Gina Pizzo
Photo Credit: creative commons
April 19, 2010
Meghan Merwin, staff reporter
Filed under A&E
Pres alum Gina Pizzo has done what most only dream about doing: cut her weight in half. At her heaviest, Pizzo weighed 284 pounds and was a size 26. Now, little more than a year later, she is a healthy size 10 and 140 pounds and doesn’t have to worry about searching for clothes that fit. In early March, Pizzo was invited to be on The Today Show as part of their Joy Fit Club. Now, as upbeat as ever during her first year in San Francisco, Gina agreed to talk to us about her experiences and how she avoided the dreaded “freshman 15”.
The Voice: Why did you originally decide to lose weight?
Gina: To be honest it was time for me to get healthy. We had just lost my mother to breast cancer and my dad was scared he would lose his youngest child due to obesity. I had to do something to lose weight and feel better about myself.
The Voice: How did you accomplish your goal?
Gina: There were many factors to accomplishing my goal. I was extremely motivated and determined to do this. I used http://sparkteens.com to track my calories everyday. I have been eating 1,250 calories a day since I began this and still eat that amount. I also had a great support system between family, friends, and my youth group. Ms. Lagana and Mrs. Ford also knocked some sense into me when we went on our Italy trip my sophomore summer.
The Voice: What was your biggest challenge when watching what you ate?
Gina: The hardest part is when I go out with friends for dinner, or just hanging out with my friends in general. Being the heaviest amongst my friends I am always conscious of what I am eating, but when all your friends are twigs who don’t have to watch what they are eating, it gets difficult. It has been super hard at college when my three roommates have the dorm pretty much stocked with ice cream, Oreos, nutterbutters, and anything else junk food entailed. Holidays also sucked!
The Voice: How did you keep up your momentum when you were at a point where you would stop losing weight?
Gina: There is always that dreaded plateau, or your ups and downs with weight gain. They are awful and can be discouraging, but I just kept to it. I have yet to incorporate exercise into my regimen, but I’m sure once I do a few more pounds will come off. I think it’s different for everyone. I didn’t really have a plateau, but once I lost a certain amount, the weight has been coming off slower.
The Voice: Was it hard for you to keep motivated during your first few months in college?
Gina: No. I think moving away to college made me even more motivated. I didn’t have anyone else’s eyes on me, I was accountable for everything I did and became. It also gave me a fresh new start where no one knew my size before. It was great to get a new start, and I wanted to lose even more weight because there is some seriously great shopping in San Francisco. And let’s not lie, I was not at Pres anymore, which meant boys! It is hard to have junk food always around to tempt me, but I just have to resist.
The Voice: What advice would you give to other girls trying to get healthy?
Gina: My advice is to do it for you, and do it in a safe manner. With my weight loss I did it naturally, no pills and no surgery. Just be healthy about it, and know that you can achieve what you put your mind to. Also make sure you have people who support you, like make sure your friends aren’t shoving pizza in front of your face.
The Voice: What do you think are some of the biggest benefits of losing weight?
Gina: For me, I just feel 100% better, and I have so much more self confidence whereas before I would have much rather blended into the wallpaper. I really have a sense of accomplishment, and am glad to be living a healthier life. Its also nice being able to shop in any store and buy anything I want.
The Voice: How did you end up on The Today Show?
Gina: For those of you who know my father, all the thanks goes to him for me being on the Today Show. We were in New York this summer and were in the audience outside the studio watching through the window. My dad was talking to the security guard about me, and the next thing I knew I was in Rockefeller Plaza meeting with producers and Joy about my story. The deal was I meet my weight loss goal, which was about 40 more pounds when I met her, and then they would fly us back out for the show.
The Voice: What exactly is the “Joy Fit Club”? Do you get any benefits, perks, etc?
Gina: It is just a segment of Joy Bauer’s on the Today Show. The main perk was being flown to New York for the show and being on TV, but other than that nothing else.
The Voice: What was it like meeting Kathee Lee, Meredith Vieira and Joy Bauer? being on TV?
Gina: Everyone was so nice and kind! It was fun being on TV, but I was so nervous! That’s why you guys better study your speech skills at Pres, you never know if you’ll end up on national television!
The Voice: How did you schedule in time to fly to New York in the middle of your freshman year of college?
Gina: I made sure I wasn’t missing any midterms or quizzes, and let my teachers know, but other than that I missed a few days of school. That’s the beauty of college: you don’t need permission to miss class, however I strongly discourage it.
The Voice: How early did you have to arrive at the studio on the day of the interview? What did you to do get ready and keep the nerves away?
Gina: I had to be at the studio at 7a.m. I’m sure all of you have watched High School Musical? They had me do exercises like Sharpe and Ryan did, and they had me do a runway walk—I felt ridiculous!
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Megan…..what a great story! You did an excellent job with Gina. As you remember she had started before the China trip with you. She stuck to the calorie count every day. I am very proud of Gina. It make me feel so good to see her so full of life and smiling. We had star treatment in New York with the Today show family…Thanks, Dennis Pizzo
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