My Experience with the ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet
Hello friends,
I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying some spring weather wherever you live. Spring breaks are starting to happen and that means potential swimsuits and shorts. If you’re anything like me then this is the time of year that you will start fretting over a (sunless) tan and exercise because we’re not far off from warmer weather for months on end.
I’ve been wanting to share the ProLon FMD with you, but kept holding off until I completed the fast again. I’ve officially done the fast four times now and truly believe in it’s helpful benefits as well as the science behind it. I’ll describe the fast to you, review my experiences, and provide you with my “helpful tips”.
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Now, let’s take a look!
ABOUT
ProLon FMD stands for Pro-Longevity Fasting Mimicking Diet. It is a five day fast that promotes cell rejuvenation and autophagy. You may lose some weight, you may not. The purpose is for all of the health benefits that come from shifting your body into autophagy. The Prolon FMD box provides everything you’ll eat for the five days, divided into one box each day. The nutritional content varies each day with the purpose of converting your body into a fasting state: Day 1 fat burning, Day 2 fat burning and ketogenesis, Day 3 autophagy cleanup state, Day 4 cellular rejuvenation, Day 5 renewal and change.
During the fast you are restricted in exercise, no alcohol, no coffee creamer, only 1 cup of black coffee or 2 cups of tea or 6 cups of decaf, and you’re limited to two Stevias per day. The day’s sustenance is what’s in each day’s box and that’s it!
Below is an excerpt directly from the Prolon site about the science behind it:
The Fasting Mimicking Nutrition Technology is at the core of the health benefits of ProLon products. This precision nutrition formulation nourishes the body while keeping its metabolism and cells in fasting mode and therefore harvesting the health benefits of fasting while eating plant based, clean, premium nutrition. The Fasting Mimicking Nutrition was developed at the Longevity Institute of the University of Southern California and at L-Nutra Inc. by a global team of Longevity experts led by Professor Valter Longo (TIME Top 50 Most Influential People in Health).
ProLon's Fasting Mimicking Nutrition is now tested independently in over 32 human trials conducted at 18 university research centers such as Stanford, Mayo Clinic, University of Miami, University of Indiana, University of Genoa, Leiden University, Heidelberg University, University of Palermo and many others, for applications in longevity, prevention and disease remission (Diabetes, Cancer, Cardiovascular, Inflammation and others). These studies have helped tremendously in furthering ProLon's leadership in Nutrition for Longevity and Food as Medicine and have demonstrated major life changing benefits. Most of these trials include a protocol 3 to 6 ProLon 5-Day Fasting Mimicking Diet per year.
During my second round of ProLon I purchased The Longevity Diet book to understand a little bit more about the purpose of the fast. It was a lot of science and explanations, but definitely worth the read to understand the background of the creator, Valter Longo, and how he created this patented concept.
MY EXPERIENCES
I have now completed 4 rounds of the ProLon FMD and felt amazing afterward each one. I just completed my 4th round earlier this month, actually. It has significantly helped with my Hashimoto’s facial puffiness, helped reduce my Rosacea flares’ frequency and intensity, helped jump started my metabolism after getting off of antidepressants, and overall boosted my energy.
With each round I have lost weight but that is not guaranteed and is not the purpose of the fast. I’ve tended to gain half of the weight back afterwards which makes me think it may be partially water weight. The Facebook group “Fastination” is a priceless resource during the fast and there you will see others posting about their experiences which is where I read that some lost weight but there were others that did NOT loose any weight. The purpose is autophagy, not weight loss. Weight loss is a potential added benefit.
With each round I have struggled mentally to sustain the five days. I have been lucky that I didn’t get headaches or nausea and honestly never felt hungry. Some people share that they have issues with those things. The hardest part of the fast for me was the mental mind games. Five days is NOT a long time, but at the same time it can feel like three weeks. 🥴 By day four I’m feeling successful and yet ready for it to be over. I start questioning WHY am I doing this to myself when others are just eating and drinking whatever they want to - and I have to remind myself that I am CHOOSING to do this fast FOR ME and FOR MY HEALTH. It is only five days. Sometimes those moments make me angry at life. 🤣 All a girl wants is some queso and a margarita, OK?
Also to note that in the “Fastination” Facebook group there are a lot of people who share amazing results from their before and after bloodwork. Things like going from pre-diabetic to not, from high cholesterol to normal range, etc. If you are hesitant to try this fast (and I get that it is expensive), just join that Facebook group and read what people share in there.
MY HELPFUL TIPS
Add cinnamon to your black coffee.
Wait until 11am to eat the morning L-Bar.
Wait until 2pm to eat your lunch soup.
Wait until 5pm to eat your snack.
Wait until 8pm to eat your dinner.
Save your dessert for before bed.
On a day when there is no dessert Choco-Crisp, save half of your morning L-Bar for after dinner/before bed.
On a day when there is only no snack, save the crackers or olives that they have listed with your lunch soup for a snack.
Cold steep the hibiscus tea in the L-Drink (days 2-5).
Some people say to heat up the morning L-Bar and add maybe add cinnamon. It’s a mind game to switch up the taste/texture.
Some people have suggesting mixing the bean soup with the tomato basil soup and then splitting it back up into two. I like the flavors so haven’t tried this.
Some people have suggesting letting your soup sit in water for a few hours before heating it and eating it. They said it makes it thicker, I think.
Find ways to enjoy your food longer - so practice mindful eating literally thinking about every bite and eat slowly. It allows your stomach to feel fuller versus inhaling a bowl of soup.
I’ve even added my snack olives to a martini glass with sparkling water and sipped on it slowly. It was a moment to enjoy and break up the monotony.
I don’t know why this method has worked for me, but that’s how I fasted since the first time and was fortunate I never really had the opportunity to feel hungry. Did I experience mind games? Yes. You want what you can’t have!
Have you ever tried the ProLon FMD? Or have you ever tried a different method of fasting? I’d love to hear your feedback on it. Comment below!
XOXO
