Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Surviving illness, making a difference
College eating disorder leads to unique wellness business.
SPRINGFIELD » Jaclyn DiGregorio was a healthy, well-rounded athlete when she left her hometown of Springfield in 2013 to attend Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The Springfield High School graduate, who academically ranked fourth in her class, scored herself a full scholarship to one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the country. Smart and personable, the star student also excelled in soccer and lacrosse, was elected a SHS class officer, and served as the 2013 chairperson of the annual Steve Stefani/Springfield High School Dance Marathon.
Not knowing a single person when she arrived at Georgetown, it didn’t take DiGregorio long to develop friendships with other students. She also developed some brand new, not-sohealthy eating habits.
“It seemed like everyone there was following some kind of fad diet, especially the female students,” DiGregorio explained. “Soon, being on one of these crazy fad diets looked normal to me because I was surrounded by others who were constantly focusing on eating whatever the trendy diet of the day dictated.”
Although she became obsessed with diet plans and excessive exercise during her freshman year — just like her classmates — rather than lose weight, she gained 30 pounds. DiGregorio would restrict and binge, restrict and binge, replacing her former healthy diet with a poor diet which looked “normal,” and even healthy on the surface.
Wanting to shed the pounds that she accumulated, DiGregorio tapped into one of the bestkept secrets on most college campuses. She visited a registered dietician. It was, perhaps, one of the best appointments that she ever made, she said.
“Mostly every college has a registered dietician on campus and most are totally free to students if they have a meal plan,” DiGregorio stated. “Students should take advantage of this
“During my first two years of college, I dealt with an emotionally and physically vicious cycle of overly restrictive diets resulting in binge eating. I gained weight, and I lost confidence, happiness, passion and my sense of self-worth.” — Cuspit owner Jaclyn DiGregorio of Springfield
valuable service, but the majority do not know that these dietician consultations are available to them.”
DiGregorio leaned that she had an eating disorder, more specifically called “Binge Eating Disorder.” BED is a serious eating disorder in which people consume unusually large amounts of food and feel outof-control and unable to stop eating. DiGregorio said that she would binge on ice cream, for example, and eat it repeatedly until she felt stuffed and then starve herself dieting after the shame and regret about the over-indulgence set in.
“During my first two years of college, I dealt with an emotionally and physically vicious cycle of overly restrictive diets resulting in binge eating,” DiGregorio said honestly. “I gained weight, and I lost confidence, happiness, passion and my sense of self-worth.”
Until she sat down with the dietician and talked about a sensible meal plan and how to reset her body to a healthy eating rhythm, it was a vicious cycle. The dietician also helped DiGregorio see for herself how the poor eating habits were directly linked to her feelings of low selfconfidence and insecurity.
DiGregorio set herself up on a program to re-nourish and re-educate her mind and body. As a result of her experience, she later developed The CUSP Method, a sustainable approach to health, based on psychology of eating behavior and cuttingedge nutritional research.
CUSP is an acronym for the steps that it takes for a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Concentrate on what your body is in the mood for; Understand what the main food groups in your crav-
ing are; Supplement with what’s missing; and Portion accordingly to your body’s hunger cues.
“I honestly didn’t realize that I had an eating disorder until I stepped off the merry-go-round to realize the cycle I put my body and mind through,” she confessed. “I figured, if I had this issue, most of the other excessive dieters and exercisers around me must have it too and not even realize. I guessed that millions of young women across the country were struggling with the same things I struggled with. And the worst part was, there were no resources to teach these women how to lead a healthier and more confident life at such a critical time for self-growth. If women aren’t able to develop a high-level of selfconfidence in formative years, they will carry these insecurities with them for the rest of their lives. Without teaching women to be confident at a young age, we are teaching them that it’s okay not to go for that job, not to pursue their passions, and not to stand up for themselves even when it’s most difficult. Realizing this was my ‘CUSP’ moment, my turning point.”
During her senior year at Georgetown, DiGregorio took an entrepreneur course in which only 15 students from the entire university are chosen to participate. She said that even when she was a little girl, she wanted to own her own business so it was only fitting that she began to work toward realizing her dream. Fueled by the goal of helping others, she became a certified personal trainer and a nutrition coach. After graduation, with a desire to share her knowledge and experience with others, the 21-year-old Georgetown alum, armed with a B.S. degree in Marketing and Business Administration, launched “Cuspit.”
In the first year of business, backed by strong selfconfidence and a balanced physical and mental wellbeing, DiGregorio published her first book, “The CUSP Method: Your Guide to Balanced Portions & a Healthy Life,” available in paperback and e-book. “The CUSP Method” became an Amazon bestseller in its category and a No. 1 new release when launched in April 2017. Sales have been brisk ever since. The entrepreneur used the capital earned through her book sales, and $20,000 in funds raised through Kickstarter, the crowdfunding platform for creative projects, to help fund the development of a new Cuspit educational/wellness app. A third place prize of $15,000 added to the capital, and came from a Leonsis Family prize for entrepreneurship at Georgetown.
DiGregorio said the Cuspit mobile app, already gaining in popularity, keeps those wanting a healthy, balanced life, on the right track with a “young woman’s one stop shop for managing wellness.” The app includes recipes for easy, balanced meals designed by three knowledgeable dieticians and customized to dietary preferences; convenient, under 24-minute workouts developed by Kevin Miller of Springfield, the trainer of Villanova University’s women’s soccer teams; and weekly challenges that focus on stress management and mindfulness.
DiGregorio has 6,400 followers on Instagram and writes a blog, as well as holds group classes on a private Facebook Page. Her current class, “Heal Your Relationship With Food,” sold out and she has another one forming. She also developed a Cuspit line of apparel. To keep up with her social media platforms, blog entries and other tasks, she gets help from about 15 digital interns. The Cuspit founder is also a certified one-on-one nutrition coach and is always open to taking on new clients.
DiGregorio has crisscrossed the country over the past two years, speaking about Cuspit at more than 75 colleges and universities including: the University of Pennsylvania, Villanova, West Chester University, Penn State, Bucknell, University of Delaware, New York University, University of Connecticut and many more. She has also shared the important message at local gyms and with high school students and young millennial employees at company workplaces. She even started a “Cuspit Club” to offer ongoing support to students on their wellness journeys at the University of Delaware and hopes the trend will catch on at other campuses.
“I feel totally confident to share all of my failures and portray myself honestly so students and others can relate to what I’ve gone through and can visualize a way to a healthy lifestyle,” the Cuspit founder stated.
She hopes to continue her studies in the coming year to add Registered Dietician to her list of credentials. She has ideas on how she will expand Cuspit, and hopes to write more books on subjects that will interest anyone wanting to improve their health and wellness.
“My main goal is always to empower young women to be healthy, find balance in their lives and build their confidence,” DiGregorio stated. “These are the three Cuspit keys to overall peace and happiness.”