When Monica Di Giacomo stepped on the scale at 320 pounds, she was at her lowest point—physically and mentally. Her blood pressure was dangerously high, her cholesterol levels had soared into the 400s, and her doctor warned her that without immediate changes, she was on track for a heart attack.That blunt conversation became the wake-up call. “My doctor told me she was afraid I was going to have a heart attack,” Di Giacomo recalls to USAToday. “She told me that if I didn’t do something, this was it.”Today, a decade later, Di Giacomo weighs 137 pounds, has 14% body fat, and is preparing to walk across the stage in her first bodybuilding competition. But her journey has been about far more than a number on the scale.
Warning and a new beginning
On her 37th birthday in 2015, Di Giacomo’s longtime physician sat her down with brutal honesty. The statistics—prediabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension—weren’t new. But hearing that she might not survive another year if she didn’t act finally hit her.Together, they mapped out a plan: gastric sleeve surgery, nutritional counseling, and lifestyle changes. By spring, she underwent the procedure. “People think oh it’s just have the surgery and you’re good,” she says. “But that’s not the way it goes. It’s not some magic surgery you have and then everything is fine. You need to change your life.”Determined to exercise, Di Giacomo went to a Miami gym looking for help. But one by one, trainers turned her down. “Each one said no,” she says. “They were afraid to work with me. I was this morbidly obese woman with high blood pressure, all the bad conditions.”Still, she showed up. At first, it was two days a week on a stationary bike and treadmill. “My goal wasn’t to look good,” she says. “I just wanted to be alive.”Eventually, she found a coach willing to take her on: trainer Marino Di Giacomo. He created a structured plan built on nutrition and strength training, an approach that went against everything she thought she knew about dieting.
Learning that food wasn’t the enemy
For years, Di Giacomo believed eating less was the only way to lose weight. But under her coach’s guidance, she began eating real meals, protein-rich foods, complex carbs, and healthy fats.
“Everything I knew about food and dieting was a lie,” she says. “I had this perception that ‘oh you lift weights; you’re going to look like a man.’ I thought you needed to eat like a little bird.”Instead of starving herself, she now eats around 2,500 calories a day, with 147 grams of protein and 321 grams of carbs. The shift fueled her workouts and supported muscle growth.
Strength training and mental resilience
Weightlifting became central to her transformation. Weeks focused on building muscle, other weeks on building confidence. There were tears along the way. “She barely said a word,” her coach remembers of those early sessions. “She didn’t smile for maybe the first year, until she lost 100 pounds. But she kept showing up.”Even on days when self-doubt crept in, she pushed through. “It was just her and the barbell, which doesn’t care if you are grumpy or got yelled at during work,” her coach says. That consistency allowed her to shed more than 120 pounds, tighten her body through surgery, and eventually leave behind her medications.
From client to partner
The transformation wasn’t just physical. Over time, Di Giacomo and her coach fell in love. In 2022, she married Marino. “She was my heaviest client and now she is my fittest,” he says. “And now she has my heart.”Today, she not only trains but also supports other women in midlife to prioritize their health.
Competing for herself, and others
As she prepares for her bodybuilding debut in Fort Lauderdale, Di Giacomo reflects on her journey. She no longer hides behind baggy sweatshirts. She dances on the treadmill in a cropped tank top, proud of the body she’s built.“I’m so happy now. I don’t just love myself. I really love myself,” she says. “Even my stretchmarks are cute!”For Di Giacomo, the before photo is still her favorite. “She’s the reason I’m alive,” she says. “She did the work. She’s why I’m here.”