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Snooki’s Weight Loss: Weight Training, HIIT, Protein-rich Diet, Etc.
From battling an eating disorder to adopting high-protein diets and muscle-building workouts, here’s what Snooki’s weight loss and fitness journey looks like.
Nicole Polizzi, also known as Snooki, has been subject to much public interest over the years. Other than her presence in the popular show Jersey Shore, Snooki’s weight loss journey has left many of her fans impressed by her. From an impressionable high-school cheerleader to a mother of three, the MTV star came a long way in her health and fitness journey, as her priorities kept getting more mature with time.
Throughout her career, Snooki has also been subject to criticism from fans and mean trolls about her weight fluctuations. The changes in her body have been more visible as she started off with a very slim and petite figure. However, after featuring in shows like Snooki & JWoww, which involved excessive hedonism and alcohol intake, Polizzi started to show a few extra pounds.
When this attracted negative comments from her audiences, Snooki gave a fitting response and stated that she doesn’t regret enjoying herself. Even so, every time the MTV star decided that she needed to get fitter and lose weight, she has done so successfully, which is quite inspiring to learn about. This article gives in-depth insights about Snooki’s transformation and how she managed to shed over 40 pounds.
Who Is Snooki?
Snooki is the on-screen nickname of the American reality television personality Nicole Elizabeth Polizzi (Nichole LaValle, after her marriage to Jionni LaValle). Born in Chile, she was raised by Italian-American parents. She got her nickname as a schoolgirl, based on Vince Green’s character in Save the Last Dance, because she was the first among her friends to have kissed a boy. Throughout her career — that name just stuck!
She started attending school in Marlboro, New York and became a cheerleader in high school. Because of that, Polizzi experienced a lot of body image issues and got hooked on getting skinnier. This made her suffer from an eating disorder, resulting in extreme weight loss which dropped her body weight to 80 pounds (36 kgs).
After overcoming her relationship with food and struggles with weight, Snooki regained her body confidence and started her television career. Her journey with MTV started with the show Is She Really Going Out with Him? with her then-boyfriend Justin. But her major breakthrough came with the TV series Jersey Shore in 2009, which spanned six seasons.
Following that, Polizzi, with her Jersey co-star Jennifer Farley starred in the spin-off of the reality show called Snooki & JWoww in 2012. In 2010, she presented the CMT Music Awards and made some other television appearances in TLC’s Cake Boss, WWE Monday Night Raw, etc.
How Had Snooki Gained Weight?
Overcoming her eating disorders in high school and adopting healthier habits wasn’t an easy transition for Snooki. Her issues with weight and body image continued for a little while after high school, when was adamant about becoming a size zero.
However, at the age of 21, the television personality reported that she gained some weight through her show Jersey Shore. The reason was a simple change of mind when she decided that she was not going to let her weight get in the way of her enjoying her life. Hence, she stopped counting calories and got more liberal about what she was eating. She also opened up about how she didn’t care about restricting her energy intake to 3-4 meals a day and indulged herself.
Research suggests that a diet comprising more calories than what one consumes on an average diet is key to gaining weight (1). This worked in Snooki’s favor for a while as put on some weight in her early twenties. Eventually, her weight fluctuations were brought about by giving birth to her three kids — Lorenzo Dominic, Giovanna Marie, and Angelo James LaValle.
As someone who’s 4’9’’ feet tall, even putting on an additional five pounds gave her the appearance of 25 pounds, as the MTV star mentioned in several media interviews. Hence, maintaining a slim figure has been a difficult journey for the MTV star.
Read More: Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Weight Loss: Slamming Body-shaming Trolls
How Did Snooki Lose Weight?
As a mother of three, Snooki wanted to set a good example for her little ones. Attaining the slimmest figure was no longer her priority, but she continued with her weight loss journey in order to get healthier after the birth of her first child Lorenzo. She wanted to be a fit mom, so she could be there for her kids, run after them, and play with them.
Hence, after giving birth to Lorenzo, she managed to lose 42 pounds in six months. To achieve this, Polizzi started cutting out alcohol from her diet. Alcohol consumption is strongly linked to weight gain and obesity and should be regulated to shed excess weight (2). She also became a gym enthusiast during this period and started getting into regular workouts to burn calories.
Another thing that worked in the favor of her weight loss transformation was breastfeeding. Research suggests that breastfeeding only has a limited effect on postpartum weight loss (3). Hence, it should not be the only factor used in weight management for new mothers.
The American television personality still admits that she has a “mommy pouch” and flappy breasts and believes that they need to be “fixed.” However, these are only signs of a natural and healthy postpartum body, and new moms shouldn’t worry too much about that.
What We Know About Snooki’s Diet?
The following are some insights that we have from Snooki’s meal consumption and overall diet.
1. 1,300 Calories Per Day: When on her weight loss journey, Snooki was very particular about sticking to a calorie-deficit diet. According to her body weight and food intake, she settled on 1,300 calories per day as a reasonable target and was strict enough to not go over that for six months straight. This significantly helped with her weight journey.
2. Grilled Chicken Or Steak: Amongst those 1,300 calories in Snooki’s diet, a large portion only comprised of proteins. For this, she found grilled chicken and steak to be excellent sources, which in her experience, also satiated hunger and kept her full. Dietary protein is proven to replenish the body’s muscle mass, which was necessary for the MTV star as she indulged in rigorous workouts (4).
