A lot has taken place over the last 20 months. We've learned new skills, become profficient in things that we never knew about, assisted others in their time of need and with all of that activity going on, it's important to make sure that we also keep the focus on our health so that we can continue to be our best selves. We checked in with one of our faves, Celebrity Fitness Trainer, Harley Pasternak, who has worked with Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian and Lady Gaga to name a few. He talked about how we can maintain our goals no matter the time of year and to make it an ongoing priority. He shares how we can stay on track as well as some healthy hacks along the way!
ATHLEISURE MAG: Now that we’re settling into the fall, how can people stay on track with our fitness and nutrition? It feels like a gateway as we’re coming off of the summer and soon we will be thinking about the holiday season as well and there are those that are also focused on getting rid of their Quarantine 15.
HARLEY PASTERNAK: The principles of being healthy and staying in shape, they hold true regardless of what month or season it is. Number 1, you’ve got trying to hit your step goal every day – that’s at least 12,000 steps a day. The fall is probably my favorite time of year to do that. It’s not too hot, but it’s not too cold. Get those steps in and take in the beautiful weather – rake your leaves, whatever you need to do. I love getting my steps. Number 2, is sleep! I think that it’s actually easier to get sleep come the fall because we fall back. There’s a little less daylight, so we actually get sleepier a little bit earlier and we tend to get a little sleepy. It’s cooler, the clocks change and these contribute to getting the best sleep. Number 3 is cutting back on screentime. I think that you should unplug for at least an hour a day from technology and it’s really important. It affects our health, wellness, wellbeing, our mental state and our physical state. Next is food, protein, fiber and healthy fat for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a little snack in between. Finally, you still need to strength train as little as 1 strength move a day. You can work your way up to 2 – 3 strength moves every other day.
AM: For those looking to round out their workout routines, what are some moves that you think that they should do so that they’re hitting the 360 of their bodies?
HP: I don’t believe in doing a whole body workout. I believe in splitting the body throughout the week. One way that I do it is 1 body part a day, 7 days a week. So each day of the week, you’re doing 1 exercise. Sometimes I will do 5 days a week of 2 body parts a day and sometimes I’ll do 4 days a week of 3 body parts a day.
AM: I know that you’ve partnered with Maple Hill. What is it about the brand that made you want to be involved with them and then what are some good recipes that you can make with their products as I know that you’re a fan of smoothies as we are too.
HP: I met them a few years ago at an event that I was hosting for Goop in Texas. I saw the product, I really liked it and we kept in touch. They reached out to me recently and they said, “would you believe that we figured how to filter out the lactose-sugar from dairy?” All that’s left is 2 different proteins, whey and casein, Vitamin D, calcium, potassium and water. I was like, there’s no way. They sent it to me, it was delicious, my kids love it, I love it! I have been using it for my smoothies in the morning – I have a few smoothies that I use such as the PB&J Smoothie. I also enjoy making an Apple Pie Smoothie and a Pina Colada Smoothie where I use it as the base.
APPLE PIE SMOOTHIE
Per Smoothie
15 raw almonds
1.5 red apples, peeled, cored and chunked
1 small frozen banana, chunked
1 1/4 Maple Hill organic plain Greek yogurt
1 cup Maple Hill Zero Sugar organic milk
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
PINA COLADA SMOOTHIE
1 medium orange peeled and sectioned
1/3 cup Maple Hill organic plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons whey protein powder
1 frozen banana chopped
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks (fresh, not canned!)
My kids will use Maple Hill in their cereals and in the afternoon, I will use their Greek yogurt with a little bit of cinnamon and I take a baked apple and pipette the cinnamon yogurt in the middle of the baked apple where I will core it out and it’s really good!
HARLEY'S FAVORITE BAKES APPLES
8 apples, cored
32oz Maple Hill organic plain Greek yogurt
Cinnamon
Core apples and place in a baking dish in one inch of water, sprinkle cinnamon over everything. Cover with foil and bake at 400 for 2 hours.
Mix 2 tsp cinnamon into yogurt, pipe yogurt & cinnamon mixture into the center of the apples.
I use a high-tech, fancy method of putting the yogurt in a ziplock and cutting the corner off to squeeze the yogurt into the apples!
AM: That sounds very decadent!
HP: It is!
AM: As always, it’s fun to look through your IG whether it’s looking at a fitness routine, seeing you introduce foods to your kids or just meals you’re making for lunch. You had a Cobb Salad with pretzel sticks! We love pretzel sticks and being able to see you present a hi-low meal with a twist really shows this fun food sensibility in terms of balance. How important is it to have these healthy hacks in your food lifestyle?
HP: I think it’s important because if you want to eat well, you want to eat well forever. If you’re too strict, regimented and limited – you can do something for a short time but not for a long time. I think that by adding a little hi-low into your foods, you have a fun time with it. So even when I do cereal with my kids, we’ll use the milk with the sugar removed like we talked about which is amazing and we’ll use a high fiber low cereal with it, but then, I will sprinkle in a little bit of the sugary cereal on top so that my kids don’t feel like we’re giving them weird health food all the time! They feel like there is some fun it and I think that that’s important to do.
AM: What do you suggest for people that splurge on having those extra cocktails or enjoying something that really yummy that’s off of their typical plan? What’s the best way that they can reset their bodies to get back on track?
HP: I wrote The Body Reset Diet which has now been a Number 1 – 3 times! I think that some people may want to jump in and hop in on Phase 1 or Phase 2 if they feel like they are spiraling out of control and it just puts them back in on that 3 meals – 2 snacks a day with protein, fiber and healthy fat at every meal. It tends to be helpful for people!
AM: We know that you’re always working on a number of projects so what should we keeping an eye out that you can share with us?
HP: Yeah! I design all the gyms for the Four Seasons Hotels around the world. I helped to develop a new technology called FORME which is a really cool technology. I’m the global fitness advisor for Alo.
AM: Yes! If we’re not rocking Adidas, we’re in Alo!
HP: I know, right? So all of these brand partnerships of mine are synergistic. Maple Hill for me, is a natural no brainer. I have been a fan of dairy for years. I even visited a number of dairy farms to see how the cows live, how milk is taken from them and what they’re fed. I think that every brand partnership that I have ever had has been very organic and natural and synergistic with the other ones.
PHOTOS COURTESY | Harley Pasternak
Read the OCT ISSUE #70 of Athleisure Mag and see Fitness is a Lifestyle with Harley Pasternak in mag.
