Jessica Simpson’s trainer has revealed some of the secrets about how the star lost her weight and kept it down.
Harley Pasternak helped Simpson get slimmer after she gave birth to her third child, Birdie Mae, in March last year.
At the time she weighed 240-lbs, but after working together on a “balanced and sustainable” plan with Pasternak, she has now shed 100-lbs.
Pasternak’s comments came as Simpson posted a new photo on Instagram of her showing off her toned physique, and revealing how she had woken up before all three of her kids to “get my steps in”.
Pasternak, who has worked with Simpson for 12 years, told how the star lost weight after he got her to commit to a string of small lifestyle changes, which he developed in conjunction with her doctor.
He said the pair “had their work cut out” due to her 240-lb weight, and the fact it was Simpson’s third baby. However, they made the focus of her weight-loss plan to work on things that she would be able to sustain longer than six months.
“It had to be more than just getting back from her baby weight, but how do I keep whatever I am doing now forever,” he said. “That’s why we are not a big fan of doing any extreme diet or radical forms of exercise.”
The main exercise that led to her shedding the pounds was walking, with Simpson’s weight-loss plan including 14,000 steps a day. However, she initially started with just 6,000 steps a day following the birth before increasing the number.
Jessica Simpson’s diet during weight-loss
When it comes to her diet, Pasternak focused on looking at the foods that Simpson loves — then creating healthier, lower calorie versions of the same things.
It centered around lean proteins and vegetables across three meals each day as well as two snacks, which would include things like almonds and parmesan green beans. She didn’t get the luxury of having cheat days, as is involved in some other diets, but she was allowed to have the occasional meal where she could indulge in higher calorie foods.
This was another trick to make the whole process more sustainable, and something that Simpson could stick to in the long term. “You don’t have to have all of your indulges in one day,” he said. “It tends to be a little extreme if you do that.”
Building exercise into daily life
To get her 14,000 steps in, Pasternak got Simpson to work the steps into her daily routine — for example by building in daily walks with her family so they could spend time together while doing something healthy.
She would also make sure to walk on a treadmill in her home when she was doing mundane tasks like answering the phone or watching TV. Because walking is an easy thing to do, again it was something that was manageable over many months.
The other main of pillar of the weight-loss plan was making sure Simpson had enough sleep — at least seven hours a night. “So many people undervalue the importance of sleep in weightless and weight management,” Pasternak said.
Once all the above were built into Simpson’s routine, she gradually added to that with full-body workouts every second day.
“We slowly ramped those up,” says Pasternak. “We started really easy and slowly increased them. We started with doing a full-body workout, one set of each exercise, not really doing too much intensity per body part and gradually increasing the volume and intensity. Focusing on a few muscle groups per day. Different muscles each day of the week.”
Lastly, Simpson kept a record of everything she did each day — how much exercise, and what she ate — which she would send to Pasternak. The results are clear, he added: “She is feeling like she did before she had kid. In control of everything and such a great attitude of not beating herself up if she doesn’t eat perfectly everyday so it’s a very helpful perspective.”