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Ride the Runway with Cyc & SIX:02 + A SIX:02 Giveaway

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Most seasons, New York Fashion Week comes and goes without me realizing it beyond the increase in traffic, fashionable people and difficulty booking restaurant reservations. But, luckily for health and wellness bloggers, over the past few seasons as more and more ready to wear brands are expanding their lines to include athleisure, this week of fashion highlights is becoming more relevant. As this crossover occurs, athletic brands are also taking advantage of the week and highlighting their brands through either smaller, pop-up events or runway shows to capture the attention of influencers and media who are in New York City for the week of madness.

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Last week, I had the pleasure of attending my first New York Fashion week fitness event, Ride the Runway. This evening event brought health and wellness influencers center stage, by means of a Cyc Fitness  spin bike, for a fashion show highlighting the hottest Spring looks from SIX:02. How about that for a fun, innovative twist on a NYFW event?

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While Keoni, the founder and mastermind behind Cyc Fitness led us through a sweaty and energetic 45-minutes spin class, models debuted the hottest Spring fashion. The spin class was very unique as the Cyc method includes five positions, versus the typical three positions and leverages weighted sandbag/beanbag like weights for multiple songs. It is definitely a challenging workout! During the arm portions, the music changed and the spotlight focused on the runway area. For the next two songs models ran out, showing SIX:02’s hottest Spring gear. Instead of doing a traditional runway walk, they each gave a nod to fitness by doing push-ups, burpees and sprints in the gear. For those that aren’t yet familiar, SIX:02 is a fitness fashion destination that carries the most stylish and on-trend activewear and footwear from top brands like Nike, adidas, Under Armour, ASICS, Koral, ALALA and more. They have 30 stores across the U.S. and are launching a NYC flagship this Spring!

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The Spring gear they highlighted was from a range of brands including Nike, Adidas and Alala and exactly what you’d expect from a fashion show- vibrant, stylish and a bit edgy. I counted at least five items that I’d love to add to my SIX:02 shopping cart, especially the Nike shoes and neon leggings. Can a girl ever have enough leggings? Wait, don’t answer that question.

SIX:02 didn’t want the fun to stop with the Ride the Runway event though, they want readers to have the opportunity to shop the new Spring fashions on their site. Therefore, one lucky winner will win a $50 gift card for SIX:02!

HOW TO ENTER: – THE GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED AT THIS TIME. 

There are two easy ways to get entered:

  1. Follow me on Instagram and leave me a comment letting me know your handle.
  2. Visit SIX:02 and leave a comment below, letting me know what piece of Spring gear you want to buy with your gift card. 

Giveaway will end Tuesday at 11:59pm. 

This is not a sponsored post and all thoughts and feedback are my own. Thank you to SIX:02 for providing the gift card and to both SIX:02 and Cyc Fitness for hosting a wonderful event.  Thank you to Mike Green for the incredible images.

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Updating My Smoothies + $50 iHerb.com Giveaway

Happy Tuesday! I can’t believe it’s already the second week of February. How are the days flying by so quickly? Well, just in time for that second month of the year when resolutions and healthy habits start to fly out the window, I am partnering with iHerb.com today for a post and giveaway that will help you guys stock your home with items to help you live your healthiest year yet!

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Over the past few weeks, my love of smoothies has grown exponentially. The perfect way to pack a lot of delicious, healthy flavors into an easy to sip and refreshing serving, I’ve been enjoying them for breakfast, snacks and even lunch if it’s an especially busy day. After dreaming about the delicious smoothies that Kristine, Rachel, Georgie and others make, I knew I needed to invest in some new ingredients. In comparison to their vibrant, unique, nutrition packed smoothies, my typical green smoothie seemed simple and boring.

Based on their recommendations, I hopped over to iHerb.com to stock up on a few ingredients that would help me elevate my smoothies to a new level in terms of flavor, nutrients and aesthetics.

If you’ve never heard of iHerb, you’re in for a treat. I became an iHerb fan while we were living abroad as they were on of the only websites which would ship Kind Bars to Switzerland without charging a fortune or taking forever. In fact, my friend Lauren once received her order of Luna bars from iHerb in just a few days even though we were thousands of miles away!

The online retailer sells thousands of products that help you live a healthier life including vegan, natural, vitamins & supplements, and a huge beauty section. In this month’s order I updated both my smoothie drawer and my beauty regimen. Tonight I’m going to focus on the smoothie aspect as I’m going to include a few of the beauty items in an upcoming Friday Favorite’s post once I’ve had a few more weeks to test them.

iHerb believes in delighting the consumer especially in their shipping! You qualify for free shipping if you spend over $20 AND most orders arrive in 1-2 days. My order was delivered in less than 24-hours!

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So, what did I order for my smoothie drawer?

