Here are our “Top Tips” for how to complete the ProLon® Fasting Mimicking Diet®.
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Water, Water and More Water. Stay Hydrated. Aim for around 32fl oz (1 liter) of water in addition to the L-drink and all the other fluid within the program. Note that this is a general goal, and each individual will have their own hydration needs, so listen to your body. If you feel thirsty or lightheaded, your body is telling you to drink more. Staying hydrated is one of the keys to unlocking the health benefits of ProLon.
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Spice It Up. Water doesn't need to be boring. Spice it up! Not literally though - we mean drink carbonated water. Not only is it fun to change things up, but the bubbles may help make you feel fuller. Who knew?
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Yes, You Can Still Enjoy Your Coffee. Yes, You Can Still Enjoy Your Coffee. If you regularly consume a lot of caffeine, we recommend weaning down to 1-2 cups a day in the week before ProLon. If, during the fast, you are craving your daily cup of joe, you can indulge. The caffeine content of coffee varies, so just keep it to one or two cups (8-12fl oz) per day, with Stevia (optional), but don't add creamer or anything else to it.
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Stay Active. Light exercise, like walking or stretching is not only healthy, it also helps you "stay in the moment" and distracts you from thinking about your food cravings. Put on those walking shoes but be mindful not to overexert yourself.
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Share with Someone. Fasting isn't like Fight Club; you're supposed to talk about it! By letting people know you are fasting, they can support you and hold you accountable. Whether it's a family member, a co-worker, or a friend, having someone in your corner is key and will help make your fast more rewarding. Who knows, maybe they'll join you for your next round.
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Ommm. Meditate. Having a mindful practice can not only help calm you, keep you centered, and help you achieve inner peace, it can help with focus. Meditating helps you surmount obstacles and achieve your goals, like completing ProLon®.
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Be Productive. Keeping your mind and body active means that you'll be less likely to focus on your hunger. What we're saying here is, get busy! Whether it's focusing on your work, a home project, or your scrapbook hobby, stay active.
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Goodnight. Good sleep is one of the keys to health. Most adults need between seven and nine hours of quality sleep every night to reset and reenergize, and during ProLon the body may need even more sleep. Plan to turn in early and listen to your body. What we're saying is: zzzzzz.
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Coach Yourself. Constantly remind yourself why you took on this challenge. ProLon users have found that writing down their goals helps them stay motivated and succeed. Whether you “coach yourself” through journaling, recording positive affirmations on your phone, or even just verbalizing to yourself, keep reminding yourself that you have the strength to reach your goal of completing ProLon®.
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Give. Helping others is always rewarding, but when you're fasting, it takes on even more meaning. Whether you help at a soup kitchen, read to the elderly, or donate your time to an animal shelter, volunteering is a great way to shift your focus away from yourself, and from food, and concentrate on others.
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Fast with Friends. Of course, many people do this program on their own, but ProLon® is also a team sport! The advantages of choosing to fast with a friend are that you’ll have a built- in support network and someone with whom to share the experience. Whether it’s your spouse, friend, or work colleague, think about buddying up!
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You Can Take It with You. You don’t need to eat your ProLon® meals at home. Go out and enjoy the weather. Whether you pack a “ProLon picnic,” go to a dinner party, a restaurant, or to a family member’s place for dinner, bring your ProLon® food and enjoy it in the company of others. Everything you need is in the box! Of course, always be mindful of social distancing protocols.
You should add food to the program only as a last resort if you are so incredibly hungry that you feel like you are going to break the fast. In such an instance, you may have a slice or two of apple, 1 stalk of celery, or 1 small Persian (“baby”) cucumber of 5-6 inches in length per day.
You can add:
- Up to 1 tablespoon of dried herbs or spices per day to your soups or other foods in the diet to enhance the flavor (preferably unprocessed, g., red pepper flakes)
- Up to 1 teaspoon of sea salt (as long as there are no health contraindications)
- Up to 2 slices of lemon per day (squeezed, not eaten), whether you use it in your soups, herbal teas, or water.
- Up to 2 pieces of sugar-free gum per day while on
- Herbal teas (unsweetened and caffeine free) as much as you
- All types of sparkling water are fine (no sweeteners of any kind)
- Caffeine up to 140mg per day:
- 1 cup (8fl oz) of coffee (no cream but stevia is acceptable)
- -or- 2 cups (16fl oz) of black or green tea (traditionally steeped), no matcha
- -or- 6 cups (48fl oz) of decaf coffee (no cream but stevia is acceptable)
While exercise can help use up available blood glucose and move a person into a ketogenic, fasting state, vigorous exercise can stress the body and we do not recommend intense exercise during ProLon. So, while fasting, keep your activity light and do things like walking, yoga, and stretching.
Listen to your body as you ease back into exercise after fasting. If it feels like it’s too much, it probably is. Don’t push yourself too hard and keep the intensity at a manageable level. Remember, your body needs to recover after fasting, so it may take a few days for you to get back to the level you were at before the fast.
If you’re only planning to do one cycle of ProLon, you will likely feel (and be able to measure) many of the benefits we advocate such as losing weight while on the fast, improving your relationship with food, feeling more in control of your health, increased focus and clarity, increased energy, and much more. But you may or may not experience a significant change in other metabolic measures, and we don’t have any published data on the impact on them using only a single cycle of ProLon.
Participants in our published clinical trials underwent three cycles of ProLon in consecutive months, and had specific metabolic measurements taken the week before starting, a few days after the last cycle, and then several months after completion. It is ultimately up to you and your healthcare provider to determine whether there is a need for metabolic tests, and which tests to perform before and after ProLon.
For your reference, the metabolic markers measured and recorded in clinical trials before and after 3 cycles of ProLon included the following:
- Complete Blood Count & Chemistry Panel
- Cholesterol (Total, HDL, LDL)
- Triglycerides
- Fasting Blood Glucose
- HbA1C
- hs-CRP
- IGF-1
- Total body weight
- Abdominal Circumference
- Body composition and/or body fat %
- Blood Pressure
In our clinical trial which included 3 consecutive 5-day ProLon cycles, used once a month, we found the following outcomes:
- Maintenance of healthy systolic blood pressure
- Weight loss, primarily visceral/belly fat, and maintenance of lean body mass. Participants lost an average of 5.7 pounds, and 1.6 inches off their waist
- Support of the natural process of autophagy – cellular clean-up and rejuvenation
- Support of overall metabolic health
