Maggie was Confirmed!!
Our parish (with the world's best DRE, Phil) joined up with another parish and the Bishop came and now Maggie is Margaret Rosemary GIANNA Martin and officially an adult in the Catholic church. Andrew graciously stepped in for JP as her sponsor since he's still in Ohio.
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| Thanks to my friend for sneaking this photo for us! |
Maggie has had a very strong devotion to St. Gianna since she was a little girl. I mean, who wouldn't want to emulate a strong intelligent female who became a doctor back in 1949 in Italy and then chose to save her baby's life over her own. Whatta woman!
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| Maggie dressed as St. Gianna |
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| In her Choose Like Gianna sweatshirt |
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| Maggie and her bestie |
We went out to dinner to celebrate before the sacrament since Mass didn't start until 7pm.
Gammy gave Maggie this cute St. Gianna bracelet...
We got her some gifts, including St. Gianna socks:
Maggie only likes stud earrings or very small hoops and I was able to find her some pretty blue topaz earrings (her birthstone) that will always remind her of her Confirmation day. It's fun having a girl!
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| Maggie with our pastor |
Andrew is currently skipping school today to fly out to visit Franciscan University for an Athletic Visit Day. Luckily, JP's roommate for the semester never showed up so he has his own room with an extra bed...perfect! I am a bit nervous for Andrew (age 18) to fly and visit campus on his own, but I know it's a great life skill to be able to figure things out like this. It helps that he's very excited.
It's been unseasonably warm here, and though I would choose 50 degree days all year round, I do love seeing the beautiful signs of spring on my lunch walks.
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| Daffodils are the prettiest flowers. |
Can I complain about WW for a hot second? I get 23 points to eat a day. Yesterday I had coffee with cream and collagen and a light n fit greek yogurt with low carb granola for breakfast. For lunch I ate a salad full of veggies with some croutons and dressing, and cottage cheese with fruit. That totalled 24 points. So I had negative one point left FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. I don't know if I am just confused about what healthy eating is, or this is an impossible plan. I try to eat lots of protein, veggies and some fruit...isn't that healthy? I know croutons and dressing aren't exactly the best choices but they make all the veggies go down. It's just that when I saw that I had nothing left point-wise for dinner, I gave up and ate what I wanted the rest of the day which totally defeats the purpose and is so frustrating. It's hard to constantly try to eat well and workout multiple times a day only to be consistently 20 pounds overweight.
It must be a slow news week, because our ice cream shop article ended up on the front page of the newspaper on Tuesday:
We said we were HOPING to open by Mother's Day, but now it looks like we HAVE to. Nothing like some peer pressure to keep it moving forward! Construction on the outside of the building should be mostly finished today. Then the plumber has to come, the electrician has to come back and we need to do more painting of trim and putting up drywall on the inside.
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| Maggie priming the underside of the awning. |
My friend sent me this screenshot. Look at the company we are with - yikes! I hope it's true what they say, that any publicity is good publicity?!?!
Have a great long weekend (if you are one of the six states that celebrate Patriots Day on Monday) and it's also the start of our April break here in Massachusetts. Good luck to all the Boston Marathon runners on Monday, I'll run a few miles in solidarity :)
Okay, the news items are wild!!! So nice to get the spotlight, though!
ReplyDeleteAnd congrats to your daughter!
I relate to the WW thing so much. I am doing straight up calorie counting (even though I haven't lost a single pound in two months) and it is so frustrating. My husband's view is that this is just a (lengthy) plateau and if I stick with it, I will eventually see a difference. I HOPE SO. If you ever want to commiserate, I am here for it!
I did read an article about the downside of losing weight which helped me feel better ;) https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/10/health/weight-loss-older-adults-wellness/index.html
DeleteI did ww for awhile after baby 1. IIRC the salad dressing croutons, and the sugar in the yogurt are almost certainly what did you in point wise. I had some similar missteps when I started ww but then started having more of a mental tally of what common items were worth and it got much easier to not run out of points.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Maggie!
Yes I guess I need to get used to the point system again. I think fat free cottage cheese is zero points but mine is 5 points because it tastes good :)
DeleteI was eating my lunch while reading this and almost choked when I saw the news article summary. I mean those other things are truly horrible, but coupled with ice cream did make me laugh out loud (hence almost choking)!
ReplyDeleteYou and the possibility of choking lately are too much - ha!
DeleteWay to go Maggie! So proud of you! Happy Friday, I hope you continue to be the happy news your area clearly needs!
ReplyDeleteThat poor woman was found dead in the park after wandering away from an assisted living home and the school administrator was accused of choking a student and we're just over here opening an ice cream shop.
DeleteSo...from someone who slipped down an awful scary slope that started with an unhealthy view of my body and a desire to lose weight...I would say ditch WW, ditch the fad diets, eat what you like in moderation. Enjoy your food, don't worry about your weight. you are beautiful just the way God made you. Middle age might add a few pounds but it does NOT take away from your value as a person- go with it and find peace! Life is short and your time is worth so much more than worrying about weight and food and calories.
