{"id":2499141,"date":"2026-07-12T19:02:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T19:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2499141"},"modified":"2026-07-12T19:02:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T19:02:54","slug":"joe-gannascoli-the-sopranos-mob-heavy-vito-weighs-in-on-new-health-kick-for-upcoming-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/joe-gannascoli-the-sopranos-mob-heavy-vito-weighs-in-on-new-health-kick-for-upcoming-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Gannascoli, &#8216;The Sopranos&#8217; mob heavy Vito, weighs in on new health kick for upcoming project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F07%2F134204064.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Vito wants back in the thin club.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2012\/01\/26\/sopranos-star-a-super-giants-fan-are-you-a-bigger-big-blue-backer\/\">\u201cSopranos\u201d actor Joe Gannascoli<\/a> is mirroring the healthy lifestyle his hefty mobster alter ego ended up embracing on the show \u2014 doing everything he can to whack his current extra pounds with a special fitness regimen and strict diet featuring<em> made<\/em> meals to get fit for an upcoming TV project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t actually like baby carrots,\u201d the TV Mafia heavyweight recently quipped to The Post, referencing Vito\u2019s hilarious stress-eating scene in the HBO hit\u2019s final season, which included him filming an ad for a weight-loss company, the Thin Club.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cSopranos\u201d actor Joe Gannascoli is mirroring the healthy lifestyle his hefty mobster alter ego ended up embracing on the show. <span class=\"credit\">Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At 67, the chef-turned-\u201cVito Spatafore\u201d actor is shooting to shed 40 pounds, dropping from 250 to around 210, so he will be camera-ready for a new TV project based on his Mafia-themed cookbook, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-aps-asc-tag=\"nypost-20\" data-aps-asin=\"0765314444\" data-wrapped-template=\"https:\/\/r.nypostlink.com?btn_ref=org-19984c113c692001&amp;btn_url\" href=\"https:\/\/r.nypostlink.com?btn_ref=org-19984c113c692001&amp;btn_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FMeal-Die-Culinary-Novel-Crime%2Fdp%2F0765314444%3Ftag%3Dnypost-20%26asc_refurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fnypost.com%2F2026%2F07%2F12%2Fus-news%2Fjoe-gannascoli-the-sopranos-mob-heavy-vito-weighs-in-on-new-health-kick-for-upcoming-project%2F%26asc_source%3Dweb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">\u201cA Meal to Die For.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s when I\u2019m going to be at my goal, which is now four months away,\u201d said Gannascoli, who moved from Brooklyn to East Rockaway about 20 years ago, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/27\/entertainment\/sopranos-star-robert-patrick-responds-to-theory-he-killed-tony-in-finale\/\">around when \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d finale<\/a> aired.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Gannascoli starts with a 6 a.m. early-bird round of golf on the south shore of Long Island and usually hits a local pickleball court by 8 a.m. either with friends or for a pickup game with strangers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The on-screen racketeer is often in the gym right after putting down his racket.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>At 67, the chef-turned-\u201cVito Spatafore\u201d actor is shooting to shed 40 pounds, dropping from 250 to around 210, so he will be camera-ready for a new TV project based on his Mafia-themed cookbook, \u201cA Meal to Die For.\u201d\u00a0 <span class=\"credit\">Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI just started hitting every body part, and I\u2019m doing that four times a week,\u201d Gannascoli said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow I\u2019m doing heavier weights and less reps. \u2026 I like to get a good sweat going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The calorie-counting camera-loving capo, meanwhile, goes on \u201csalad binges,\u201d eats little red meat and employs intermittent fasting, rarely eating after 2 p.m., to complement his physical-fitness push.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Joe Gannascoli is seen in season one of \u201cThe Sopranos.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">HBO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The regime is a far cry from when he was at his heaviest at 400 pounds during the \u201cSopranos\u201d early season, thanks to bad hips and sleep apnea.<\/p>\n<p>Fans can recall <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/07\/13\/watch-sopranos-tony-siricos-funeral-held-in-brooklyn\/\">Tony Sirico\u2019s character, Paulie \u201cWalnuts,\u201d<\/a> referring to Vito and Steve Schirripa\u2019s Bobby \u201cBacala\u201d characters as the \u201cbefore and way before\u201d in the weight-loss commercial.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gannascoli said his first major health kick, which occurred during filming for \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d and included both lap band and hip surgeries, led the writers to turn his substantial weight loss into the plotline in season six.<\/p>\n<p>But keeping his weight off afterward was a back-and-forth battle as he worked as a private chef, doing home parties for fans and becoming an ambassador for various brands.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Joseph R. Gannascoli plays pickleball to keep fit in Long Island. <span class=\"credit\">Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He said this current effort to slim down is different from those past because of better nutrition and a much more consistent athletic lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel better and look better than I did back on the show,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Gannascoli said he also just beat another arch-nemesis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI quit gambling,\u201d Gannascoli said. \u201cAfter 50 years, a switch went off in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Actor Joe Gannascoli played Vito on the hit HBO show \u201cThe Sopranos.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Gannascoli said this current effort to slim down is different from those past because of better nutrition and a much more consistent athletic lifestyle. <span class=\"credit\">Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The addiction cost him his Bay Ridge restaurant, 101 Seafood, in the early 1990s after an ill-fated weekend of betting on the Giants, Jets and a few other NFL teams that put Gannascoli in a hole for $60,000.<\/p>\n<p>The silver lining was how that debt spurred him to move to Los Angeles to pursue acting, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLife has been great,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not a religious person, but God has always looked out for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cI just started hitting every body part, and I\u2019m doing that four times a week,\u201d Gannascoli said. <span class=\"credit\">Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Gannascoli is notably responsible for getting the show to greenlight Vito\u2019s best-known character arc of being a closeted gay Mafioso, which he pitched after reading about a similar real-life case.<\/p>\n<p>Scriptwriting brass mulled it over and didn\u2019t tell him much until he showed up for a table read, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey stopped me in the hall and said, \u2018Oh, by the way, you\u2019re giving a b\u2013wjob this season,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said, \u2018I wasn\u2019t expecting to be on this end of the b\u2013wjob. I didn\u2019t think it would go that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vito wants back in the thin club. \u201cSopranos\u201d actor Joe Gannascoli is mirroring the healthy lifestyle his hefty mobster alter ego ended up embracing on the show \u2014 doing everything he can to whack his current extra pounds with a special fitness regimen and strict diet featuring made meals to get fit for an upcoming [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2499142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[25538,310647,25404,22271,359393,492185,25879,353340,21913],"class_list":["post-2499141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-actors","tag-celebrity-chefs","tag-exclusive","tag-health","tag-long-island","tag-mafia","tag-metro","tag-the-sopranos","tag-tv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joe-Gannascoli-The-Sopranos-mob-heavy-Vito-weighs-in-on.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2499141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2499143,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499141\/revisions\/2499143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2499142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2499141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2499141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2499141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}