Katia Goes to California!

Whenever an opportunity to hear live music comes my way I take it with open arms; music is food for my soul.  For the first time this year, I made it a priority to head to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the Californian dessert.

Before heading out to the festival, I spent some time in Los Angeles catching up with loved ones, hiking in Runyon Canyon and making a point to sit down with friend, Harley Pasternak.  Harley is a Torontonian who moved to LA to pursue his career in personal training and fitness.  He is arguably the most sought after trainer among celebrities and has written two highly successful books, 5-Factor Fitness and 5-Factor Diet, and is currently working on his third.

With my 27th birthday just past, I suddenly felt this urge to get fit.  I've been a long time proponent of swimming as a means of exercise and maintain an active yoga practice, however, I have never really thought of these activities as working out.  My body is changing and this feeling to take extra care is noticeably present. I am terribly bored by machines and heavy materials; I was a member at my beloved gym, Chelsea Piers Sports Center, for over a year before I ever stepped foot on a treadmill or lifted a weight.  Though I've recently started using these tools, I'm still not terribly enthused about the gym.

So do I have to hit the gym everyday?  Harley's answer is not necessarily, however he says, People should be physically active everyday; whether it is gardening or walking to store for groceries, each day should include some form of physical activity.  He states that a structured activity five days a week is optimal though three or more days is great.  He also reminded me that it could mean different things to different people; for example, Capoeira is a popular form of fitness for Brazilians, as is Tai-Chi for the Chinese.  The point is that physical fitness is essential to functional longevity, and for Harley, that includes intensive resistance training and cardio vascular training.  

How important is healthy diet?  Essential, Harley says. Food is our fuel, our sustenance, our building blocks of our physical existence.  He also points out that health is a relative term, In Morocco, Camel's testicles are consumed because they are believed to be good for the immune system.  Lovely, I thought to myself.  Harley's program concentrates on five meals per day, the concept of grazing over gorging, and five criteria to be met at each meal including a low fat protein, a healthy carb, 5-10g in fiber (usually found in the healthy carb), a healthy fat (such as olive oil) and a non sugar beverage.  Five is the only number you need to worry about, says Harley.  His program stays away from anything too contrived or empirical, such as counting calories or measuring foods, but rather focuses on what you are actually eating.  

What I like about Harley's program is that it is about a lifestyle, not just a quick fix.  Harley does not believe in strict dieting, like a non-carb diet, or cleanses, which he believes are illogical and dangerous.  He states, If you cannot sustain something, don't start it.  He encourages that it is never too late to start being active and everybody can do it, for some people it might begin with walking for two minutes one day, and then three minutes the next day and building from there.  In terms of eating well, Harley shares that it's all about choices, It doesn't take any extra time or energy to make choices; choose skinless chicken over chicken with skin, choose grilled over fried etc.  For Harley, it's the synergy of moderate exercise and moderate diet that creates fantastic and sustainable results.  

I felt great after this conversation over lunch with Harley.  In our short time together I felt even more motivated to keep up with my recent surge in physical wellness and more informed about eating well.  I also noticed, however, that it slid out of my consciousness during my time at Coachella.  Sure I danced up a storm for three days straight. Check for structured physical activity!  But the pizza as dinner one night and the hot fudge sundae the next night didn't exactly meet the 5-Factor meal criteria.  Then I also remembered something valuable Harley mentioned: screwing up one day doesn't really matter!  In the grand scheme of things, a couple of bad days a month (his program allows a cheat day each week) doesn't add up in comparison to all the days we choose to live well.  We have the choice!  And it is our choice to make for ourselves.  External motivation is temporary, asserts Harley, It is all intrinsic.  My clients are motivated; they want to change.  I try to demonstrate the simplest way to achieve this goal. 

It is so exciting to be back in New York City with spring in full force.  I'm taking the opportunity to use the outdoors as my playground for physical activity.  Whether riding my bike or walking with friends the entire day from destination to destination, I'm choosing to be physically active and it feels great!

To read more of Katia's aritcles, click here!

Katia Tallarico, Relationships 2.0
		About the author:
		Katia Aurora Tallarico, born and raised in Toronto, currently lives in Manhattan. As an undergraduate at McGill University, she lived in Montreal where she studied Psychology and later pursued a graduate degree in Counseling Psychology at Columbia University in New York City. Katia integrates both Western and Eastern approaches to her mental health practice and credits her own well-being to a dedicated meditation and yoga practice. She has worked servicing chronically mentally ill adults in lower Manhattan and currently works as a Mental Health Counselor with foster children in the South Bronx. In addition, Katia is an active supporter and Young Benefactor Committee member of Free Arts NYC (www.freeartsnyc.org).
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