Happy Sunday

Sunday meaning the "Sunday" for us teachers. 😱

I can't believe July has come and gone. Don't get me wrong, I like August because it's almost Aruba time, but reality sets in pretty quick after that. 

Here are a few snapshots of what I've been up the remainder of the "Saturday" of summer. 

Anthony and I drove out to Montauk for the day. On the way I was getting a little hangry, so we stopped at The Golden Pear for some breakfast. I knew the moment I walked in and saw "gluten free" I was in the right spot. 

Here I am with my gluten free egg sandwich. 🍳🍞

They even had some pretty good iced coffee. 

Our trip to Montauk was all about the food. For dinner we checked out The Clam Bar which was a recommendation from, can you guess? Katie Lee

A++!! On another trip I would definitely try some of the sweet potato fries I saw pass by. 

It was time for Anthony and I's 8th wedding in the past 10 months. This time it was a cruise around NYC. 

We had a day in between to rest before heading back into the city for a belated birthday celebration. Tickets to see On Your Feet and a stay at The Kimberly Hotel. 

Having the name Kimberly had its perks as we were upgraded to a nice 1 bedroom suite and I went home with my very own Kimberly slippers and robe. 

T1D side note- I was able to do all of the city walking without any blood sugar issues. 💃🏻🤗 

All of this fun while still getting the workouts in. 

ANDDDD cooking. Check out my homemade bacon wrapped dates. 

I mean COME ON... Katie Lee... Kimberly Lauren... KL... 

Still haven't heard from her. I guess she still hasn't read my blog 😌😌😌

Hopefully August slows down a bit... 🙂

Fitness Friday - Kym Gym

Anyone try those yasso bars yet? Anyone who knows me knows that I am all about the food and when it's time to eat, but I'm also all about that fitness. 💪🏻

 So I figured it's time to share my favorite at home HIIT workout for when I'm crunched on time but still want to sweat. Plus with Aruba in less than a month, I'm really trying to step up my game. 

This has been my go to especially on the days I workout before work. 35 minutes may not sound like a lot, but any bit of sweat is worthy!

Coined "Kym Gym" by Anthony - I am able to do this in the comfort of my den with Anthony's help sliding the coffee table to the side of the room. 

Equipment needed:

Jump Rope

3lb dumbells 

Yourself

The workout: 

Warmup: 1 minute of the following exercises 

- running in place

- cross jacks (jumping jacks with crossing the arms in front instead of above the head) 

- butt kicks 

- karaoke across the room 

- standing oblique crunches with knee raise (YouTube it 😬) 

Jump rope 20 seconds

Rest 30-60 seconds 

Complete each of the following exercises for 45 seconds each. 

- burpees 😄💃🏻 

- squats with over head arm press (holding dumbells)

- jack presses (jumping jacks with dumbells in hands pressing up) 

- push-ups on knees 

- lunge jumps (20 seconds right leg lead - 20 seconds left leg lead) holding dumbells

- air punches with dumbells 

- squat jumps with dumbells

Jump rope for 20 seconds. 

Rest 1 minute 

Repeat circuit for however many rounds you have time for. I usually do 2 rounds and then abs and stretch for cool down. Of course everything can be modified - no weights, shorter blocks, etc. 

Now, I really don't like working out at home. It's a lot harder to get going and even worse thinking of the alarm going off at 4:45am to do this. 😳  I just think of how good I feel after. It actually goes pretty quickly. Plus the smell of coffee brewing from the kitchen helps. ☕️ 

Put on a good playlist and I am enjoying breakfast before I know it. 

You can really make this workout as short or long as you want based on the number of rounds and how long you make the blocks. So there are no excuses😄. Cutting out the travel time to the gym can still get you a great workout. 💪🏻

Happy National Ice Cream Day!

In case you didn't know, today is National Ice Cream Day. I don't know about you, but on this 80 something degree summer day I definitely plan on celebrating!

💞🍦😍👍🏻💃🏻 (thanks to Anthony for this candid shot from our trip to Newport, RI this past spring) 

Unfortunately I won't be celebrating with my favorite ice cream from Kilwins (pictured above). However, the best part is, my celebration will be at most 120 calories and that will bring a smile to my face just as big as the one above (okay maybe not quite as big 😬). 

120 calories of ice cream? What am I having, 2 spoonfuls?    

🤔 Haha no way! 

Meet my new favorite summer treat that's almost like having ice cream, my Yasso Frozen Yogurt Pops! 

Okay, so maybe I'm not technically having ice cream, but it tastes just as great and a lot nicer on the nutrition label. Sea salt caramel is just one of the many flavors, but so far it has been my favorite. Other flavors include vanilla, strawberry, peanut butter cup and more that I am forgetting. 

I also like them a lot because it is a pretty substantial serving and easy on the blood sugar. 😉 

What could be better? 

Actual ice cream 🍦! 

If your not a fro-yo fan and want the real deal, then I suggest checking out what skinny cow has to offer. 

Tasting just like ice cream minus the calories, these have also become a new summer favorite of mine. Skinny cow even makes a fro-yo pop and flying saucers. 

