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Halle Berry trainer

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At 51, Halle Berry has manged to defy the passage of time and maintain an incredibly youthful look. The secret? Exercise, a healthy (ketogenic) diet, and trainer Peter Lee Thomas.
The ripped trainer and athlete has been working with the actress for two years now and helped her kick her workout routines up a notch. The results? Berry has more energy, is more athletic and feels better than ever. Not to mention, she says that she’s been able to change her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis into Type 2. So we talked to Thomas about his work with the Oscar winner, the ways in which the ketogenic diet and supplements from the Purium brand have changed her from the inside out, and why he says she’s the hardest-working actress he’s ever met.

MadameNoire: How did you go from getting to train Halle to partnering with her for Fitness Fridays in the hopes of informing and motivating her followers?

Peter Lee Thomas: Well, initially we met because we had some mutual friends and she was looking for a trainer. I had just been there and we talked and it just seemed like I’d known her for years. As you know, she’s extremely down to earth and we just fell right into it. It was a natural, organic progression. Throughout the years, we decided, “You know what? We should start sharing some of these ideas and some of these concepts with people.” Because I really think it could ripple and it could influence and encourage a lot of people to move and to just overall optimize their existence. Have a healthy outlook on life. That’s kind of where we started with the idea. We threw some ideas together, and sure enough, it just manifested. We wanted to influence people to take action and start working out now and not to have to always put it on the backburner saying, “I’ll be fit in the month of January because that’s my resolution season” or whatever. Get active now and just be accountable and have fun with it. Regardless of what you do, you’re going to feel great. So that’s how that all manifested. We’ve always just had this larger vision. We wanted to spread this to everybody, regardless of whether or not you have a gym membership. It’s ok! There’s so much you can do resourcefully inside of your home and even outside of it. There’s a million things you can do. So that’s been our spin on it.

Halle says that you’ve changed her life. What did you bring to her training experience that has allowed her to experience such growth? 

I was really honored to receive that shout-out. That was a surprise to me. I honestly do think, in my humble opinion, it’s that she’s such an athlete but she was never truly challenged in specific ways. And a lot of the time, the workouts we do, we do them together. I’m not just standing around and telling her what to do. A lot of the time we work out together and it’s just something I decided to do because it creates a very healthy, competitive atmosphere. Because she was finally seeing herself physically sweat, that’s why she might say our work has changed her life. She has much more energy than she had before. I think she’s doing things athletically now that she probably couldn’t even do in her 20s and 30s. Chronologically, she might be 51, but biologically, she’s much, much more youthful than that. You can clearly see that in her athleticism and how she moves. She’s by far the hardest working actress that I’ve ever met and I’ve worked with a handful of them. I have to say, she’s my hero.

Oh, wow! Nice! Is there a particular part of her body that she likes to focus on most?

Absolutely. In general, all my training is full-body workout. We will target different specific muscles based on how fatigued the others are. But I would say ideally, most women they want to make sure they have toned legs, a toned butt and that everything is long, lean and athletic. So that’s kind of what we focus on.

How do Purium’s products supplement the training she does with you and why is that your go-to brand?

Of all of the different companies that have been set in front of me, I’ve been using Purium for about 12 years now. I was a sponsored athlete with the company, and when I used to compete in boxing and kickboxing and mixed martial arts, I really didn’t know much about superfoods, nutrition or supplements that could help your mobility. So I stumbled upon  a friend who connected me with the people over at Purium. It truly just revolutionized my entire outlook on anti-aging and being more athletic. All of these different modalities, I just started to see a complete increase in my performance. I thought, there has to be something to this because all of the other stuff I tried, it didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t feel optimized. I felt slow and sluggish and I was always getting injured and being sore. So the second I got to experience the Purium experience, I thought, “This is incredible. I’d love to share this twith everybody.” Everyone can benefit from their products because it’s not just from the athletic perspective. It’s about longevity. These are lifestyle-enhancing products.

Halle is very disciplined and the Purium supplements help with that. But in what ways have you encouraged some of the dietary changes she’s been able to make? She’s been a major proponent of the ketogenic diet and often speaks about forgoing sugars and carbs. How have you helped her balance her diet?

I research a lot of different diets. But as everyone knows, she’s diabetic. Naturally, when you’re diabetic, your body craves certain foods. From what I understand, she was already doing intermittent fasting, which I’m a huge fan proponent of. I do it every day. A lot of athletes practice it. It’s one of those things that once you feel the results of it, it’s kind of hard to go back. But I specifically think the ketogenic diet perfectly complements what we’re doing and the specific training we’re doing. She naturally wanted and craved those foods because her body was sending those messages. But the ketogenic diet, there’s so much science and research behind it. I don’t think it’s going to be a fad diet. It’s something she naturally gravitated towards based on her entire existence. It’s something that just naturally fit the bill. But I did suggest it because I was already doing the diet myself and I think it’s fantastic. I just suggested, “You should really look into this more and the science behind it,” and so she did. She’s now in ketosis and eating the right foods at the right time. She’s picking the right choices. And when you’re in ketosis, you don’t even really crave sugar. Those cravings kind of dissipate and they go away. So I could look at a big cookie and I could not associate that with real food, as opposed to if I look at an apple or a strawberry or a blueberry. That to me is really aesthetically pleasing and I’d rather go for that. With this diet in mind, she just felt like herself and at her complete best performance when she adopted the ketogenic lifestyle. And that’s what it is. It’s a lifestyle.

Is it true that by sticking to the ketogenic diet, her body was able to shift from being a Type 1 diabetic to a Type 2?

Yeah. I’ve been reading more and more about that and I’ve just been hearing more stories about people who are able to do that. She’s among a lot of people who’ve witnessed these benefits and I think there’s definitely something to it. With the science that’s backing it up, it’s no longer a pseudo-science based thing.

What Purium supplements that you and Halle are a fan of would you recommend for people just starting their fitness journey?

I always suggest that people go on the 10-Day Transformation. You’re resetting your metabolism and getting off of processed foods. You’re getting off of all of the junk, sugar, potato chips and whatever else people eat and you’re giving your body a break. You’re also giving a shower to yourself from the inside out and it clearly shows. And your’e still eating regular food! You’re not just drinking juices for 10 days. You go on this cleanse, and I think it’s one everyone should start with. People are surprised when they get on it because they’re like, “Here I am, day five, day six, and I’m not even hungry!” You feel satiated the whole time you’re doing that. You’re feeding your body on a cellular level. You’re not just consuming macronutrients and eating all of this caloric-dense food. You’re eating micronutrients that are nutritionally dense superfoods that feed your cells. You’re allowing your body to go on vacation from all of the stuff it’s used to. If you never got an oil change on your car, imagine what would happen. That’s how the human body operates indirectly. Give it a little break and let it do what it does best. It knows how to clean itself if you give it the right tools.

Those interested in testing out Purium products can try them for a discounted price for a limited time. Thomas is offering a $50 Purium gift card. Just use the code “peterleethomas” while shopping on the online store when you check out. 

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