The world's healthy weight-loss tips

THE 5-FACTOR WORLD DIET: Weight-Loss Secrets From

the Healthiest Nations on the Planet - Unlocked!, by Harley Pasternak,with Laura Moser (Ballantine Books, $25).

Pasternak, a "trainer to the stars," presents his third

"5-Factor" book . . . and it's intriguing.

The nutritionist analyzes diet/

fitness habits of the 10 healthiest nations, from Japan to Greece (uh, not us . . . we're No. 50). And explains how to adopt them.

THE SCOOP There's much to emulate: Japanese eat nearly 30 items daily, but their diet is more balanced and less caloric than ours. (Try hara hachi bunme, eating until you're 80 percent full - it might be enough.) Swedes eat berries, dark bread and oily fish and exercise in the cold; the French "indulge, but always in moderation." And the Spanish find it unthinkable to sleep fewer than eight hours.

THE BOTTOM LINE From 120-plus, delicious-sounding international recipes to "active transportation" tips - um, try walking - this unusual take on healthy lifestyles might get you off the couch. And out of the drive-through line.