  • Goji Berries – Often advertised as the most nutritious fruit on Earth, these tiny berries have more than 140% of your daily Vitamin A, 20% Vitamin C as well as four grams of protein and 3 grams of sugar! I love the tart punch and chewy texture they give to my smoothies. I’ve also tried substituting them for raisins and dried cranberries in my afternoon, homemade trail mix. Love it!  I would buy these again!
  • Acai Powder – I’ve heard about this miracle fruit for ages but never spent the money to buy the frozen or powder version. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a try. Unfortuntely, I think I’ll stick to the antioxidant mix which includes acai versus this rough, hard to dissolve, expensive powder. I didn’t taste the flavor when adding it to my smoothie and ended up with a grainy texture. I will not buy this again.
  • Superfruit Antioxidant Smoothie Mix – I saw this item recommended in a few different blog posts over the past few months and had taken a screen shot of it. The blend includes goji, pomegranate and acai powder which provides a great sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and antioxidants. It tastes delicious and provides a rich color to smoothies! I would buy this again!
  • Tera’s Whey – I’ve gone through three tubs of this protein powder since discovering it back in October. It blends perfectly in smoothies and results in a frothy, thick smoothie that also tastes delicious thanks in part to the use of Madagascar vanilla. Each serving packs 21 grams of protein for only 3 grams of sugar and 110 calories. I would clearly buy this again!

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If this is your first time shopping at iHerb you can use my discount code TCB960 to receive $5 off your order once you register on the website.

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Now, it’s your turn to win your own $50 shopping spree on iHerb.com! Winners will need to register on iHerb to claim their prize but shipping will be paid for both US and non-US winners.

You can enter in 1 of 3 ways:

  • Leave a comment letting me know your favorite smoothie combination.
  • Follow @healthyhappier and  @iherbinc and leave a comment letting me know you did.

Giveaway will close on Thursday, February 11th at 11:59 PM EST.

This post is a sponsored partnership with iHerb.com but all product and website opinions are my own.

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Misfit Shine Review + Giveaway

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Over the years, my interest in fitness trackers has been minimal to say the least. While I have reviewed one on this blog previously, I’ve never become one of those people that links it to an app and uses it each day to track my steps or activity. I partially blame this on the fact that our move abroad coincided with when trackers became popular in the US. But, at the root of it, I know that there is one primary reason I’ve never been interested in them. These days, I always get enough activity. In fact, if you were to ask Bo or my friends, they’d say I need a tracker that reminds me to chill out and relax.

Therefore, when my friends at Spright invited me to try out and host a giveaway for the Misfit Shine activity tracker, I was a bit hesitant. But, after going to the website and reading more about the fitness tracker, I quickly realized that this little, sleek device seemed perfect for my interests.

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As soon as the Misfit Shine arrived, it was love at first sight. While I know you’re not supposed something based on looks alone, the lightweight, sleek, black activity tracker looks more like a watch or bracelet than band that screams “I’m trying to log my 10,000 steps.” In fact, at least once a day someone asks me what type watch I’m wearing.  Unlike other activity trackers on the market, this piece of arm candy is also water resistant up to 50 meters, meaning that I don’t have to worry about taking it off in the shower or while washing dishes. If I was currently swimming, it would also allow me to easily track my pool activity as well as other common workouts.

Aside from looks, there are five key things that made me fall in love with the Shine versus other fitness trackers on the market.

  • Battery
    • Do you find yourself constantly losing or misplacing chargers? I certainly do! Luckily, the Misfit Shine is battery powered which means I don’t have to think or worry about the charge or the tangled mess of cords. Since the average battery life is six months, I only have to replace that bad boy two times a year which is a far improvement from charging multiple times a week.
  • iPhone Application
    • I really appreciate that I can see all the information I need inside the app versus having something beep and alert me on my wrist. The app, which is very simple to use and straightforward, syncs to your tracker multiple times per day as long as your Bluetooth is on. In addition to the app which shows sleep duration and patterns, movement and goals there are also additional inputs you can use such as food tracking and food photo storage.

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  • Sleep
    • Remember I said that I need something that reminds me to relax more versus move more? Well, the sleep tracker portion of Misfit has been doing just that these past few weeks. The Shine automatically tracks your sleep, without requiring any extra attachments, and breaks your sleep duration down into awake time, light time and restful time. Since wearing it, I’ve noticed an increase in the length of time I sleep as well as better understanding restful versus light sleep. I’ve seen the number 8 in front of the little h more than the 6 as seeing 6h 30 on the screen made me realize how little sleep that really is. There is something to be said for the power of numbers on a screen to help something become real.  I’ve been carefully monitoring this, trying to understand things that lead to more restless or restful nights such as screen time, reading, alcohol or stress. In addition, there is a great alarm feature which can be set to wake you up at the perfect time during your sleep cycle. I’ve only used this once but really liked it and felt the difference.
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  • Design
    • The Shine is designed to flex with you. If you’re not bothered by a wrist accessory then you can easily wear it on your wrist similar to the way you’d wear a watch. But, want something a bit less visible? You can easily remove it and use the included clasp to slide it into your jean pocket or hook it on your yoga pants. For spin class, I transferred it from my wrist to my spin shoe so it would more accurately measure my movements.
  • Price
    • As someone who is a self-proclaimed beauty and fitness junky, the last thing I want is to invest in a product that I may only use for a few months before discovering a newer version or model. At just $69 this is a fitness tool that everyone can enjoy and even gift to others during the upcoming holiday season.

What do I wish I could improve? 

  • I wish it was easier to track activities like Bar Method. While I know that you can adjust the activity to reflect specific sports like swimming, cycling or running, there isn’t currently a barre option so this is rarely reflected in my daily score.

Now comes the fun part. Want to try the Misfit Shine for yourself or give it as a gift this holiday? Just enter the giveaway made possible by my friends at Spright!  It is open until next Friday, November 20th! Good luck!

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