Vinnie Tortorich: Keepin’ It Real

Amazingly, Vinnie’s home base is the great nation of Woodland Hills, CA, which happens to be my hometown. That little aside is representative of the direction of the conversation on this show—get Vinnie and I revv’d up and they take off in assorted directions. One thing is for sure, this guy is the real deal. He shoots straight and has no problem calling out BS when he sees it. He’s not afraid to call out Oprah and Jillian Michaels and others in the fitness game who prey upon your weaknesses and dispense ineffective advice. E.g., Oprah buying a big chunk of Weight Watchers stock in 2015, then telling her followers she’s going on Weight Watchers (again)! That’s some nasty stuff if you pause to think about it. Check out Vinnie’s Fitness Confidential show and you will see that this guy is perhaps the most prolific podcaster on the planet. He cranks out five lengthy shows every week! I appeared recently on episode one-thousand-something!

The show starts with Vinny going on a political rant, then Vinny recounting his amazing story as America’s Celebrity Trainer. He relates a crossroads in life and career that happened in 2007 when was stricken with cancer, couldn’t train clients, and was running up big medical bills. A Hollywood writer friend urged him to write a book. Vinny’s Fitness Confidential was self-published (why suck up to publishers who might dilute his message?), became a bestseller and inspired the launch of the podcast.

Thirty years ago as a New Orleans coach and trainer, Vinnie made the brilliant connection between the Atkins diet and what is today called the Compensation Theory of Exercise—the idea that calories burned during workouts don’t really help you lose weight. He has been preaching his tag line, “No Sugar, No Grains” since that time with great success. One of the most heart-warming character-revealing insights was how Vinnie helped an office admin who couldn’t afford his services to lose over 100 pounds. This caught the attention of her employers, and soon Vinnie was helping Playboy centerfolds stay trim during their 15 minutes of fame on the party circuit. Soon he became the go-to guy in Hollywood to keep people drop excess body fat and stay healthy.

Vinnie does some crazy stuff in his own life, including 500-mile ultra marathon bicycle races. He is currently training for a solo 100-mile kayak excursion from his hometown in the Louisiana Bayou to the Pacific Ocean (that’s his super bad ass kayak in the photo, what a beauty!).

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