I Tried A Strict 5-Day Fasting Diet: Here’s My Day 1 Reaction

After having a baby last year, the recent holidays and the never-ending pandemic, I needed to do something to get a little healthier. I don’t do well with diets that limit certain foods long-term because I love to eat everything. And time-based eating or fasting altogether is definitely not for me. When I get hangry nothing should stand in my way of eating something. But the Prolon fasting diet intrigued me for three reasons: it’s short-term, you can eat food all day and you can still reap the benefits of fasting. I want to clearly state this is not a paid post or advertisement – I’m independently writing about my own diet experiences with this program.

The Prolon Fasting Program is a 5-day fasting diet that Prolon says mimics fasting while still giving you some food and nutrients. You purchase the program on the company’s website and it ships directly to you with all the food and vitamins you are supposed to eat during the diet. There are 5 boxes, one for each day, that include nut & honey bars, vegetable soups, olives, crackers, herbal teas, chocolate bars and additional supplements. Sounds doable, right?

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My main goal with this fast is to lose some weight. I’ve never been good at diets and like to just eat whatever I want. The winter months and the pandemic make it harder because I just want to eat all the pasta and drink all the wine! Plus, my baby has recently started to crawl, and I’m looking for something to help raise my energy levels so I can keep up with her. It’s definitely time to try something new for my physical and mental health, so why not try a short-term fast.

The benefits of a fasting diet aren’t limited to weight loss, but that is my main goal. The Prolon fast mimicking diet states that it encourages cell renewal. Many of their clients have seen other results too, such as stopping cravings or dependency on certain foods. When researching this diet program, I noticed that many of their clients don’t just do one round of fasting – they keep coming back for more. That was a huge selling point for me because it signals that it works for people and they are able to stick to the diet.

5-Day Fasting Diet: Day 1

All meals for each of the five days are included in the program. You get a package with five boxes, one for each day, as well as detailed instructions. Each box includes items that you eat only on the designated day, although Prolon says you can eat each day’s food at any time or in any order you’d like. There is also a handy meal card that gives you suggestions for what Prolon items to eat during each meal.

This fasting diet does suggest you avoid caffeine, but you are able to drink as much water (even essenced water such as La Croix) and as much herbal tea as you’d like. For Day 1, I followed the suggested meals, but I saved my snack for dinner time because I got busy with my daughter.

Breakfast on Fasting Diet Day 1 at 10:00 am

Even before breakfast, I was anxious and my stomach was growling. I don’t usually eat before 10 am, but today it was like my mind knew that I was going to have limited food and it told my stomach. I put the baby down for her morning nap and was excited to eat something. The plan suggests a nut and honey bar for breakfast with lemon spearmint herbal tea. Along with the meal, they suggest taking two Algal oil capsules (omega-3 fatty acids). Since I’m not a huge breakfast person, this meal was enough for me.

Lunch on Fasting Diet Day 1 at 1:00 pm

For lunch, the plan suggested tomato soup, olives with sea salt, and kale crackers with seeds, and some supplements in pill form. The soup was delicious, but the olives and kale crackers were definitely bland. That said, I was still happy to eat them because I was hungry. Lunch was pleasant and did keep me full until I was able to eat dinner.

Dinner on Fasting Diet Day 1 at 6:30 pm

Before I ate my dinner, I made the mistake of cooking dinner for my husband. Looking back, I should have eaten first before using all that energy to cook something I couldn’t even eat. So once his dinner was finished, I sat down and ate the minestrone soup, the nut-based bar (saved from my afternoon snack), and the chocolate bar. Once I started eating, I immediately felt better. The meal was actually satisfying and the chocolate dessert was a welcomed treat. 

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5-Day Fasting Diet: Day 1 Reaction

I surprised myself because I didn’t even think I could complete day 1 of a fasting diet. I usually eat high-carb foods that are full of sugar and fat, so this was a huge stretch for me. But because of the structure and the fact that the food tasted good overall, I think it was a very manageable first day.

The only real struggle I noticed was it took me longer than usual to fall asleep at night. However, I didn’t experience any hunger pains or discomfort at all. The most difficult part of day 1 was definitely mental, knowing you can only eat what Prolon gave you in the Day 1 box. Tomorrow will probably be more difficult, but the first day was fairly easy and manageable.