Sparta lawyer makes motion to revamp her health

SPARTA — Gina Apostolico, of Sparta had always been physically active. A former dancer and gymnast, she had never struggled with a fitness routine or her weight until she gave birth.

"I had succeeded in losing a significant amount of weight a few times over the past 13 years but was unable to keep it off as a busy mom with three young boys and too many excuses,” she said.

Four-and-a-half years ago, the Montclair State University and Widener University School of Law graduate added a very demanding job to the mix: practicing law at O’Toole Fernandez Weiner Van Lieu. The job entails more than 50 hours a week plus a long daily commute that lands Apostolico home about 6:30 p.m. She saw healthy eating habits slipping into a state of inconsistency and resigned herself to the fact that finding room for fitness on top of it all seemed, simply, unrealistic.

Apostolico did work out once-a-week, and her husband saw how she loved a particular Saturday morning spin class at Sparta Athletic Club. It was because of the instructor, Charlene Beebe. Unbeknownst to Apostolico, her husband took it upon himself to see if Beebe might be able to do private training with his wife, thinking that she could be just the motivation she needed.

No excusesBeebe had availability, and he bought his wife a late Mother's Day gift in the form of personal training sessions.

“All I was thinking was, how the heck am I going to fit another thing into my day?” Apostolico said.

Nevertheless, in mid-June of last year, she had her initial consultation and found herself making the commitment to reach her goal.

Given her schedule, time was a huge issue, but Beebe accommodated Apostolico by fitting her into a 5:30 a.m. time slot.

“I had no more excuses — I wasn’t giving birth to any more babies and being in my late 40’s I knew that there was no time like the present,” Apostolico said.

Making the decision to commit and to get started was the hardest part.

“It's also difficult when that alarm goes off at 4:45 a.m. after being up late finishing up my legal work,” she added.

Knowing how her mind operates, Apostolico told Beebe that she was an attorney.

“I told her that I am a rule follower, so tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it,” Apostolico said.

Not wanting to waste time or money, Apostolico took, the fitness plan very seriously and put her trust in her trainer. A regime of two weekly one-hour 5:30 a.m. sessions began. Apostolico also added Beebe's Monday 6 a.m. TRX class and her Saturday spin class into the program.

Mixing it upOne of the tricks to Apostolico's success has been keeping things interesting by varying the workouts.

“My workouts include weight training and strength training through use of equipment at the gym, but we also use the exercise and medicine balls, bands, the ropes while also mixing in some short bursts of cardio on the power mill to get my heart rate up,” Apostolico said.

She's also supposed to do at least 30 minutes of cardio a day in her gym at home which usually means a step machine which she does at night sometimes as late as 10 p.m. Sunday is her day of rest.

Apostolico's program is a work-in-progress and is tweaked according to her needs.

She said, “The key for me was sticking to the nutrition plan and being consistent every day.”

Just because their session is done for the day or it's a day when they don't meet doesn't mean Beebe isn't on the case. She reaches out to Apostolico daily with encouraging text messages and nutrition hints.

“As a working mother like me and also in the same age group — [Beebe] is very empathetic to the issues we women all face. It is so nice to have team like we do,” Apostolico said.

Since June 2014, Apostolico has lost more than 32 pounds, 17 inches and more than eight percent of her body weight. Her former bad habits consisted of skipping a meal and then eating too much at the next meal, and she said her worst bad habit was her love of sugary sweets — which included chocolate and Swedish fish.

“I now plan out my meals each day and take a lunch tote to work filled with healthy snacks," Apostolico said. "I eat five to seven times a day and now have my portions under control. Do I have a little dark chocolate or sugary snack as a treat sometimes? Of course. If I go off track a bit, it’s easy to get back on when you know what to do.”

Under the wireApostolico works as a litigator, so stress is a part of the job.

“We’re always up against hard deadlines,” she said.

In the past, when she was stressed, she wouldn’t eat which would play games with her body and then lead to overeating later on.

“I now eat at regular times throughout the day and snack on healthy foods like almonds, Greek yogurt, apples and carrots — and also drink five bottles of water per day,” Apostolico said.

This significant weight loss has resulted in Apostolico feeling more energetic throughout the day, and she said, “I am more focused, more confident and certainly more comfortable in my work suits.”

If she's really strapped for time, Apostolico said she falls back on a workout Beebe recommended calls the ELF which consists of 10 burpees, 20 squats, 30 pushups, 40 sit ups or crunches and a two minute plank repeated three times.

“You can do these exercises anywhere in no time flat," Apostolico said. "It’s better than doing nothing.”

Apostolico's husband has been very supportive by adjusting his morning schedule to accommodate her which includes juggling an early bussing schedule for the boys.

“He works out daily and is very encouraging and certainly happy with my results," Apostolico said. "One of our favorite things to do is dine out — so we still do that, but I just make much more healthier choices from the menu.”