Real Weight Loss: Jillian Diauto

Jillian Diauto, before and after/Photos provided

Name: Jillian Diauto
Age: 38
Location: Randolph
Total weight lost: Roughly 120 pounds

While trying to change her brother’s life, Jillian Diauto ended up transforming hers forever.

Since childhood, Diauto had watched her older brother, Jeremy, battle drug and alcohol addiction. In 2010, a time when he was using heroin between five and 20 times a day, he attempted suicide. Savings depleted from caring for her brother, Diauto was forced to admit him to Bridgewater Correctional Complex’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center for treatment.

“When he came home, I said, ‘Change your life. I don’t care how hard it is. Face your demons head-on,'” Diauto says. “As soon as the words came out of my mouth, it just clicked that I was going through the same thing.”

Except Diauto’s addiction didn’t involve drugs or alcohol—she realized that, for years, she had been self-medicating with food, leading to a lifetime of obesity. For Jeremy’s sake and her own, Diauto decided to change.

“I said, ‘I’m going to show him that it’s going to be the hardest thing you ever do, but the most rewarding thing you ever do,'” she remembers.

Almost immediately, Diauto cleaned up her diet and began training for the Boston Marathon, which she ran in 2012. That victory under her belt, Diauto moved on to a new goal, one that would remain a constant in her life: boxing.

“I had wanted to box, literally, for 12 years, but I was 265 pounds and I was a girl and I had no confidence,” she says. “I did end up doing that, and I immediately fell in love and started boxing five days a week.”

That love didn’t fade—quite the opposite. Diauto is now well on her way to becoming a professional boxer, a journey she’s documented on her Facebook and Instagram pages, both called Living Inspired with Jillian. It’s been a whirlwind ride, but one Diauto says she wouldn’t give up for the world.

“It’s been an amazing journey, and I’ve been a stellar example to my brother of how you can change your life,” she says. “It took him longer to get it and to understand the addiction piece of it, but he did get it and he’s doing amazing.” He’s now three years sober, and the siblings are planning to do outreach to others struggling with substance abuse issues.

Here are the healthy fixes Diauto made to change her life for good:

Diet:

Diauto cut out sugar and processed foods (“If you want to eat in my house, you’ve got to cook”), and focuses on eating many small, high-protein meals with plenty of fruits and vegetables. She allows herself candy on Fridays, and one cheat meal a week. As her social media followers know, she’s also a huge proponent of meal prep Sunday. “I live out of Tupperware,” she laughs. “If I didn’t cook and plan, I would definitely fail.”

Fitness:

In addition to her intense boxing regimen, which has her in the gym after work just about every day, Diauto runs three to four mornings a week. It’s a grueling schedule, but Diauto’s commitment is unwavering. “I have pictures of me as a child and as a teenager, and you can see in my smile and my eyes that it’s just pain,” she says. “I remember that girl so vividly, and she missed out on a lot of things. I will make sure, every day for the rest of my life, that I make up to that girl the things that she missed out on.”