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Fitness Confidential Paperback – June 27, 2013
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- Print length248 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateJune 27, 2013
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.62 x 8.5 inches
- ISBN-101939337925
- ISBN-13978-1939337924
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Product details
- Publisher : Telemachus Press, LLC; 5/28/13 edition (June 27, 2013)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 248 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1939337925
- ISBN-13 : 978-1939337924
- Item Weight : 11.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.62 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #94,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,166 in Exercise & Fitness (Books)
- #4,282 in Memoirs (Books)
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About the author

Writer/Producer Dean Lorey was nominated for an Emmy for his work on ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. His film and TV credits include MAJOR PAYNE, THE CRAZY ONES (starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar), MY WIFE AND KIDS, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 9: JASON GOES TO HELL and many more. His first novel, NIGHTMARE ACADEMY: MONSTER HUNTERS, won "Best Children's Novel of the Year, 2008″ from the SCIBA. The series is in development at Universal Studios and is published in over 20 countries. His most recent book is FITNESS CONFIDENTIAL, co-authored with Vinnie Tortorich. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two kids.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2017
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Vinnie explains a couple of things. First, your metabolism can either use sugars (glucose) or fat for fuel. It's easier to use glucose from the bloodstream, but as long as your body is running off the sugars you won't burn any stored fat and won't lose weight. So if you can reduce the sugars from your bloodstream and prime your body to burn fat, it will burn the fat from your last meal and then continue burning stored fats for fuels. Burning these stored fats is how you lose weight.
Secondly, he explains how the grains that we eat are quickly converted to sugars during digestion--the same sugars that we're trying to prevent our body from lazily fueling itself with.
So what is his answer? Avoid all sugars and all grains. He calls this No Sugars No Grains, or NSNG. Additionally, add some natural fats back to your diet. For example, cook your eggs in butter instead of unhealthy cooking sprays or oils. Fats like these will prime your body to fuel itself from stored fat instead of sugars.
Does it work? It has sure worked for me. Not only have I lost 23 pounds so far, I've seen a change in my waistline that I've never seen before. My pants have always been tight and I've never had to wear a belt. Then the pants got loose so I had to grab a belt from the closet. Then I had to tighten it a notch. I've gone from no belt ever to tightening it three notches already. And this is in spite of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now the Christmas chowing season. I haven't felt any sense of deprivation whatsoever, I'm just eating different foods that I like.
About the first half of the book talks about foods. The next half focuses on exercise. Then there's a weird bonus half that I wasn't expecting. It was actually pretty funny for me. At the close of the second half of the book he basically tells the reader that the book is over and you're welcome to stop reading if you want. But then he launches into a semi-unrelated story that blew me away. First I need to set the scene for how this next bit looked from my perspective. I live in the city of Santa Clarita, CA, in northern L.A. County. One of the things that my family does for fun is we take our RV out to the local desert and camp and ride motorcycles off-road. We camp in remote areas and see some places that most of the planet has never even heard of. We're kind of halfway between the town of Mojave and the entrance to Death Valley. So I was laying in bed one morning in camp reading this book on my Kindle reader. It seemed like there was still quite a bit of content to go, so I looked at the table of contents to see what the next chapters would be covering. I did a double-take when I looked at the Contents; it felt like the book had a virus and somehow my personal information had leaked into it. I don't have the book with me at the moment, but the Contents of that final third "half" went something like "Santa Clarita to Antelope Valley" (remember that Santa Clarita is where I live), "Antelope Valley to California City", "California City to Trona", and "Trona to Death Valley". It was so shocking to see my home town listed, then one of the places we camp (California City), and then the nearest town to where we were camped at the moment, Trona. Nobody has heard of Trona. That place is so small the high school football team literally plays their games on a dirt field.
It turned out that after the main body of the book was complete, Vinnie shared the story of his participation in the grueling "Furnace Creek 508", which is a 508 mile cycling race from my city through Furnace Creek in Death Valley and ends in Twentynine Palms (Google it!). What a monster. I can't believe he rode this race, but I'm really glad that he shared the story. It was interesting to read his take on the places where we ride and camp. When describing the little town of Trona, he said that the population doubled as riders rode through.
Anyway, the section on his race was fascinating and I'm really glad he included it in this book. It was a great way to show that he's not just a glitzy Hollywood trainer, but that he is a monster of a man and is capable of superhuman feats.
Are there any bad aspects to the book? Well, if you're looking for a super prescriptive manual on exactly how to eat and how to work out, you might come away a little disappointed. This book is about concepts and really about changing your head. Instead of fretting over a diet and a workout plan that you'll probably quit after a few weeks, he tells you to just shift your menu, relax, enjoy yourself, and turn yourself into a healthier person inside and out.
