Let’s go back to where it all began!

Umm, HELLO!

Welcome to Skinny Bella! I am so excited to have you here on this new chapter of my content creator journey. When I began making content, I thought to myself “why are you doing this? Nobody will care what you have to say!” I almost let insecurity hold me back and refrain from posting my first video, but I am so glad I ignored that inner, doubtful voice. I have completely exceeded my own self expectation, and I’m excited for what the future holds! Let me tell you how I got here:

I grew up in a Sicilian American family, but I am third generation. We don’t speak the language or uphold the customs, but the main thing that clung my family to our Italian heritage was FOOD! My dad’s side has been in the catering and restaurant business for decades! My grandfather started his catering hall many years ago and passed his business down to my aunts. My father was a very talented cook and host, but he made his money in real estate development, and eventually, sales. My mother is a pediatric nurse, she retired in March of 2020, right before shit hit the fan! I have one sibling, a younger sister who now lives in the Big Apple, working in loans and finance while chasing her acting dreams.

Growing up, I always was a performer. I loved musicals like The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, and Annie. I am told around the age of 3, my parents were entertaining company and I brought it upon myself to jump on the hearth of the fireplace and belt out “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” and that was my first live performance. I grew up dreaming of big lights and Broadway. My mother enrolled me in acting classes, singing lessons, and dance. I always loved performing and applause has always been my biggest addiction. I love to be onstage and entertain. I did plays, musicals, joined the choir in school. My voice and stage presence got me a lot of opportunities to perform over the years!

My parents divorced when I was around 13. My mother met a wonderful man about a year or so later who eventually became my stepdad. I always say I was blessed with two dads! My mother is my biggest inspiration in life. She is the strongest person I know, and I want to be just like her “when I grow up!” My dad, I got a lot of great qualities from. He was “larger than life, and funny as hell,” as one of his friends said. He was an excellent cook, entertainer, and salesman. He passed away on April 9, 2015 and it was very hard on me. Now I like to think he’s watching over me and he is very proud of the woman I’ve become.

In 2012, at the age of 25, I moved to New York City to pursue my dream of acting and singing. I got a lot of gigs, even got a regular background role on the second season of Orange is the New Black on Netflix. I also auditioned for a Weight Watchers commercial and got a call back, but I didn’t book the gig. If only I knew what was to come more than ten years later!

One day in spring of 2015, I was finished with my waitressing shift at PJ Clarke’s in the financial district of Manhattan. My aunt called me and told me my father had just checked himself into hospice. My aunts and cousin booked me a one-way flight home to say goodbye. I made it just in time to spend my dad’s last night on earth by his side. I’m so grateful I was able to have this experience and I will never be able to properly thank my aunts and cousin for providing me with this opportunity. My dad didn’t tell me how bad things were because he knew I was so happy living in the city. I ended up moving home to be closer to my family, because it was then I realized how important family is. I learned at that time that we are on borrowed time from the minute we’re born!

I never struggled with my weight growing up. It was in my 20’s where I realized I had to watch what I eat. Many of my family members struggle with obesity and type 2 diabetes. I didn’t take my weight seriously. I was either going up or going down at any point in my life. I spent some years at a healthy weight, and then I’d gain, classic yo-yo dieter. As I say, “I have the fat gene.”

In 2016, when I was in my late 20’s, I met the man who would become my husband. I was in a very dark place one year out from losing my father, then three months later I lost my best friend since third grade to alcoholism. My husband inspired me to want to be my best self and rise above any life challenges I was faced with. Because of him, I completely changed my mentality on life and decided to attend school to work toward a degree in nursing! I was at a healthy weight when I met my husband, but by the time we got married I had gained 60 pounds. I was happy! I didn’t even realize how big I had gotten until after my wedding was over and saw the pictures. I still have never posted my professional wedding photos on social media. It was a big slap in the face to see how big I had gotten. I was in the throes of a horrible binge eating disorder and in deep denial.