I'm waiting for the flying saucers to be made gluten free, so until then I'll stick to my new finds. 😎 

In other food news, my best friend and twin Tanya was in town with her husband JT! We had a nice "cookout" (the southern BBQ) and did a lot of catching up. 

And in other cooking news, I've really been adventurous these past few days! Check out my bacon wrapped dates I recreated...

More on those another day. It's time for some ☀️☀️☀️☀️😎😎😎 

Future Friends?

In my last blog I hinted as to what would be the topic of my next post. Since there has been a number of posts related to fitness and I am trying to come back to the blogging world fresh and exciting, I thought I would share my celebrity doppelgänger (so I'm told). It may even be a little bit of a girl crush, but we all have them, right? 

Katie Lee - best known for her role on "The Kitchen" or host of her show "Beach Bites" on The Cooking Channel. 

Or you may even know her from her exciting posts on Instagram and Insta Story. If not, definitely go give her a follow to see what I mean (and me too while you're at it 😉). Over the past couple of months I've been entertained by her updates, adventures, food and travel posts. In fact, I've been told by quite a few people that we look alike - I'll take it! 

After some stalking investigating of her Instagram account, I have come to find that we actually are basically the same person and have the potential to be very good friends sharing all of our common interests. Take a look at my findings to see for yourself. 

For starters - we both LOVE food. 

We are also both all about a big salad. 😉 

And don't forget a good helping of ice cream. 

Although we love food, we both enjoy working out to keep up with all of that goodness! 

 

We both enjoy traveling. Here is Katie in Newport, RI 

And pictured below is Anthony and I not far from that same spot. You see those chairs behind us? 😉

We also both find "nothing more enticing than the beach." 😎 (Tune into Beach Bites Thursday's at 10pm to see what I mean). 

Katie loves her cute pup, Gus. 

I love my friends Chris and Jennie's pup, Gatsby. 

 

Just call me the dog whisperer. 

We enjoy snorkeling... 

And Christmas... 🎄

Speaking of Christmas, we both know Santa Claus 🎅🏼

And this guy...

Ok... maybe not so much. 🙃

Katie also understands the scary nature of gluten for a gluten free gal like myself. 

I'm sure she can share with me some gluten free versions of her favorite recipes. 🙂

Katie writes books...

And I write this blog. 😄

So, as you can see, we have many common interests. I can very easily see us spending our free time galavanting The Hamptons taking part in all of the above. 💃🏻

So Katie Lee, if you happen to see this maybe think about me joining your team for the gluten free version of "Beach Bites?" ☺️🤔 I'll be open to discussion. 😊

Bringing Blogging Back

I'm baaaccckkk 👋🏻😄

It's been awhile since I last blogged. After having some down time on my summer vacation I have spent some time reading some of my old posts. It reminded me how much fun I had blogging and well to be honest - I enjoyed reading what I wrote. 😄 Like this. 😜 Also my mom said that she liked reading my blogs. That counts, right? 

A lot has changed, but a lot of things have stayed the same. A quick Katch-up with Kim post since we really haven't been keeping up. 😉

Some Things That Are The Same:

1. My love for good food and restaurants. Bar time still a thing? YES. 

😉😍

Speaking of food, tonight I recreated one of my favorite go to salads at one of our local spots. Kim sized and Kim approved. 

Butternut squash 

Grilled chicken

Pecans

Goat cheese 

Mesclun lettuce

Balsamic dressing... ON THE SIDE (OTS) 

2. Fitness Fanatic. Yes I will wake up at 4:45am to get my workout in. Excuses. Running, spinning, weights - all apart of my usual routine. However something new into the mix are my Orangetheory Fitness classes (OTF). More on that in another post. 🍊💭 (Get it? "Orange theory") 😉

 Stay tuned for my favorite at home HIIT workout. 💪🏻 

3. Being gluten free. Don't really have a choice on that. 😬 Don't worry, I can assure you my diet tastes a lot better than

cardboard.

4. T1D. Yes I still have Type 1 Diabetes and no it was not caused by eating too much sugar. There are some new and exciting tools in the mix that I hope to get my hands on one day. Until then, still dealing with this. 🙄

I've heard cinnamon is the magic cure? Still waiting on that to work. 

Things that have changed:

1. My job. Good bye high school math - hello middle school! I'm excited. 😊

2. Aruba. I use to travel to Aruba., but... LOL JK BUT NOTHING. Aruba is still the best place in the world (in my opinion). The countdown is on. 😎

3. #3 will be popping up on the blog I'm sure. 😉

😍☺️

4. Kim The Cook? Trying at least. Zucchini Linguini with veggie burger. Veggie Burger with Zuccini Linguine. 😏

Hey - it's better than where I was at the last time I blogged. Don't get me wrong though - I'm still a big fan of RESERVATIONS. 😉 

Well that was fun! Sort of - my original post disappeared somehow. It has been awhile. 

Keep your eyes open for my next post. Will it be OTF? Or about my celebrity doppelgänger? 🤔