Keto guido! Jersey Shore fans know that Vinny Guadagnino got fit on the keto diet, but the reality star shared new insight — and photos — into his weight loss journey.
“A lot of people didn’t know that I struggled with my weight my whole life. I was the king of yo-yo dieting,” Guadagnino, 32, wrote on Tuesday, April 21, via Instagram. “I was my biggest during the years I was off TV so a lot of people didn’t realize.”
He went on to explain that his genes contributed to his weight struggles.
“My genetics make me gain weight easily especially to high sugar/carb food. That being said I believe calories also matter,” Guadagnino wrote. “If you eat a surplus of calories a week you will gain weight and if you eat less calories than you burn you will usually lose weight (unless you’re in too much of a deficit and your body goes into starvation). So if you figure out how many calories you need to eat a day and be in a deficit, you will lose weight. The question is, what types of foods are those calories made up of?”
For the reality star, a keto diet, which includes low carbs, moderate protein and high-fat, works.
“I do this for a few reasons 1) I don’t react well to sugar. It bloats me, makes me feel groggy and lethargic, and i feel that it makes me fat easily,” Guadagnino wrote. “2) I’m an Italian foodie so I LOVE the taste of food. So I need fat in my diet to create delicious meals while still eating clean (ie. a ribeye steak and creamed spinach over grilled chicken and quinoa. 3) I have more sustainable energy over long periods of time. I don’t feel groggy and I have more mental clarity. I don’t walk around starving because the food is sustainable.”
The MTV personality noted that he practices intermittent fasting.
“I enjoy fasting so i need food that will fill me up during my fasts. I find that higher carb diets make me feel hungry during my fasting hours,” he said. “4) I believe that #cleanketo (meats and greens )emulate how our hunter and gather ancestors ate,therefore how our bodies were evolved to eat . Hunting meat and gathering leaves, seeds, etc while moving around all day on empty stomachs (exercise and fasting). 5) my bloodwork indicates my body has been healthier than ever.”
He concluded: “So u can eat twinkies and be in a deficit and probably lose weight but is that healthy and sustainable? Chose what calories are best for you #ketoguido.”
Guadagnino, who wrote a keto cookbook, often speaks about his diet on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.
“Like, hundreds of people a week tell me, ‘My mom’s on this diet because of Vinny from Jersey Shore,’” he told Us Weekly in 2019. “I was, like, a launching point for people, but then they go into the keto-crazed world that exists out there.”
