Happy New Year!
I hope that 2017 is off to a great start for you. I’m back in California after a week and a half on the east coast for holiday vacation, and ready to see what wonderful things this year has in store for me. Since I love to reflect on the positives of the year at the start of a new one, today we’re looking back at my 2016 favorites!
Recipes. When I think about favorite recipe posts, what pops into my mind are the recipes that I shared with loved ones, made numerous times and couldn’t get enough of! My top 5 recipes of 2016 that were popular on the blog are…
Mini Pretzel Twists with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce. I had a thing for soft pretzels in 2016!
Mediterranean Feta & Lemon Hummus Dip. After creating this dip for a health coaching event, I made it several more times throughout the year. I love Mediterranean ingredients like artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes & feta cheese!
Moving onto the sweeter side of things, these were my favorite healthy snacks/desserts of the year (all vegan + gluten free!):
Chocolate Peanut Butter Brown Rice Crispy Squares. I like to think of these as a more wholesome, adult version of those blue wrapper rice crispy treats we’re all familiar with!
No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Cookies. Because the chocolate + peanut butter combo has my heart every year.
Peppermint Chocolate Chip Snack Bites. I‘ve been obsessed with all things peppermint this winter!
Travel. I got to do some awesome traveling in 2016! Here are my favorite adventures of the year:
Visiting Ireland was definitely a check off of my bucket list, and it also marked the first time that I ever spent time in Europe with my family. I met them in Ireland and got to experience the country with my parents, sister, grandma, aunts, uncle, cousin, and brother during the whirlwind trip. I had the chance to visit the Cliffs of Moher, experience some awesome Irish pub nights, and ate lots of yummy vegetarian food.
In 2016 I also surprised my hubby for his 30th birthday with a getaway to Cabo San Lucas, where we did a ton of relaxing by the infinity pool in our resort, went on a memorable sailing excursion, and had a fabulous dinner at Hacienda Cocina y Cantina.
I also ate an obscene amount of guacamole. When in Mexico, right?!
The view from Gloria Ferrer in Sonoma
My favorite road trip of the year was a trip up the California coast to meet my parents in San Francisco, then continue on for a wine country adventure together. We stayed in Sonoma, drank some fabulous wine, and ate lots of good food. All around, it was a fun trip!
Sunset skies on my birthday at the Jersey shore
I also went on a few trips to my home state of New Jersey. After not being home at all the first half of 2016, I wound up being back 3 times in the second half of the year! First, I decided to time up my hubby having to be in Philly for his MBA program and spend a few weeks there over the summer, then I went back in October for a wedding extravaganza trip, and lastly, we just got back from being there for the holidays.
Relaxing at the shore with my parents, hubby and nephew over the summer
Fitness. 2016 was full of great workouts for me! I practiced yoga regularly, and tried out a lot of new classes and studios. My proudest fitness moment of the year was when I worked hard to successfully complete a 6-week fitness challenge at my HIIT studio.
I did have a setback when I broke a few little bones in my foot and re-aggravated a calf tear. After I let it heal and got back to working out, I switched up my routine to now incorporate more lower impact exercise, and less plyometric moves and typical HIIT style exercise (such a bummer, I love HIIT!). The last few months of 2016, I brought HIIT back into my routine, but have modified it to not include quite as much jump training – such as with this HIIT routine that I’ve done probably a dozen times recently.
Spin class time!
Through rehabbing these chronic injuries, I’ve learned more about what works best for my body. I took up swimming in the summertime, and have found that cycling is a good form of cardio that doesn’t agitate my body when done in moderation. Besides taking spin classes, I also got a bike trainer and started cycling at home. On that note, this total body cycling interval workout of mine was a favorite on Pinterest in 2016:
(…and now I’m going to need to do this routine later on!).
My favorite workout experience of 2016 would have to be getting to workout with Jillian Michaels at the IDEA World Convention. After years of doing her DVDs, it was so cool to get to workout with her in person!
Favorite hike. While I went hiking pretty much on a weekly basis throughout the year, my favorite hikes were really ones that I had done before. My favorite pick would have to be returning to Laguna Coast Wilderness Park for a kick-ass outdoor workout with Pacific Ocean views!
I would love to try some new hikes this year. Funny enough, I’ve done the vast majority of hiking trails in the San Diego area at this point! Perhaps I’ll have the opportunity to plan a longer weekend hiking trip or two out of the area in 2017.
Favorite date. My hubby and I went on some fun dates in 2016, and my favorite one is a tie between:
Going on a kayaking whale watching tour in La Jolla, followed by a fabulous relaxing lunch nearby at my favorite vegan/yoga studio spot, Trilogy Sanctuary.
And our 7th anniversary celebration was my other favorite local outing…
We went to a Chargers football game, then headed to Coronado for a waterfront dinner at Il Fornaio. It was the perfect way to celebrate lucky #7!
Favorite Healthy Living Tool. My favorite new health gadget of 2016 would have to be my Beets BLU Smart Scale, which tracks not only your weight (which is only party of the equation!), but also factors like your body fat, muscle mass, and water weight – and tracks it all directly on your smart phone app. I found it to be a really useful tool throughout the year!
Favorite Mental Health Posts. As I worked with health coaching clients in developing healthier mindsets in 2016, I also made a personal commitment to being conscious about the power of my own thoughts. It’s something I’m also committed to in 2017, so stay tuned for most posts on that, and in 2016 my favorite mental health posts were: 10 Techniques to Develop a More Positive Attitude and Cultivate Gratitude by Switching Your Mindset from “Got to” to “Get to”. They’re both great reminders of things to practice daily!
I hope that you also are taking away lots of happy memories from your 2016, and making plans on how to make 2017 your best year yet! I appreciate your readership, and will be working to both make the blog bigger and better and to expand my health coaching practice this year. Stay tuned, there are good things to come!
Tell me… What is your favorite recipe, workout accomplishment, and/or adventure of 2016?
It seems like 2016 was a fun year for you! I’ll be following you along your journey this year as well, and am looking forward to hearing about your travels and trying out more of your recipes. I got to go on vacation in Puerto Rico last year, so that’s my favorite travel memory of the year!
Thank you for taking the time to follow my blog! Wishing you a great year, Jennifer!
I wasn’t going to do a recap, but this post makes me what to! It’s such a great way to look back… your travels have all been amazing. I think I have permanent wanderlust.
One day I’m going to make pretzels. I swear…
Girl, I think I have permanent wanderlust too. We are both kinda always on the go, lusting after each other’s travels! Haha.
So jealous of your amazing travels!!! The Ireland picture is so pretty!
Thank you, Ali. I hope that you find yourself in some new places in 2017!
Now I want to make some of those foods!!
I hope that you do, Heather! These are some good eats 🙂