check out her blog for simple recipes and awesome travel tips.

Cassie put together one awesome gift. I've never tried these Rise Bars before and I'm so glad she introduced me to them because they're delicious!! Such wholesome ingredients. My favorite was the Carob Chip and the Sunflower Cinnamon! I haven't bought these at the grocery store yet, but my bet is that you can for sure find them at a Whole Foods! Cassie hit the nail right on the head here as I'm always on the go or in the office and ALWAYS need to have my snacks on me ;)

Cassie also sent over some Cheesy Pizza Kale Chips! Another great snack to always have on hand.

The next two items are my favorite. This Sweet Almond and Raspberry Seed oil has been saving my skin every night. Even though this winter has been extremely mild [not complaining], as soon as the weather gets below 70, my skin seriously turns into leather [Florida baby]. I get so dry! This oil makes my face and hands feel smooth and refreshed all the time. I've been using it at night and my skin doesn't feel so parched in the morning. 

I also received this amazing DIY skin care kit from Leonamade.com. The ingredients all come from family farms and fair trade coops. It's all natural and includes coconut oil - I'm in! I can't wait to experiment with this. I also love knowing exactly what's going into the product that I schmear on my face every night. 

Thank you SO much, Cassie for the amazing Secret Santa gift! I'm so thankful to be part of such an awesome group. Going into 2016 I can't wait to keep connecting with other bloggers. It's so important to give support in order to receive it. Check out Beverly's post on sweatyandfit.com to see what I got her for our gift exchange! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful, fantastic, all around amazing holiday this year. 

XO- Rach

What are your Christmas plans? New Years plans?

Did you take part in a gift exchange this year?

What's your favorite part about the holidays?