Seeing myself in my wedding photos wasn’t enough to inspire me to lose weight. In fact, it did the opposite. A year after my wedding, I started nursing school. In the first 15 weeks of school, I realized I had put on almost 10 pounds. This was finally the turning point. I thought to myself, “okay, Lia. This can go one of two ways. You can either start losing or continue gaining. It was then, I spoke to my uncle about his weight loss journey with Weight Watchers. He lost 80 pounds on WW and kept it off without ever exercising. Since we’re from Michigan, he sold me when he said “if you want to have a piece of Jets Pizza on Weight Watchers, YOU CAN HAVE ONE!” That’s all I needed to hear.

I knew I would never be able to stick to a strict diet that cuts out certain food groups. As Sophia Loren said, “I’d rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size zero.” I knew I would never magically become a clean eating, exercising, healthy person overnight. I needed to make slow, sustainable changes to ensure my success.

I joined Weight Watchers on January 1, 2020. About two weeks into the lifestyle, I fell ill with appendicitis and ended up in the hospital unable to eat or drink for 4 days and on IV antibiotics. When I received my discharge papers, I saw my BMI and the word “OBESE.” That moment made me determined to change my life. Even after having lost 10 lbs, I was still obese? Talk about a wakeup call! The pandemic hit a few months later, and I dove headfirst into controlling every ounce of food I put into my body. I was home 24/7, studying to be a nurse and was able to weigh and cook every morsel I ate. This time was very eye opening for me, and it really helped me change my relationship with food. By the time we were able to be out in public again, food no longer controlled the narrative of my life. I was finally in the driver’s seat. The weight loss was slow, but steady. By November 2021, I had lost 55 pounds and then the WW program changed a bit from the green plan to Personal Points. I no longer felt that WW was serving me. At that time, I was nowhere near my goal. However, I was the thinnest I’ve been in years and to me, that was good enough! I felt good, I looked good, and was grateful for all I learned. I stopped tracking my points and was simply mindful of my food intake. That method worked for quite some time!

In February of 2023, my husband and I purchased our first home. My house has a gorgeously remodeled kitchen, where I had room to store my KitchenAid stand mixer and my Cuisinart food processor on the granite countertops. I went to town making delicious recipes! Pasta, cookies, couscous salad, desserts, you name it, I turned into a chef in my new kitchen. But I didn’t realize I was overeating. I would be making cookie dough at home, eating the dough, baking the cookies, then bringing the cookies to my coworkers and sharing the cookies with them. By July, I had put on 18 pounds.

My husband’s birthday is August 5^th, so for his birthday weekend I indulged in the Italian restaurant dinner and ice cream cake to celebrate him. That following Monday I went back on Weight Watchers and I haven’t looked back. I’ve lost about 35 pounds since then, my math isn’t exact, but in total I’ve lost a total of 70 pounds through the Weight Watchers program. The entire time, I’ve indulged in cravings and foods I love to eat, just in a more responsible way.

Being on a nursing journey for over 5 years, in 2024, I began to miss the stage and performance. Many theaters have shut down due to the pandemic, and my 12-hour shift schedule made it difficult to have the availability to attend rehearsal for semi-professional and community theatre. I was interested in content creation but had no idea what the hell I’d create content about! I decided to join a TikTok mentorship program at the beginning of 2024 for a $50 investment. I thought, “what do I have to lose?” The mentor told me to focus my niche on lifestyle and food. Since I was currently losing weight with Weight Watchers, I chose to focus my content on that journey. Little did I know what was ahead! January 2, 2024 I posted my first video about my favorite Boar’s Head products and the video initially flopped. Today it has over 650,000 views!

Since January, I’ve grown my following on TikTok to over 27k followers and on Instagram, over 38k followers! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would grow this quickly. I’m so grateful for all of you who have joined me and showed support on this journey. This is only the beginning! Thank you for being here, and thank you for all the kind, encouraging words. My followers inspire me every day, the way they tell me I inspire them. It’s truly humbling to be so new on my journey and having success. You ain’t seen nothing yet!!