Usually I would make this blog post on my Facebook or Instagram page, but I’ve been embarking on a very personal journey – it’s a journey to get back to a healthier lifestyle. I thought putting this on my blog would be much better.
I’m the first to admit – I let my weight get out of control – but I also needed to understand – why?
Was it overeating? Yes. Partially, at least. My husband and I both have a sweet tooth and a love for Italian food due to our heritage.
I was doing well financially, but I hated what I did towards the last three to four years. Plus the company I worked for changed a lot of its structure, and soon I hardly recognized the company I once loved and admired. It made me depressed and anxious to go to work. What good is doing well if you can’t enjoy yourself?
I always say that breaking my foot was a God-send because it would not have allowed me to write The Turn of the Dime otherwise. Its quite an amazing thing when you publish your first book, but the flip side is I was doing a lot of sitting and not much else.
I was laid up for ten weeks with nothing to do, and it gave me a way to explore my creativity and run wild – but it also empowered my gut to grow!
Then 2016 happened. I left my job, started a business with my partner, and was ready to market my book – until my husband almost died from cardiovascular complications.
With all of this happening, my once normal exercise routine was taken over by worry, confusion, fear, crying and angst. When he survived, I was relieved. We started getting back to our lives.
When my books and business started doing well – I was eating a lot “on the road” and spending an enormous amount of time at my desk – not good.
When I realized I weighed in at 220lbs I knew something had to be done. I knew that I couldn’t keep ignoring it. It was time to take the bull by the horns and do something. I was also very inspired by my friend Stephanie who also lost a great deal of weight and looks phenomenal today because of it!
I started a schedule for myself where I dedicated time to working out. Not much. Just fifteen minutes to a half hour per day. I didn’t want to spend money on a gym because I wasn’t sure if I could commit to it.
So I decided on bodyweight training. Also I was trying to cook and eat healthier due to my husband being put on warfarin which limits what you can and can’t eat.
When I was able to put on a size 14 from a size 16 – I realized it was working and although I suffered minor setbacks here and there I continued to push myself.
As Double J IT Consulting Services continued to grow, I didn’t want to take any money from the business. It was important to reinvest in the business and find other means of providing a stipend income.
A loan wasn’t a feasible option either. It didn’t make sense to do that just yet. My goal was to get the business at a certain income level before we would take that step. So I optioned for part-time job as a research assistant at a local company.
I decided that a couple of hours per week would be enough to get me through while I was conducting business and writing. Plus when I learned the name of two of the publications I was amazed: Muscular Development and FitnessRX.
After some time, I also began writing articles for the magazine which not only reinvigorated my love of bodybuilding but let me write!
It also did something incredibly valuable for me, it gave me access to tons of references on health, exercise, fitness and fat-loss/weight-loss. As I was writing some articles I felt a little hypocritical. How could I write about health and not practice it fully?
It was then a bell went off in my head, I didn’t want to be a writer who not only knew about diet and exercise, but practiced it in daily life!
What good was learning all of this information if I didn’t put it to use? Also practicing it would give me more insight and knowledge about writing about it.
I started switching up my game plan, my exercising didn’t seem to yield much weight loss from March to May as it seemed that I was stuck at 200 and not going down at all!! I couldn’t get it! I thought I was eating healthy – what was wrong?
By chance, I was having a discussion with Steve Blechman, my editor in chief and the owner of the company. I brought up, “I wish I could lose weight the way I did when I smoked.”
He then asked me what I ate for breakfast regularly.
I answered, “Cereal usually. Maybe an English muffin and coffee with orange juice.”
“That’s your problem!” He told me. ” You have a high glycemic diet from the orange juice and high carbohydrates due to the cereal or English muffin! You need to have a more protein enriched diet for breakfast that will encourage your weight loss!”
I thought about it and decided it was worth a shot. I began my high-protein, low carb diet. I cut out orange juice and substituted lemon water.
For additional measure I made sure I used foods with good fats like avocados, nuts and olive oil.
I also upped my workouts, easing myself into a HIiT routine and upping it when I found it was becoming easier to handle.
I ate only chicken and fish for dinner. We stopped eating red meat except on special occasions like a family barbecue for example.
To give myself a treat, I allowed myself have a healthy dessert like fruits, or Jell-O.
For cheat meals, I do allow myself Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion chips once a month with my sour cream and onion flavored Greek yogurt dip.
With the combination of exercising every other day and eating a highly charged protein enriched breakfast, with a small lunch, and fish/chicken for dinner I’m definitely seeing results.
Currently I stand at a size 12 white trying to battle the remainder of my muffin top. The goal is to be a size ten by October. I am confident I will get there.
J.Alana Giresi 
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