Celebrity nutritionist and trainer Harley Pasternak is one of the best in the game, and it really comes down to his approach to all things fitness and health. His method offers a path to maintenance and acceptance of self, instead of the constant up and down, black and white, gain and lose so many of us feel when it comes to diet culture. In an EXCLUSIVE podcast interview with HollywoodLife, discussing the Take Cholesterol to Heart campaign, Harley also revealed his ‘five healthy habits’ and why he doesn’t believe there’s such a thing as a ‘bad meal.’
“Try to get at least 12,000 steps a day of movement, whether it be walking, running steps, dancing, moving your feet at least 12,000 times a day. And I use a Fitbit to keep track of all of that,” the celeb trainer explained. “I’m trying to get at least seven hours of quality continuously tonight; trying to unplug from technology at least an hour a day, hopefully more during this time where we’re spending more time at home. Eating well — so breakfast, lunch and dinner and a snack between each with protein, fiber, and healthy fats. And last but not least, push something, pull something, lift something. Challenge your muscles at least five to 10 minutes a day or at least 20 minutes every other day.”
Harley continued, “If you’re able to do these, you can look at yourself in the mirror and say, today I am a success.” At the same time, he encouraged listeners to understand that there’s no such thing as “falling off the wagon.” “There is no wagon,” he said. “There’s no such thing there’s a bad meal. I have a good meal next meal. it’s not about this binary thing. It’s about a continuum. ‘How was I today?’ ‘I did eight of the 10 things that I was supposed to do,’ so just because you didn’t hit 10 doesn’t mean you fell off the wagon.”
Harley told listeners to enjoy their indulgences instead of feeling guilty about them. “Celebrate them, make them great,” he said.
The celeb trainer and nutritionist spoke to hL to help promote the Take Cholesterol to Heart campaign to spread the importance of having an open line of communication with your doctor as well as heart healthy recipes and exercises you can replicate at home. “It’s really about being aware of the number one cause of death in America. We can’t forget that the number one killer is heart disease,” Harley explained. “One of the primary roles of heart disease is your cholesterol profile. We have good cholesterol HDL, and we have bad cholesterol LDL. We want to have more good than bad, and things like exercise and not smoking and eating healthy fats and fiber are the keys to having a good cholesterol profile.”
However, he warned, “The truth is you can do all of those things you can eat well and exercise and not smoke and still have cholesterol issues.” You can visit http://www.takecholesteroltoheart.com to get more information on how you can take control of your cholesterol and educate yourself.
Be sure to listen to the full HollywoodLife podcast interview with Harley Pasternak here!