Five Factor Diet

Five Factor Diet, by Harley Pasternak, has increased its popularity almost overnight – due to famous people like Jessica Simpson and John Mayer using the plan.

What are the basics of the 5-Factor diet?
5-Factor Diet is a super-sized elaboration of the dieting segment of his book, written in 2004, “5-Factor Fitness”, which is built around the element 5 – 5 meals/day, 5 workouts/week of 5 exercises each.

The Five Criteria for Diet

At every meal:

low-fat quality protein
low- to moderate- glycemic index carbohydrate
fiber
healthy fat
sugar-free beverage

Sundays are “cheat days” – basically consuming what you desire. The book contains a few standard sample meal plans and a selection of recipes for each meal.

The Workout Associated with the Five Factor Diet

The next variables are switched every week: Type of exercise (strength training, cardiovascular, core movements), Repetitions, Sets, Resistance level, and Rest Periods.

Equipment: Only Dumbbells and a bench is necessary.

Phases (Total 25 minutes)

Cardio Warm-up
At 65-85% of maximum heart rate – for 5 minutes.
Strength Training

Each day has two different exercises (superset). Sets, reps and rest are altered each week. This is actually meant to total 10 minutes.

Core Exercises

This includes different crunches and twists – with varying rep, set, and rest ranges. For 5 minutes.
Cardio
The cooldown. The author thinks this will help alleviated DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). Minimum 5 minutes.
The book is interspersed with testimonials (including that of Halle Berry whom the author claims was the inspiration to write the book).

Is the Five Factor Diet a successful Program?

Altogether it is a reasonable brief, well-explained fitness program. Just keep in mind one thing: The celebs have the advantage of working directly with the author . This is always going to be much more efficient than having a book as the only guidance.

The book has many similarities to Tom Venuto’s BFFM program. Still the 5-factor diet provides more details for the workout program but less discussion about calories.