This is the next profile Q and A in a series entitled
Communicators Outside the Lines: Better Yourself, Better Your Community produced by the CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee. Read past profiles at
CoSIDA.com/CommunicatorsOTL.
HAVE IDEAS OR MEMBERS TO NOMINATE FOR THIS SERIES?
If you have any ideas for this series, which will revolve around CoSIDA member volunteerism and health and wellness, please contact Goodwill and Wellness Committee chair
Chris Mitchell, Washington University in St. Louis Assistant AD for Communications, at (618) 560-9280 or
mitchell@wustl.edu.
Q&A with Olivia Coiro
Assistant Director for Athletics Communications, East Carolina
by Jeremy Rosenthal, Assistant Director of Media Relations, Indiana University
CoSIDA Goodwill and Wellness Committee Member
Coiro in the best shape of her life on a hike in Phoenix.
Olivia Coiro, one of the co-creators of the
Sparkles & Sports Blog recently opened up about her journey toward a healthier lifestyle and has proven to be an inspiration for many. One of the tools she used as motivation was the CoSIDA/NACDA 5K. Below she shares thoughts on her journey.
Q: What motivated you to make a change in your health/lifestyle?
COIRO: I had a really rough transition from Florida to North Carolina during 2016 and I had stopped taking care of myself. After accepting my job at East Carolina this past January I was still having a tough adjustment and continued to gain weight. I’ve always “ate my feelings.” I was in a new city without really knowing anyone and having my family far away was a big contributor to my struggle. But I was fortunate enough to have both my mom and sister be able to come see our women’s basketball team play at the American Conference Tournament in early March and it was there that I realized how much I had let my physical appearance go. My family both expressed that they could tell I had gained more weight since they saw me at Christmas, in the nicest way possible. My sister had told me that my mom noticed but she said she hadn’t. It might sound harsh of my family, but if you knew my mom you would understand she didn’t say it to me because she knew I was probably sensitive about it. As for my sister, she was trying to help. And she did, just not that day at the AAC Tourney.
That night after talking to my sister and seeing her and my mom, I cried in my room. I took a long hard look in the mirror and I was disgusted by myself. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s the truth. And it’s honest.
I returned home from the conference tournament and stepped on the scale. I was almost 50 pounds heavier than I had ever been, or really since the last time I was regularly stepping on a scale. Something had to change.
Q: How did you go about setting up a plan for living a healthier lifestyle?
COIRO: Remember how I said my sister was trying to help, well she really stepped up big time when she answered my hysterical phone call. She talked me through it and helped me research ways to help me find a plan that worked with my lifestyle and personality. We decided that a nutritional cleanse seemed like something I could follow. A week after starting my nutritional cleanse and new eating habits, I was able to run a mile. The week prior, I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without feeling like I would pass out.
Q: What was the hardest part about sticking with your plan and how did you stay motivated?
COIRO: PIZZA. I’m serious. As a native New Yorker I take pizza very seriously. Since the pizza in North Carolina isn’t even comparable to what I am used to, I make my own pizza. Cutting it out of my diet was the hardest. Many SIDs can relate that pizza kind of follows you everywhere. Media room or press box, bus after a road game or even a quick stop on the way home from work. Of course eliminating coffee, red meat, dairy and alcohol from my diet were challenges as well, but pizza has been the hardest.
How do I stay motivated? At first it was easy. Everything was new and I lost a lot of weight in my first two weeks. But it’s slowed down significantly, which I expected. The night before I started my program I weighed myself. The next morning, I wrote the number on a post-it and hung it on my iMac at work. Since then, every time I weigh in, which is every few weeks, I write my updated number. Seeing that post-it and the 40-number difference from the top to bottom motivates me every single day.
Q: How did signing up for the CoSIDA/NACDA Charity 5K help you achieve your goals?
COIRO: I decided to do the CoSIDA/NACDA Charity 5K as a challenge to myself. It had been almost nine years since my last organized race. Once I signed up I became focused on my goal of finishing without stopping or walking. I started to tell my friends to do it with me, which kind of made me accountable. I was like “Oh crap, I have so many people who said they would do it with me. I better not flake out on this.” And to be honest, I am happy I spread the word of it. Although a few nameless friends who said they would do it happened not to show up, it was still fun running around the convention telling everyone I would see them Tuesday morning and then seeing those smiles when you cross the finish line.
It’s crazy but I actually pre-registered for a half marathon this week. My sister did her first half in high school and she is currently training for one in October. When I was home on vacation she mentioned how cool it would be to run a half marathon together. The more thought I have put into it the more serious the idea has become. I have my sights set on The Hapalua, which is the half marathon in Hawaii in April 2018. I think it would be a cool goal to set for myself as I continue to tackle my weight loss goals and it gives me plenty of time to train.
Q: What differences have you seen in your life since you started living a healthier lifestyle?
COIRO: What haven’t I seen! I sleep better at night. My skin is clearer. My clothes fit better, and some don’t fit at all anymore because they are too big. I am a happier person overall and it’s noticeable. I wouldn’t say that I was an unhappy person before, but when you have internal battles about how you see yourself it’s really hard to put on a smile for the outside world. There have been so many positive changes for me, and I appreciate those little things more than losing weight.
Q Do you have any advice for others who are trying to lose weight?
COIRO: Stop making excuses. It’s so easy to say “I’ll start tomorrow,” or “Okay on the first day of the new month,” but let’s be honest, you will probably just find another excuse when ‘D-Day’ comes around. I was like this. I made excuses for a whole year. Everything from the weather being too hot or sensing a minor headache coming on. Start today, right now. You may be in pain for a few days after beginning to work out or you are craving unhealthy foods but stick with it. You won’t regret it. I promise J
Q: What would you tell others that have had trouble finding the motivation to live a healthier lifestyle, especially in our profession?
COIRO: The only motivation you need is yourself. Don’t do it for anyone but you. I think that’s the best, and only, advice I can give. If you are that determined to make a change, that is all the motivation you need.
Q: Tips or tricks with working long hours and late nights and still being healthy?
COIRO: I started this new lifestyle after my busy season so I can’t really go into detail about how to maintain it while traveling in season. But as far as late nights and long hours goes, find what works for you. I am an evening runner, so I like to run as a way to decompress from the work day. However, if I have a night game or a commitment after work, I run during my lunch break. I live a mile from campus so it makes going for a run, showering at home and getting back to work during a reasonable time feasible. In the summer, I can’t run in the afternoon because I will probably die of heat stroke so I force myself to run earlier in the morning or late at night in the dark.
When it comes to eating healthy, I only keep healthy snacks in my office. I also keep a canister of protein meal replacement shakes in my office so I always have a meal available. If my coworkers want to go for lunch, I make sure we go somewhere that I know has healthy options available. Since I have two meal replacement shakes a day and one meal, I usually save my meal for dinner. I’ve become a better cook since I made a decision to live a healthier lifestyle which is just another positive in this whole process.
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