Harley Pasternak - 5 Pounds: The Breakthrough 5-Day Plan to Jump-Start Rapid Weight Loss (and Never Gain It Back!)

PRAISE FOR 5 POUNDS

In his latest book, 5 Pounds, Harley offers his easiest, most effective program yet. Follow his advice to drop those pounds and change your life!

JJ Virgin,

New York Times bestselling author of JJ Virgins Sugar Impact Diet and The Virgin Diet I am healthier, leaner, and stronger than ever, thanks to Harley.

Adan Levine,

Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter and cohost of The Voice I know firsthand that following Harleys advice gets results. His diet and exercise plans make living a healthy lifestyle easy and achievable. This book offers the best of Harleys advice to becoming the healthiest version of yourself.

Bobbi Brown,

founder and CCO, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and Editor-in-Chief, Yahoo! Beauty Harley has created the perfect weight management planits science-based common sense, and it works!

Jennifer L. Ashton, MD, FACOG, OB-GYN,

ABC News Senior Medical Contributor for Good Morning America and cohost of The Doctors After my second baby, I noticed that losing weight was much more difficult this time despite working out and counting calories. Once I implemented the other three missing principles into my daily routine I noticed an immediate result. I lost the remaining weight and felt leaner than I had been prior to my first pregnancy.

Megan Fox,

actress

Harley Pasternaks 5 Pounds is a clearly written, practical approach to both full-body fat loss and overall wellness. Based on data from scientific studies, Harley provides easy to follow, step-by-step instructions designed to jumpstart a fat loss/wellness program. For those who have struggled with losing body fat or keeping it off, I highly recommend trying this program.

Peter Lemon, PhD, FACSM,

professor and Weider Research Chair at Western University

Harley knows the secrets to achieving a killer physique and making the workouts fun: Ive never been in better shape and I feel amazing! He is a genius.

Behati Prinsloo,

Victorias Secret angel, supermodel

Harley has a gift for translating complex and important exercise and nutrition research into a program thats easy to implement.

Ira Jacobs, DrMedSc,

Dean, faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education at the University of Toronto

The best part about working with Harley is that he is constantly evolving and giving his clients the most current, cutting-edge research. His latest 5-day plan is so doable, effective, and straightforward that it is difficult not to follow!

Jordana Brewster,

actress

For Jess and Liv

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Id like to thank the following people for helping make this book a reality: Olivia Bell Buehl for turning my ideas into clear and coherent sentences.

Allison Garfield for making the perfect edits.

Corinne Babiolakis and Arash Bandegan for compiling an almost endless amount of research.

Andrea Barzvi of Empire Literary. Heres to our sixth book together.

Ursula Cary, Yelena Nesbit, Amy King, and the rest of the team at Rodale for such a great partnership.

Beth Bischoff for the great photography.

Susan Lilly Ott for the yummy (and easy) recipes.

My clients for following most of my advice and being great guinea pigs.

My partners Tim Rosa for counting my steps, Tara Piper for keeping me hydrated, Caitlin Wholey for keeping my feet comfortable and fly, and Cory Saenz for the protein.

INTRODUCTION

Youve lost weight before. Maybe even several times. But youre still not happy with your body. Perhaps, despite all your efforts, youre heavier than ever. Or maybe its that you just cant shake those last few pounds. You care about how you look. You know what youre supposed to eat. You belong to a gym.

So why cant you drop the pounds and get the body you wantand deserveespecially given all your hard work?

After a decade of studying weight loss as an undergrad and a graduate student at university, then 3 years as a scientist, and nearly 22 years in private practice, even Ive become confused, overwhelmed, and often immobilized by all the weight-loss information were bombarded with. Every morning I wake up to a new slew of studies, all announcing yet another thing that can help us lose weight, burn calories, and banish fat.

Putting aside all those silly methods marketed to us in books and magazines, on television and the Internetthink of the Cookie Diet, the Caveman Diet, fat-burning cleanses, pole-dancing workouts, etc.there are countless actions supported by good science that can help you slim down. Examples: drinking cold water or green tea, eating more loganberries and grapefruit and whole grains, laughing and fidgeting more, exercising in cold weather, replacing your desk chair with a stability ball, getting a workout partner, keeping a diet log, and so on, and on, and on.

In fact, there are so many things we can do, eat, use, or avoid to help us lose weight that we could spend every minute of our days trying to execute even a small fraction of the items on that list. And forget about your commitments to your job and your family. And oh, yeah, how about sleep?

So which of these things do we actually need to do? Which ones make the most difference? And which take the least amount of time? Bottom line: Which are the absolutely most effective and efficient behaviors we need to incorporate into our lives to lose the most amount of weight in the least amount of time? And while were at it, how can we do so without having to buy special food, expensive supplements, fancy exercise equipment, or a gym membership?

In search of the Holy Grail of weight loss, I recruited scientists at three of the top North American universities, and together we examined the vast body of weight-loss research recorded over the past few decades to see which weight-loss habits proved to be the most effective. Then, I reviewed two decades worth of client notes and logs from my own practice as a nutritionist and fitness trainer. Finally, after narrowing down that list, I tried out those behaviors, first on myself, and then on my clients.

Two years later, I have the answer. Ive distilled the essence of weight loss into five simple actions that complement one another and work synergistically. All will make you look and feel your best... today... this week... forever.

That means youll no longer have to waste your time, money, and energy experimenting with what might work, only to see no (or minimal) results. Ive done the work and figured it out for you.

This book introduces a revolutionary plan to slim down. Its revolutionary because its so easy. Anyone can do it. All you have to do is follow five easy steps for 5 days and youll lose 5 pounds. And thats a promise! Its also revolutionary because the results youll achieve during those 5 days will transform the way you eat, sleep, exercise, and morefor good. I call it the My 5 Plan because it reflects my synergistic approach to weight loss, and it will soon become your blueprint for the best body youve ever had.

For many of you, dropping 5 pounds in 5 days will be just the beginning of your journey. With that immediate success under your (newly tightened) belt, youll be motivated to keep going, to watch more pounds melt away until you reach your ideal weight. And all it requires is continuing to follow the simple My 5 Planwhich wont even feel like a plan after long. Its actually a healthy lifestyle for a brand-new you.