Man changes lifestyle in support of diabetic father

Muskego - Rarely does what goes around come around so fast, as happened to James Biancardi, 24, of Muskego.

About this time last year, Biancardi, a lifelong robust partaker of the bounty of the table, swore off that bounty in an act of love and solidarity with his dad, Rob, who had just been diagnosed with diabetes.

Dad's menu changed dramatically and Biancardi determined to change, too, and be an encouragement to his father.

When you're doing something hard, said the devoted son, "It's nice to have other people doing it with you."

No sooner did he jump on the healthy bandwagon, though, but his expression of love brought good things back to him in a rush. He found he had lost 50 pounds by Christmas.

Biancardi is much happier at his 185 pounds on his 6-foot frame and his dad's blood sugar is well under control just with diet and exercise.

"I'm very, very proud of him," Biancardi said.

And he attributes his own weight loss success to his father.

While the son wanted to be an encouragement to the father, he found, "He set an example for me."

Also, his steadfast commitment to his father enabled him to stay with healthy eating and exercise long enough to see results. And those results fired him up to claw off the rest of the weight and keep it off for nearly a year.

So, suddenly there was no more yo-yo dieting.

"Once I started, I wanted to keep seeing changes," he said. "I used a scale at first but decided I didn't want to obsess over numbers. I saw the results in the mirror."

This Thanksgiving will truly be a time of celebration of love for the family, if not a celebration of culinary excess.

Instead of heaping dressing on his plate with zest, piling food on as high as he could and then covering it all with gravy like he used to, Biancardi plans to exercise the same moderation he did last Thanksgiving. He will have a scoop of dressing, white turkey meat, a baked potato with butter substitute and no gravy.

"You don't need to cover everything in heavy gravy," he said. He discovered lots of wonderful natural flavors in food when he didn't hide them under gravies and sauces, he said.

The natural flavors that are great all by themselves, he said. The former over-indulger said he actually likes eating like a natural man, focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables, no sauces and no processed foods.

Beating the cravings

But don't deprive yourself of things in healthy eating, he advises. That's how cravings win, he said, just limit things. So, he'll indulge in a small slice of pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving but he'll slather it in diet whipped topping.

This time around he has conquered the one big thing that always conquered him before. That is when he falls off his healthy lifestyle, he doesn't just figure everything is ruined so he goes ahead and eats everything he wants. Now if he falls, he gets right back in the game.

"Don't feel bad about it, just keep kicking," said the new believer in healthy living.

In addition to eating like a natural man, exercise has become a regular part of his life. He does 45 minutes of circuit weight training three times a week and makes room for as much other exercise as he can such as swimming, running and even a cardio boxing class.

Little did he know that his unselfish act of love would give him not only a new body, but a new career.

New body, new career

His experiences finding a healthier way to live inspired him to become a personal trainer. He now has earned certification in the field and sees clients in their homes, evaluating their fitness and offering exercise regimens to help them improve.

Although he stresses he isn't a nutritionist, Biancardi always tells his clients what he did that helped him lose almost half a person.

With the upbeat outlook of a motivational speaker, he said, "I just want a chance to spread the word."

Getting healthy doesn't have to be hard, he declared. People don't need powders or pills. They just need to enjoy the richness of what nature provides in the form of fresh fruits, vegetables and meats that aren't smothered in high-calorie sauces, he said.

Biancardi does his personal training business called JMBPT for James Michael Biancardi Personal Training, alongside his landscaping business.

With his new passion for health, he has created a Facebook page posting nutrition and fitness tips, as well as diabetes information. To help others be healthy, he also has pledged to donate 5 cents to the Muskego food pantry for everyone who "likes" his Facebook page (J.M.B.P.T.).

"I would like to reach at least $1,000 donated," he said.

- Jane Ford-Stewart

MORE ON HOW HE DID IT

James Biancardi now a personal trainer, shares tips that enabled him to lose 50 pounds in just a few weeks last fall and keep them off:

Come to grips with your sweet tooth - Try Greek yogurt. It's low-calorie and has more protein than regular yogurt. "It feels like you're eating more, and the protein fills you up more. I don't get hungry as often."

Pineapple, grapes and melon can satisfy a sweet tooth, also diet whipped topping on a tiny slice of pie.

Have a little bit of things you like or you will feel deprived.

"I love all ice cream." But as a substitute he's found Yo Mama! frozen yogurt shop in Wauwatosa where you can pile all kinds of fruit on top of frozen yogurt. He used to be a devotee of turtle sundaes and brownie custard sundaes. Now he's a frozen yogurt man and swears he doesn't feel lethargic after eating a big yogurt sundae as he did after those heavy, gooey treats.

You can eat on the go - It's best to anticipate a meal on the go and make it yourself at home. But if you have to stop for fast food, many restaurants now have healthful choices, especially McDonald's. He orders their grilled chicken sandwich without the mayonnaise and then requests a packet of honey mustard. The combination is dynamite, he said. And instead of fries, he orders a yogurt parfait with lots of fruit. "That fills me up as well as a Big Mac and fries." At Subway he grabs a 6-inch roasted chicken breast sub, hold the mayo but pile on the vegetables.

You can have comfort food - Biancardi likes to cook and has found that most comfort food can have a healthy and satisfying twin if you are patient enough to experiment. But one thought that helped keep him from reaching for calorie-laden comfort food is the thought that no matter what went wrong during the day, the one thing he could control is what he ate.