My own personal experience has been that this has been completely relaxed and laid back but has had the hugest payoff imaginable. I eat different things, but I'm not dwelling on it all the time. My office diabolically provides us the most amazing snacks: hoppers of cereal, a dispenser of fresh peanut M&Ms (the fresh ones are so much better than the ones that have sat on the Circle-K shelf for three months), bowls of tiny chocolate bars, meal replacement bars, etc. It's very generous, but none of that stuff fits into my new menu. If I get snacky though, I'll go grab a paper cup and fill it up from the assorted nuts and snack on some nuts. Then I'm satisfied and I stop eating. It's fantastic. There's no deprivation whatsoever.
Thank you Vinnie for the amazing advice. I thank you, my wife thanks you (she's down fifteen pounds now too), and I'm sure my doctor will absolutely love you when I go in for my next checkup.
I can remember being at Vinnie's house and seeing all of the homemade workout equipment in Vinnie's room. It included a dip machine made from 4 inch pipe and would survive a nuclear blast if it had to. I mean this thing probably weighed 200 pounds and could be disassembled. The 4 inch steel pipe would screw into the base. I'm pretty sure it was constructed of drilling pipe used in the oil fields. Vinnie would do dips three times a day using this "thing" sometimes from the pike position.
I played football with Vinnie for one year in High School. He was a senior, and I a freshman. I remember one practice when Vinnie was wearing a new pair of football cleats and they gave him blisters and by the end of practice his feet were bleeding. The head coach told Vinnie to hit the showers and not worry about running the twenty 40 yards sprints. Vinnie took off his shoes and in his bloodied socks ran the sprints. Vinnie is one of the hardest working and determined people I know.
In 2010, I trained for and completed my first Ironman, Ironman Arizona. During the course of the year Vinnie was always available to answer any questions I had regarding endurance training and nutrition. Since his client Caroline was also competing, he made the drive to Tempe with Caroline and was a great motivator for me to finish. Every lap on the bike I would hear Vinnie's voice in a faceless crowd. On the run, he ran along side of me shouting, pushing me on and forcing me to drink. I had the pleasure to meet Caroline, who he mentions in the book, and I got to spend some time with a lifelong friend.
Vinnie's no nonsense approach to fitness and nutrition is a refreshing and simple approach. One of the things Vinnie often says is that you can't lose weight by exercise alone, you have to change your diet as well. He is right because I am the poster child proving this theory. You see, I completed my first triathlon in 2005. I started doing triathlons because I would be out of breath walking up the stairs to go to bed. By the time I completed my first Ironman in 2010 I was only 20 pounds lighter than I had been 5 years earlier. When I would exercise, I used it as an excuse to continue on the same diet plan that I was on, it was designed by Mr. McDonald and Colonel Sanders. I justified eating junk food because I had completed a 4 hour bike ride or a 3 hour run that morning and felt that I deserved a reward. Yeah, I might have lost 3 or 4 pounds here and there but nothing ever stayed off. It's not that I didn't listen to Vinnie, I heard every word he said. I just didn't put it into practice and as a result I crossed the line in 15 hours and 18 minutes weighing 245 pounds!
I started NSNG's in March of this year. I am down 20 pounds and plan on losing another 20 pounds before November when I will participate in Ironman Arizona again. My wife will not let me toe the line unless I start to listen to Vinnie and actually lose some weight. She wants me around when my 5 years old graduates high school. So, armed with Fitness Confidential, NSNG's, and Vinnie Tortorich, I continue on my path towards my next Ironman, better health and a longer life!
Jon C.
Florida
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If you want to know about fitness, losing weight and getting in shape Vinnie tells you that for free on his excellent (slightly r rated) podcast... and newsflash its simple and the opposite of what you may have been told to date. Stay away from sugars and grains as far as possible but put life into living and be sensible about it. Remember follow the money and think why are others telling me to do x y and z. You don't have to believe blindly, look at the facebook group and podcast and try the ideas for a while. Remember Vinnie is not selling you anything.
This book is more a very personal entertaining read on Vinnie's life and challenges. It gives you and understanding of where Vinnie is coming from and why its worth listening to him. At no time is he trying to sell you something. It is not a diet book but an insight into the diet & fitness industry and Vinnie's views. Its more of a bio than anything else and I really enjoyed it.
I must admit I was sceptical about the some the ideas Vinnie was talking about in his podcast. However when it became clear he was a endurance athlete (cycling etc) and been through cancer it made me take note. I've always been active (especially cycling, gym, squash sometimes 5 times/week) and yet despite all of this and weightwatchers etc the weight slowly kept going up. I too have also survived a similar cancer. In short there was enough info about things I knew to be true from experience to make me interested.
I bought the Kindle edition and have since bought 2 paper copies as presents.
Anyway don't just blindly take the ideas on trust or dismiss them out of hand. Read the book to get a measure of Vinnie and his honesty then be sceptical and do some listening, reading and research (e.g. Gary Taube's books). Give the ideas a try and see what works for you and how you feel. I bet you'll be surprised at the results......


You also get an honest, moving and sometimes funny memoir with recollections on fitness, health and life in general.
Very well written and a joy to read - highly recommended.