3. Loads of Vegetables: Alongside protein, the Jersey Shore star loaded up on vegetables in her diet and ensured that she consumed some vegetables with every lunch and dinner. This way, she ensured that she got plenty of dietary fiber and antioxidants from her diet. Lettuce-wrapped burgers were among Snooki’s favorite indulgences.
4. Strawberries And Other Fresh Fruits: Like vegetables, her diet was enriched with plenty of seasonal fruits, especially strawberries.
5. Protein Smoothie: Like most people who work hard at the gym and maintain a healthy fitness routine, Polizzi too, indulged in a regular intake of protein smoothies after every workout. Her smoothies usually comprised of peanut butter, bananas, protein powder, and a dash of water to blend them all together.
6. Chocolate Protein Bar: On busy days when Snookie didn’t get time for a proper breakfast, she ensured to sneak in a hearty protein bar, usually chocolate-flavored.
7. Special K: Other than wholesome natural foods, Snookie’s diet is also rumored to be supplemented with Special K breakfasts on many occasions to kickstart her day.
8. Carrots, Cucumber, And Hummus: This healthy trifecta that many celebrities, including Jennifer Lawrence, love to indulge in was Snooki’s favorite snack as well.
Now that you know about Snooki’s weight loss diet, let’s learn about her exercise regimen to lose weight.
What We Know About Snooki’s Workout Regime?
Right from the time Polizzi shed her baby weight till today, Anthony Michael and Adria Bogosian, of Anthony Michael Fitness have been her trainers. Despite her busy schedule today, she prioritizes hitting the gym at least 4 days a week.
1. Lunges: To burn her quadriceps, posterior thigh muscles, and glutes, Snooki’s weight loss exercise routine entailed many different types of lunges. One type was lunge jumps, wherein she would jump up in the position while also switching legs. Then, by throwing in some weights, she would also practice reverse lunges and some courtesy lunges to stabilize in movement.
2. Planks: Like lunges, planks too were a major part of Snooki’s weight loss workout. Michael and Bogosian would make her engage in different forms of plank to boost core stability and target multiple major muscle groups. Hence, they would make up for full-body weight-training exercises.
One of these exercises was plank pop-ups. To do this, one jumps their legs to the front when in a plank position and then jumps back into position — kind of like a restricted burpee where the arms stay in the same position.
In addition to this explosive exercise, she engaged in side planks where she would spread her arm and leg in the air and repeat on the other side. She also practiced some rigorous planks with rows to increase balance and build muscle.
3. Raises, Curls, And Presses: When it came to the biceps, triceps, and shoulders, Snooki would build muscle through compound exercises. She would combine her raises, curls, presses, and rows with lunges, squats, bridge poses, and planks to keep the exercise wholistic and fun.
4. Battle Rope Exercises: To boost upper body strength, maintain a steady posture, and target multiple muscle groups, Snooki engaged in battle rope exercises. Research suggests that training with battle ropes boosts aerobic fitness, skeletal muscle performance, and cardio-respiratory health when combined with HIIT workouts (5).
5. Tyre Flips: Like those powerful battle rope workouts, Snooki would also practice tire flips when in beast mode!
6. Seated Push-ups: For a strengthening tricep blast, Snooki would practice seated push-ups and leverage her body weight to get toned.
Insights from Snooki’s Pre-wedding Workout
Before her wedding with Jionni LaValle, Snooki was in an absolute “beast mode” as she wanted to shed a ton of pounds.
1. HIIT: Also known as high-intensity interval training, Snooki would engage in these exercises for only about 10-15 minutes to get her heart rate up. This would prep her body for more intense strength and cardio workouts.
2. Plyometrics: She would also include plyometric exercises in her routine. These are highly functional compound exercises that require robust equipment. They are generally understood as a combination of cardio and strength exercises. Research suggests that plyometric training boosts explosive physical strength, agility, and speed, and is more effective in building muscle than simple resistance training exercises.
3. Cardio: Along with other exercises that pumped up her heart rate, Snooki also incorporated other cardio exercises in her routine to lose weight fast.
Snooki’s Before And After Weight Loss Photos:
Before:
( Image Credit: Getty Images)
After:
( Image Credit: Getty Images)
Snooki’s weight loss journey was anything but short of ups and downs, with newer health-related struggles creeping up at every step. However, this brave and empowered MTV star managed to pick herself up time and again and never gave up in the face of challenges. Through the years, she experienced everything — eating disorders, ambition to become a size zero, excessive alcoholism, weight gain due to pregnancy, postpartum weight loss, improved diet, improved workouts, etc. Taking up every challenge with a smile on her face, she proved that no transformation is impossible if a person puts their heart and soul into it!
Sources:
1. Weight gain attempts and diet modification efforts among adults in five countries: a cross-sectional study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9102257/
2. Alcohol Consumption and Obesity: An Update - PMC.
3. Effects of breastfeeding on postpartum weight loss among U.S. women - PMC
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4312189/
4. Dietary Protein and Muscle Mass: Translating Science to Application and Health Benefit - PMC
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6566799/
5. Physiological Responses to Increasing Battling Rope Weight During Two 3-Week High-Intensity Interval Training Programs