ReplyDeleteAlso-- congrats to Maggie on her Confirmation. She looked beautiful for the sacrament. And congrats to all of you on the ice cream shop coming SO SOON! All that news exposure will certainly help- even if it did come with such sad depressing stories :)
Yes you make a very good point! I just want to maintain my normal weight when all my clothes fit, but not get crazy about it. I love to eat and I love to exercise and being 44 is just no joke I guess :)
DeleteGod bless Maggie. I love the photos, especially the grandparent one. So sweet.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for your two boys to be at college together and I'm sure Andrew will do great finding his way through the airport, etc.
Bummer about the WW counting. That would be very frustrating. I've definitely noticed that pounds are coming back - a trip to Ireland with GF bread so available and GF dessert from Easter has contributed.
The news stories coupled with the opening of your ice cream store was, well - interesting. Glad your store is lightening the load out there.
Andrew did just fine! I remembered how I had to eat when I had gestational diabetes and actually lost weight even as the baby grew, so I am trying that now thinking my body responds well to keeping my blood sugar stable. We shall see!
DeleteI sometimes see too much cardio/running as a factor that drives up cortisol and contributes to hormone imbalance/weight retention. I wonder if reducing cardio and increasing strength (even just resistance bands/body weight type exercises, push-up/squat, nothing crazy) but mostly reducing cardio would make a difference since cortisol makes us hang onto weight. It’s only a thought and take it with a grain of salt as I clearly do not know your usual routine but I feel like what you’re describing eating is very normal and I doubt you need “more” exercise either! I think your sharing on these topics is very interesting though so keep us posted! 😃
ReplyDeleteSo I take a few classes a week that are strength training type classes and then I run a few other days and walk every day. I don't *think* I'm doing too much cardio (and when I look at real runners, they do tons of cardio and are so lean, so?) but it is so confusing. I'm trying to eat like I did when I had gestational diabetes and see if that helps :)
DeleteCongratulations to Maggie! I love the bracelet your mom got her. The newspaper article will definitely be good for business and I will be praying that you can get everything ready and be opened by Mother's Day. I attempted WW for a few weeks on a trial period and was shocked at how little you could actually eat. I think your strategy of eating healthy foods, prioritizing protein and vegetables, and getting your exercise in is definitely what will keep you healthy and at a good weight in the long run. But I definitely feel your pain. I have gained 10 pounds every year for the last 4 years (since hitting the big 5 - 0) and nothing I have done seems to be able to stop that. So, I'm almost 40 pounds heavier than I was in 2019 which is depressing but I continue to try to eat healthy, exercise and yet here I am....
ReplyDeleteI am with you on the yearly weight gain, though mine started at age 40 - yikes! I don't think the ice cream store is going to help either but I'm trying just like you!
DeleteCongratulations to Maggie!! Gianna is my confirmation name too. St. Gianna is definitely a rockstar :D
ReplyDeleteThat also seems insane to me that you would have used up a whole day's points with just that! That's definitely not enough food to be sustainable/healthy, especially for someone who exercises regularly. I had good luck losing some extra Covid pounds with Noom and it makes sure to allot you extra calories based on exercise/activity -- does Weight Watchers do that?
Yay for Gianna name twins! Yes WW gives you exercise points, I usually earn 9 a day. So really I guess I need to realize I can eat about 32 points a day - but I like to save my points up for the weekend so I can splurge without counting.
DeleteWeight Watchers works because it is a very (very!) low-calorie diet, but I don't think it is sustainable for any length of time. I tried it for a few months to budge some stubborn baby weight. I ended up fudging my "free" foods. For example, I counted any Greek yogurt as nonfat, plain, 0-point yogurt so I wasn't burning half my available points at breakfast. It worked and I still lost the weight but I can't say I would go back to WW again.
ReplyDeleteI find myself cheating the system by not counting points for my coffee cream. I've done it in the past and don't remember it being this restricting but maybe I just ate less back then.
DeleteHi Colleen, I'm a long time lurker, seldom commenter... Sorry! Re: glucose, I know quite a few people, especially as they enter their 40s and 50s who eat keeping glucose in mind and it had made a big different difference for them, in weight, energy and fatigue. A physio I follow on Instagram has made a video presention about it which might be worth purchasing. It is R200 (South Africa) which is... -Hold on while I check the exchange rate!- about $11. If you are on Instagram you can see what benefits she has found, but not really any tips on actually eating that way.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I thought you may find it helpful to get some knowledge if you do decide to eat that way.
Thank you for this! I learned a lot about glucose when I had gestational diabetes, and I know I am prone to having diabetes, so this is how I am trying to eat now.
DeleteOh! Duh, I forgot.
ReplyDeletehttps://luluphysio.com/downloads/lets-talk-glucose-exclusive-access/
That is the link to the talk. Her name is Lulu Becker and her Instagram handle is @luluphysio
Congratulations to your sweet Maggie; love all the family photos.
ReplyDeleteAs for Andrew traveling, I always assured my girls that If You Can Read, You can Travel. There are signs everywhere! ;)
Funny about the news article, but I agree: Any publicity is good publicity. Congrats on making the front page!
Good advice about reading, and even though he hates to read, he was fine!!
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