#AD ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet

Apart from a brief fling with the Cambridge Diet, I’ve never done an organised diet in my life. In fact, I’ve rarely dieted because through some stroke of luck, my weight has been fairly steady and every couple of years or so resets itself so that for most of my life I’ve stayed more or less the same weight. When I was younger, I was too busy for food so was absolutely tiny, but through my thirties onwards, I’ve fairly consistently been a standard size 10/12. Since last year though, I’ve noticed that my size 12 trousers (remember that vast, vast collection of black trousers!) have been getting tighter and this summer, I find that some do not fit at all.

I don’t weigh myself and I can’t remember the last time that I did, so I can’t give you my exact weight. All I know is that I’m approaching a size 14 and none of my clothes are that size. So, it’s time really to stop relying on a reset and take matters into my own hands. I don’t want to not fit into my clothes and that’s the absolute sum of it. I don’t care how I look in a bikini, or for that matter, how anyone else looks (your body, your business) but I just know that for me, I want my wardrobe back!

ProLon is a five day fasting-mimicking diet developed at the University of Southern California – so your body is fooled into thinking it’s not eating, but you do have some carefully calibrated, healthy food. Created by Dr Valter Longo, ProLon is an intervention or a reset although fasting in itself is not new, obviously. However, fasting on water only is too hard and also risky even if you do have the will power to do it, so this, while not easy, is certainly a better option in terms of health. The calorie intake for the five boxes of food is between 770 and 1100 all designed to make positive changes in metabolic markers. There are various health restrictions on it so do read those carefully. Before deciding to try ProLon, I scoured the internet for the experiences of others – the easiest to read were those done in diary format so that’s what I’ll do here – compile a second post in diary form to post at the end of the five days.

The science bit – as long as I feel convinced I’m not being harmed by ProLon (which I certainly am), I’m a lot less interested in the actual science behind it. I feel that I’m paying for someone else to absorb and digest that (although obviously, my first box of ProLon is complimentary for this post) – that’s why we have scientists! However, it is quite compelling in several ways. ProLon offered me blood tests before and after but I opted not to take them up – other reviews have shown positive results and no negatives so I feel convinced that there are healthy benefits too. I just want my trousers on!

Clinicals are important though – researches tested the effects of three ProLon cycles (some people are doing this once a month but I’ve no initial plans to do it more than once!) on stimulating stem cells, on metabolic markers and on risk factors associated with ageing and disease. The findings showed a spike in circulation of stem cells, significant reduction in weight, while BMI, total body fat, trunk fat, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin-like growth factor (IGF1), inflammation markers were reduced. Low levels of IGF1 are indicated in lower disease risk and lower diabetes risk.

I feel a bit shallow for being more interested in the weight loss than the health but each to their own. If the weight goes, then the rest is an extra, very fabulous, benefit. So, wish me luck – I have some horrible looking olives to eat (everything else looks fine) so perhaps another side benefit is that I’ll be able to look an olive in the face without wanting to retch.

You can find out more information about ProLon HERE and it’s £225 for one box of five-day’s worth of nutrition.

*Just as a reminder, dieting is a very personal choice – you should never feel pressured to eat differently nor feel awkward about your size or weight.