After a long, brutal divorce, Lisa Fisco gained 100 pounds and decided that something had to change.  So the former Emmy award-winning producer took a yellow pad and her kids to Alaska and made a list of every thing that made her happy as a child.

She kept coming back to athletics and the Olympics – she used to weight lift with her dad for fun.  When Fisco came home, she found an Olympic weight lifting coach on the internet and told him she wanted to go for the gold.  That was 2 1/2 years ago.  If she makes team 2012, she will be the oldest female Olympian to compete as a weight lifter at 52.

How do you describe your work? “You mean my workout?  It really changed my life.  I was a television producer (Emmy Award winning!) for years and this flip flopped my life.  Normally I workout from 9-12 and have a grueling workout, lifting hundreds of pounds.  You’re really tired when that’s done. Late afternoon I’m back in the gym again.  I don’t recover as quickly as someone half my age.”

What three adjectives best describe you? “Tenacious.  Competitive.  Resilient.”

Cats, dogs, birds … describe your pets? “I have two Rottweilers and they’re like my kids – sometimes I like them better.  I love them and I feel safe around them.  Unfortunately they think they’re lap dogs.”

Favorite season? “Summer.  I’m from Michigan so I grew up with  a tonne of rain and snow.”

Name a city you’d love to visit.  Why? “Rome.  My father was born and raised in Italy and I share his house with my brother and sister.  It’s 200 years old.  And one of my aunts is a Mother Superior in Vatican city.  As a child I would go there and visit her frequently.”

What’s the best thing about being single? “Independence.  Freedom.  I love the flexibility I have – not having to cater to someone.  I might have trouble with it if I get married again.”

Describe your ideal “Girls’ Night Out.” “I haven’t had a real girl’s night out because when you’re training, if you’re not in bed by 8 or 9 you pay for it in the gym.  But I love going out to eat and I swear I was Asian in a past life because I could live on sushi.  So, maybe going to a Thai restaurant or for sushi.”

What’s the nicest thing a friend (or friends) have done for you? “I had a nasty neighbor and I redid my backyard.  He came over and put up a plastic fence across the yard and claimed he owned half.  He knew I was a single mom and he knew I didn’t have back up. A friend of my friend, who was raised by a single mom, heard my story.  He was an attorney.  He came over, with two of his biggest friends and as an attorney, told the guy to never to bother me again.  I will always appreciate that.  Never heard from the neighbor again.”

What do you do for “Lisa” time? “Sleep pretty much.  I cherish it and I don’t get much of it and also massages, especially after lifting weights.”

What’s the best advice you ever received? “Stay away from negative people because you can get so much of that with what I’m doing.  People either find it very fascinating or they’re like, `what are you crazy?’”

What quality do you admire most in a man? “I’ve learned that when you find a really kind man – and going through a really bad divorce – and not only that but being a reality based producer.  If you can find a guy who is really kind, that is such a rare quality these days and if you find that, you’ve tapped into gold.”

What quality do you admire most in a woman? “I guess it’s the same.  All my dear friends I find are really rare.  My good friends will drop anything and everything to do stuff for me.”

Who are your real life heroes? “I’ve been always attracted to people who are out-of- the-box, that go above and beyond the status quo.  There is a south Korean weight lifter Jang Mi-Ran.  She’s a heavyweight lifter and comes from a long line of weight lifters.  Women have to prove themselves differently for status but this girl, she puts her whole heart and soul into what she does.  She lifts the equivalent of 14 cars per day.  The mindset alone to do this blows me away.”

What is your guilty pleasure? “I guess it would just be chocolate.”

What is your biggest fear? “Not spending enough time with my kids.  Now that my youngest is 14 and has a girlfriend and jeez!  Just trying to make them happy and allow them time with their friends and not lose them too.  I’m not quite ready for that yet but yet, leaving them room to breath.”

If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be? “Probably losing my identity after and during my divorce and allowing myself to gain so much weight.  Forgetting about taking care of me.”

Other than your own talents, what talent would you most like to have? “I’ve always wanted to be multi-lingual.”

What is your motto? Or what words do you live by? “Procrastination is the killer of dreams.”