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August 12, 7:07 PMNY Beauty Secrets Examiner
Gabrielle Long
Harley Pasternak is without a doubt the hottest and most sought after trainer in Hollywood, with superstar clients like Robert Pattinson, Jessica Simpson, Eva Mendes, and many more. In this interview, you'll get an inside look at the diet and workout plan A-list stars are swearing by. Harley also busts and confirms some fitness myths you've been pondering!
You have a star-studded clientele, who are also raving fans of your 5 factor diet. For those who aren't aware, could you give a brief description of the program?
The 5 factor program is made up of a nutrition and fitness lifestyle. The 5 factor diet is 5 meals a day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner. Each meal fulfills 5 really simple criteria. It has to have a low-fat protein, healthy carbohydrate, at least 5-10 grams of fiber, healthy fats, and a low sugar beverage. Then one a day week if your free day to do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want. Then I created close to a thousand recipes that take no more than 5 minutes to make, and include no more than 5 ingredients. And then the 5 factor fitness component is 5 workouts a week and each workout is made up of 5 phases that are each minimum 5 minutes in duration. These are very simple. Each workout starts with a cardio warm-up of minimum 5 minutes, and then you do a circuit of an upper body strength exercise and a lower body strength exercise and an abdominal strength exercise. We repeat that circuit a number of times, and then we end off with a minimum of 5 minute cardio cool-down. The workout can be expanded or contracted depending on the time, the strength, and the goals of the client. So you can extend the cardio warm-up and the cardio cool down, and give it more cardio. Each day of the week, we do different upper body, different lower body, and different abdominal muscles. And there you have it.
Can anybody do the 5 factor diet?
Anybody, of course.
When did you concoct the 5 factor diet and fitness plan?
This was a work-in-progress for a long time. I had a personal training business for over 17 years, and I was in graduate school and there was an exercise in nutritional science for the department of national defense. My research showed me the benefits of short intense exercise and the important of variation. On the soldiers is where I really learned the 5 factor fitness component. And then I got a degree in nutrition. Both of my brothers have type 1 diabetes. I started working with a lot of actors in films that came to Canada. I brought that all together and came up with the eating system which I found was the best for my clients to help them reach their goals. We found that the 5 meals the day is the healthiest for your blood sugar and appetite and energy levels. All the criteria I’ve stated are all essential components of a healthy meal. The reasons that people all give me for not eating properly is they don’t have time. Well, the 5 minute recipes get around that. They don’t always have these exotic ingredients around that we read about in some other diet books. You only need 5 simple ingredients per meal. I was making these in trailer on film sets, and I needed the minimum number of steps and ingredients and preperation.
How did you get started working with celebrities?
I started when I was in graduate school. I had a personal training business and there was a physician in Canada, Dr. Waxmann, who does the medicals for the insurance for all of the actors that come into town. There was a Canadian producer, who I was referred to from Dr. Waxman. I helped him lose close 70 pounds, got him into the shape of his life, and he referred me to the actors of the film he was producing. First film I worked on was “Angel Eyes”, and then I worked on movies like “Wrong Turn”, “Cold Creek Manor”, “Resident Evil”, and then “Gothika”-where I met Halle Berry and Robert Downey Jr. Then Halle asked me to come back to the US with her and get her ready for “Catwoman”. The rest is history.
Can you give me a few examples of areas that certain celebrities wanted to work on and how you’ve helped them achieve that goal?
Every area. I mean when you’re high profile, you’re photographed when you go for coffee, you’re photographed when you do red carpets, you’re photographed at every point in your life. There’s a need to look good from every angle, and to look good everyday. That’s why I think we’ve had a lot of success with the 5-factor program because it’s so sustainable, and so achievable, it’s so palatable. You’re not starving yourself, you’re not doing 3 hours a day of exercise. You can keep up, and I think that helps a lot of my clients look good from all angles and keep looking good.
So the people you work with adapt this as their lifestyle?
Exactly. We start with them on a specific film project and we end up working with them for several years.
How do celebrities usually prepare for movie roles when training with you?
There’s very little difference between them prepping for a film and continuing to look good after that film, and for the next film, and press that their doing for that film. They come into our studio anywhere from 3-5 days a week ad they do cardio on their off days, they either get our meal delivery program, in which the 5 factor meals get delivered to their door between midnight and 3am, takes the guess work out. Or they learn how to make the really simple 5 factor recipes on their own, and make smart eating choices. It’s pretty simple.
In your opinion, is the hardest part of a healthier lifestyle really getting started sticking with it?
Sticking with it, absolutely. Everybody and anybody been on a diet or tried a fitness program, but the attrition rate is terrible. So it’s really about finding something that you can see yourself doing every week for the rest of your life.
What advice do you have for those who are already at their goal weight, but would like to maintain their metabolism?
I would tell them to follow the 5 factor diet, I really would.
So the diet isn’t just for weight loss?
No. I mean if you have weight to lose you’ll lose weight but you can definitely manipulate the variables of the program to achieve you’re specific goal.
There is a saying that if you eat healthy and workout daily to maintain a healthy lifestlye, that you’re body will only lose as much weight as it’s needed, and then you will stop losing weight. Is that true?
Your body is clinical homeostasis, so it always tries to find whatever it can to get to a set point, or comfort zone. So depending on how far you are from that set point, your body will react accordingly. The closer you get to that set point (ie. your ideal weight), your body will stabilize and you’re program will have to vary in order to keep getting better and better.
Is it true that before attempting to develop abs, you must rid yourself of the fat covering your abs?
Yes. Absolutely.
So for example, “The Biggest Loser” where they just do crunches. How does that work?
It doesn’t. The weight loss that they are achieving is the result of the reduction of caloric intake and the increase of caloric output. They’re doing lots of cardio, they’re eating a lot less food. Those are the two primary ways of losing weight short-term like they are. The third is resistance training. By doing strength training, you’re burning calories while you’re doing strength training, not quite as much as cardio, but you’re burning calories. Because the residual byproduct of you burning more calories when you sleep at night, you’re increasing your resting metabolism. That is the sure way to keep your metabolism up.
So for one who doesn’t do any kind of cardio, and just does weights…you’re essentially hardening your fat?
In some ways. Your definitely reducing your body fat, but not as quickly as if you combine it with cardiovascular and/or if you do the resistance training at a high enough intensity with a lot of volume, alot repetitions, a lot of sets, that will mimic the effect of cardio as well because your heart will be racing.
There’s another saying that if you do crunches when you already have a flabby belly, that your flab will harden and you’ll never see the abs. Is that true?
No. They are two separate things. When you do a crunch you’re working the muscles, and it has nothing to do with the fat covering the muscles.
You’re most publicized clients right now are Jessica Simpson and Robert Pattinson, did they apply your 5 factor diet to their lives? Did they have specific goals?Yes. Both of them are people who have different media goals (ie. films, television, and photography and wanting to look good for those.) Overall, these are people who have high-stress, busy lives, who want to feel good and don’t really have the time to waste. Anything that’s not completely time-efficient.
You can follow Harley on Twitter at www.twitter.com/harleypasternak and check out his website www.5factordiet.com!
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