The 5-Factor Diet, by Harley Pasternak, is a diet plan that encompasses both nutrition and exercise. The 5-Factor Diet hails from Hollywood, where the author has been helping celebrities lose weight and improve fitness. Thus, the 5 Factor Diethas been supposedly followed by a plethora of celebrities and sports personalities, including Halle Berry, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna.
The 5 Factor Diet is not a crash diet and does not promise fast weight loss, which is good. Expect a healthy average weight loss of 1 – 2lbs per week.
The 5 Factor Diet promises:
- You’ll never feel hungry or deprived
- You’ll enjoy a “cheat” day every week
- You don’t have to buy supplements
- You wont spend hours in the kitchen
- Can use the 5 Factor Diet everywhere you go
How Does the 5 Factor Diet Work?
As the name suggest the 5 Factor Diet is based around the number 5. That is five meals a day, each consisting of a balanced mix of 5 parts:
- Lean protein (e.g. chicken, fish, low-fat dairy)
- Complex carbohydrates (e.g. fruits and vegetables)
- Fiber (e.g. whole grains)
- Healthy fats (e.g. olive oil)
- Water or other sugar-free drinks
The recipes should contain no more than five ingredients, take no longer than five minutes of preparation and five minutes of cooking. You are allowed a “cheat day” once a week, during which you can eat anything you like.
The foods recommended on the 5 Factor Diet is low glycemic, which means that they do not cause huge spikes in blood sugar after eating.
Foods that are high glycemic (e.g. simple carbohydrates such as white bread, cookies, grapes) cause these spikes in blood sugar, which requires large amounts of the hormone insulin to clear from the blood. Insulin shoves the sugar into our cells to feed them, but also to keep blood sugar levels stable and consistent. High blood sugar levels are harmful to our body.
In any case, the large amounts of insulin that is released to deal with the sugar surges affect our weight loss goals. Why? Our appetite and hunger is directly related to our insulin levels. The more insulin that is released, the lower it will drop a few hours after eating and the hungrier you are going to be at your next meal – or before. In other words, you are very likely to overeat.
On the other hand, low glycemic foods, such as lean protein and most vegetables, cause a slower release of insulin. Therefore, if you eat such foods every 3 to 4 hours your blood sugar levels will remain relatively stable, you will be less hungry and you are able to control your hunger significantly easier. As you are able to control yourself, this method of eating allows you to lose weight. The 5 Factor Diet includes over 40 pages of recipes of sample meals.
Once you adopt the 5 Factor Diet and get used to choosing meals with the right ingredients, it become fairly easy to determine what to eat in a restaurant or at your workplace cafeteria. Furthermore, the 5 Factor Diet does provide recipes that can be prepared at home and taken to work.
The 5 Factor Diet also entails a five-day exercise plan and states that diet is 50% of getting fit, and exercise is the other 50%. The 5 Factor Diet consists of five exercises that you perform for 5 minutes each. The exercise is a combination of cardio and strength training, and does require any expensive equipment.
The 5 Factor Diet Workout
Each phases is 5 minutes in duration (total 25 minutes):
- Phase 1: cardio warm-up
- Phase 2: upper-body strength training
- Phase 3: lower-body strength training
- Phase 4: core exercises that include a variety of crunches and twists
- Phase 5: fat-burning cardio work
5 Factor Diet Verdict
The 5 Factor Diet is a healthy and nutritious plan that includes all food categories in the right proportions and advocates exercise. This diet plan appears to hit all the right spots for successful weight loss and maintenance. Although, the 5 Factor Diet is presented as a 5-week program, it is not an extreme diet and can be part of your new healthy lifestyle. Essentially, the 5 Factor Diet preaches smaller portions, fewer calories and appetite control. All good things you should practice lifelong.
