ABOUT TOM NIKKOLA

Thanks for stopping by!

I’m grateful you chose to check out tomnikkola.com. The internet is a huge mass of health and fitness myth and misinformation. I will help you sift through it all, and point out what matters most.

Life is too short to get sidetracked by stupid health and fitness advice.

Oh, in case you didn’t know it, I do my best to maintain candor when I create content. That means you might feel a little alarmed, annoyed, or even irritated if you’re hellbent on your beliefs.

I’d rather make you feel uncomfortable and cause you to question what you’re doing, than make you feel good about doing things that don’t work.

I’m a cancer survivor and former fat kid…

I had leukemia when I was five years old. After treatment at the Mayo Clinic, and 14 years of follow up, my doctors said I was cured. In fact, my risk of cancer is no different from someone who’s never had it.

My exposure to the doctors throughout my childhood peaked my interest in health. Being an adolescent fat kid peaked my interest in fitness.

I took the fascination from my childhood and made a careeer from it.

I graduated with a pre-Med biology degree from the College of St. Scholastica.

 

I began my fitness career with Life Time on October 1, 2001 as a personal trainer.  Over the following 13 years, I worked my way up to department head, regional manager, and eventually, Senior Director of Nutrition and Weight Management.

As the Sr. Director, I ran Life Time’s weight loss, nutrition, lab testing, metabolic testing, fitness device and supplement businesses, formulated and designed nutritional supplements, delivered hundreds of educational webinars, and wrote hundreds more articles and a couple of ebooks on fitness, nutrition, and supplementation.

While I was with Life Time, Vanessa built a massive blog and then a network marketing business. Her business grew so fast that I decided to leave Life Time in 2015 to join her.

From 2015 to the end of 2019, we worked the business together, and I also launched my online training business, VIGOR Training.

One of the benefits of building a successful network marketing busienss is freedom. More specifically, the freedom to choose what to do for a career or business.

In late 2019, I was asked about returning to Life Time. As Vanessa and I talked, we realized that the role I was offered was exactly what I’d want to do if I could describe the perfect job. So, I returned to Life Time as the Vice President of Nutrition.

I still run VIGOR Training, and write a new blog post when I feel inspired to do so. But you’ll find me investing most of my time with my role at Life Time. If you have one near you, check it out! They’re a great place to get and stay fit.