The 5-Factor Diet was originally created for celebrities by Harley Pasternak. Harley’s challenge was to create brief (yet effective) workouts for actors to undertake during their short breaks on movie sets. He also needed to be able to create healthy meals in a matter of minutes, using simple ingredients (the fewer the better) that could fit in the mini fridge on a movie set.

He was also relying on simple kitchen appliances such as a blender and toaster oven for the mixing, blending, and cooking? Harley’s clients were eating five times a day, cutting the length of their workouts, and were able to transform their bodies! As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention.

The 5 Factor Diet was subsequently published in a book of the same name by celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak and has been used by stars such as Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, Eva Mendes, Alicia Keys, John Mayer, Kanye West, and more get their million-dollar bodies.

However, whenever you hear the words Diet and Hollywood in the same sentence, the first thing that comes to mind is “fad” or “gimmick – but is it unfair to label the 5 Factor Diet with the tag of being just another celebrity quick weight loss fix?

Let’s have a “look under the bonnet” and see if there is any real substance to the 5 Factor Diet and dispel any hoopla about it.

Membership

Membership starts from $5.00 per week.

Diet Features

What Exactly Is The 5 Factor Diet?
The “five” in the 5 Factor Diet really is the “operative factor” and comes not only from the number of components that each meal includes – a balanced mix of lean protein (like chicken, fish, or low-fat dairy); complex carbohydrates (like fruits and vegetables); fiber (like whole grains); healthy fats (like monounsaturated olive oil); and water or another sugar-free beverage – but also from the recommended five meals a day, with recipes that contain no more than five ingredients, and take no more than five minutes of preparation time and five minutes of cooking time.

The 5 Factor Diet

Harley Pasternak. Meredith Books 2006,

Hardcover, 256 pages,

List Price: $24.95

Our Price: $7.54

However, you are allowed a “cheat day” once a week, when you can eat anything you like. Harley believes that you shouldn’t feel like you are in a “diet jail” and that controlled cheating will actually help you reach your weight goals.

The emphasis is also on food choices that have a “low glycemic index.” The glycemic index is a method of rating foods according to their affect on blood sugar levels in the body after eating. Whether this makes a significant difference is open to debate, in the end, it’s just calories in and calories out that is importaqnt for weight loss.

A new study from Tufts University showed that what matters most in weight loss is reducing calories and that both foods high and low on the glycemic index have pretty much the same end result.

To summarise, the 5 Factor Diet  ‘Fat-loss’ keys are:

1. Metabolism – increased metabolism burns more calories, hence less fat.
2. Exercise – stay in the fat-burning zone and build lean muscle.
3. Right calories – consume foods with the right kind and amount of calories.
4. Glycemic Index – low GI foods help maintain your blood sugar levels steady.
5. Rest and recovery – promotes the production of growth hormone for muscle condition, and reduced cortisol (’stress’ hormone).

Fitness Features

Naturally there is also a five-day exercise program, which – not surprisingly consists of five exercises that you do for 5 minutes each. Workout 25 minutes a day, 5 days a week for a period of 5 weeks.

The exercise is a combination of both cardio and strength training, and you don’t need any expensive equipment to do it – just a simple set of dumbbells would suffice.

Support

The 5-Factor Diet website also provides the following support and weight loss tools:

• Daily Meal Planner
• Hundreds of Recipes
• Personal Recipe Box
• Shopping List Tool
• Food Log
• Cooking Shortcuts
• Eating Out Guide
• Custom Fitness Plan
• Activity Calculator
• Weight Tracker
• Online Journal
• Ideal Weight Calculator
• Daily Inspiration
• Message Boards