ProLon-ing the Agony

Today is food day. My wife and I greeted each other with a morning hug and an intimate cheer of “Good morning, happy food day, we get to eat!” This usually would be weird, but it’s day six of the ‘ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet’ or FMD, which means the strict following of the five-day protocol is over and we’re free to resume our regular lives. However, it’s 0918 and I’ve still only had a cup of coffee. It seems I’m in no rush.

This fast was my wife’s idea, to her credit. I’ve been assaulted from all sides lately though, between her, my own desires to lose weight, and Thor, God of Thunder. The benefits of fasting have been in the back of my mind since the late 90’s, when my hippy friends in Tofino started talking about doing the Master-Cleanse. Then last month Chris Hemsworth got on board in episode three of his recent Limitless series on Disney+, where he did a four-day total fast under the supervision of Dr. Peter Attia. I suppose I saw the writing on the wall at that point. I knew I was in for some hunger. Live longer? Kill zombie cells? Lose weight? What’s not to love? I knew my wife would be making a case for us to do a fast.

The ProLon FMD is a five-day restricted calorie diet. It comes in a fancy box, in which there are five more fancy boxes – one for each day. In each wee carton there’s 700-800 calories worth of scientifically engineered food that will put your body into ketosis, clean out the “zombie cells” (as Hemsworth puts it in the show) and facilitate cellular regeneration. My wife and I started the program on boxing day, and I lost 9.8lbs in five days. Weight measurements were taken every morning, naked and after the morning ablutions. For context, I’m 49 and 6’2” with a muscular build. I have a reasonable amount of muscle from the gym, which helps burn calories. My starting weight was 236.6 lbs on the morning of day-one of the fast. I’ve been trying for years to slim down, but I yo-yo. I enjoy food, and it was just the Christmas season, which is an annual excuse to indulge for most. So, it was a great time to try this FMD thing.

The daily boxes of food are not tailored to your height or weight, they’re the same for everyone, and they’re small. My wife and I, at a 100 lbs difference between us, were getting the same meals every day – a couple of packets of soup, a little nut bar, and a rotation of olives, kale crackers, and choco-crisp bars. There’s a proprietary energy L-drink, some algal oil, and some tea and multivitamins. It’s not much. I actually got used to being hungry and resisting cravings. At times, the drive to get up and make some popcorn was strong. I found myself thinking about how I hadn’t tried Shake Shack yet, and dreaming about making chicken wings and cauliflower tots in the new Christmas air-fryer. On day two I noticed a sort-of sweet metallic taste in my mouth that persisted from then on. The internet told me it was a side-effect of ketosis, which is a well known term amongst dieters, diabetics, and weightlifters. It was a sign my body was burning fat for fuel, and it might be just me, but I liked the flavor.

While on the FMD, I wasn’t supposed to work out or use the sauna – two things I came to really miss over the five days. I had to ration my energy; chores that I would normally do in a day took three days instead. One day’s task was taking down the Christmas lights, the next day cutting up a blow-down tree, followed by some leaf raking. We walked the dog, did some little projects, and planned our day six dinner, which would be on New Years Eve.

Hunger became a familiar feeling, and it actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I thought it would make me edgy and irritable, but it didn’t. Of course, I’m privileged to have lived a life thus far that hasn’t included hunger, and I had a light at the end of the tunnel to look forward to, and the luxury to reduce my activity levels to suit the fast. This was needed, because I definitely felt like taking it easy. I was motivated by the weight loss, especially between day one and two, where I lost 4.5 pounds.

My weight loss went like this:

Day 1: 236.6 lbs
Day 2: 232.1 lbs
Day 3: 230.1 lbs
Day 4: 229.1 lbs
Day 5: 228.5 lbs
Day 6: 226.8 lbs

I visited the r/FMD subreddit and the facebook group to read about the variety of experiences. Unlike many others, I was sleeping fine, no change there. I also didn’t really struggle that much, compared to some who seemed to be posting just to get support for cheating on the diet. I talked to one guy in Sweden who was doing his own home-brewed version with nuts and veggies, but it sounded like he was getting a lot more calories than we were. Doing the actual plan, following the protocol and eating only what was in the box wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t easy either.

As I write this, it’s transition day, where we head back to normalcy. No more boxes, make your own food. Avocado toast as a first meal seems popular in the online groups. Breakfast today was awesome. Instead of the sour little nut bar, I made some fresh sourdough, boiled some eggs, and mashed half of a perfect avocado with some lemon, salt, pepper and chili flakes. I put no butter on the bread, which is a change for me (I love butter). My wife talked about how her relationship with food seemed different, and I agree. Calories seem more precious. The Lifesum app told me that my breakfast was 596 calories, which seems rather luxurious compared to last nights’ 120 cal dinner. I thought about people in Ukraine, and wondered what they were eating. I marveled at the fat content of two eggs, and how precious they were. Part of me didn’t want to eat.
Part of me wanted to stay in ketosis. We talked about the unsustainability of caloric deficit, and how it can lead to serious health problems. I relished every single bite. Oddly, three hours later, despite my decadent breakfast, the ketosis-sweetness is still on my tongue. It’s been a curious and successful experiment, and I’d probably repeat it.

Mission accomplished, deed done, weight-loss achieved. My ideas around food have shifted a bit, we’ll see if it sticks.

Happy New Year!