Jessica Simpson’s Personal Trainer Reveals How She Dropped 100 Pounds

When Jessica Simpson said these boots are made for walking, she meant it.

Since welcoming her third child, Birdie Mae, in March, the businesswoman has made her health and wellness the utmost priority. That meant committing to small lifestyle changes that made huge changes in her health and appearance. Now, six months later she’s 100 pounds lighter and the star says she is “so proud to feel like myself again.”

Her trainer Harley Pasternak tells E! News exclusively, “This particular baby no. 3 was… I think she commented to the press that she tipped the scales at 240 lbs, that’s not coming from me, she mentioned that in a post. So, we had our work cut out for us and perhaps more so on this baby than the others.” 

So Harley, in coordination with her doctor, created a plan that was focused on helping Jessica form habits that would help her beyond the six month goal she set for herself. He explains, “It had to be more than just getting back from her baby weight, but how do I keep whatever I am doing now forever. That’s why we are not a big fan of doing any extreme diet or radical forms of exercise.”

Unlike other stars who take up boxing or do high-intensity workouts on a daily-basis, Jessica’s workout regimen was all about walking—14,000 steps a day to be exact. But, like everything Harley does, it was all a gradual process. 

They first waited for Jessica to fully recover from her birth, before beginning with a 6,000 step-a-day routine. Meanwhile, Harley, who created the best-selling Sweetkick, the mint that curbs sugar cravings, helped Jessica find a healthier version of the tasty foods she loves. He says the goal wasn’t to “rob” her of her favorite foods, but make meaningful changes to her meals so that she is eating lean proteins and vegetables throughout the day. In total, she would eat three meals a day and two snacks like parmesan green beans and a handful of almonds, which doesn’t sound half-bad. 

While there weren’t any cheat days, he did allow her to have cheat meals throughout the week. Harley thinks that doing this makes indulging a bit “more balanced and sustainable.” He adds, “You don’t have to have all of your indulges in one day. It tends to be a little extreme if you do that.”

And the changes weren’t just made in the kitchen, but in her daily routine. For example, Harley shares that Jessica introduced daily family walks or would walk on the treadmill while watching TV and answering phone calls. He didn’t want Jessica doing anything “too difficult, painful, hard or arduous.” Plus, Harley emphasizes “unplugging from technology” for at least an hour every day in order to get a full seven hours a sleep. “So many people undervalue the importance of sleep in weightless and weight management,” Pasternak explains. 

As soon as she mastered those aspects of her plan and got the important approval of her doctor, Harley started having her do full-body workouts every other day. He describes, “We slowly ramped those up; 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.”

Her and Harley kept track of her progress through daily emails that included her step count, what she ate and a screenshot of her Fitbit. And as tedious as this sounds, Harley says that she has “such a great attitude” about the process.

Part of Jessica’s devotion to the plan is due to her 12-year relationship with the celebrity trainer. After the birth of her eldest two kids, Harley helped Jessica to return to her pre-baby body. It’s no wonder she remains a loyal customer.

Moreover, the star seems like she was passionate about feeling healthy again. Harley says that Jessica told him that she didn’t want to just get “in shape,” but become a better person through fitness and clean eating. “We were kind of just getting in shape between kids and now it was sort of ok, I want to look fierce again and look great, confident and energized and I want to do it in a sustainable way. That was her main goal,” he shares.

And the best part is that Jessica is using the lessons she learned to create a healthier lifestyle for her kids along the way. Harley says, “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.”