Prolon 5 Day Fasting Kit | Fasting Program for Women & Men | Developed to Not Break Your Fast | Low Calorie Pre Made Meals & Snacks | Plant Based Ingredients for Diet Support | Original: Bold Flavors

I am a man in my late 50s, and I mainly use the Prolon kit to reset inflammation and bad eating habits (i.e., too many sweets), not to lose weight. This is my fifth time using Prolon, and each time I notice less knee and joint stiffness and a clearer head by the end. I like the Bold kit because the soups have more flavor, and there is no mushroom soup, which I really hate. The daily boxes make it easy to follow, and the bars, olives, crackers, and soups are simple but good enough to stay on track. The price is high, but the repeatable results in joint comfort and resetting my eating make it worth it for me. What are the days like for me: Day 1️⃣ feels normal with almost no impact. Day 2️⃣ is a little more challenging, but still fine. Days 3️⃣and 4️⃣ are the hardest in terms of energy and wanting to snack (avoid being around other people eating big meals). Day 5️⃣ feels like the home stretch, where I get a nice mental and physical reset. 🟢Pros - Clear 5-day plan with everything pre-packed. - Better soup flavors and no mushroom soup in the bold kit. - Helps reduce joint stiffness and overall inflammation for me. - Good reset for cravings and snacking. - Weight loss (I lose about 5 lbs. each time). 🔴Cons - Expensive for a 5-day program. - Food is simple and may feel plain if you are used to rich meals. - Days 3 and 4 can feel tough if you are new to fasting. - Mixing the soup is not easy, and they end up a bit clumpy. This is probably my biggest complaint. Overall, I am delighted with the Prolon fasting kit. You need to go in with clear goals like joint comfort, energy, weight loss, or breaking snacking habits, so you can judge if it worked for you. Two final notes: - Coffee: ☕ You can have a cup of coffee (which I do), but you need to follow what the program says about coffee, which is “One 8-ounce cup of plain black coffee per day is allowed on the Prolon 5-Day Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) - as long as there is nothing else in it.” - Gluten🍞: This is not certified gluten-free, but does not have gluten ingretients, here is what the Prolon site says, “All of the ingredients in Prolon are gluten-free, but some are made in facilities that also process wheat flour product.”

Fasting is not something to take lightly. But the professional quality of the Prolon products and the science behind them are impressive. We decided to be cautious, trying only one 5-day cycle because of our ages (74 and 77). Our goal was to give our digestive systems a rest, jump-start a weight-loss program and adjust our attitudes about what is “good eating” for us. Recognizing that five days is a long time to avoid regular food, we prepared our bodies with a few days of high quality, well-balanced meals -- about 1,500-2,000 calories per day, no “junk food” and no sugary sweets. Then we launched into Prolon and were pleasantly surprised at how easily our bodies accepted the program. The taste of the food was good-to-very-good; the portions were adequate for our needs; and we felt satisfied, energetic and clear-headed the entire time. One thing we hadn’t anticipated: It’s possible to pee too much on this diet and apparently deplete needed electrolytes. On day 3, I began having muscle pain in my legs and thighs. Rather than take a pain killer, I tried a sugar-free sports drink meant to build up electrolytes. My choice was to make my own -- a simple mix of 1 cup water, 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and 1/8 teaspoon of Himalayan Pink Salt. I felt much better within just 10 minutes of my first gulp and gradually drank a total of 3 batches during the remainder of my Prolon Fasting Mimicking. (My partner didn’t need anything.) When the 5-day fast was finished, we slowly returned to normal food. To begin: The day 6 and day 7 meals were simple, plain meals, with a balance between protein, carbs, fiber, etc. They totaled approximately the same caloric intake as the fasting mimicking meals. For us, this allowed a seamless transition from fasting to whole foods. We are now gradually increasing our calories and the complexity of our meals. We learned a lot about our bodies while on the Prolon Fasting Mimicking program, and we feel healthier. Looking at the way we ate before versus what we are doing now: 1) We’ve switched to eating four times a day, with the emphasis on lunchtime and a healthy afternoon snack. 2) We’ve reduced the amount we eat, knowing that we can be completely satisfied with smaller portions and fewer calories. And 3) we’ve made our evening meals not only smaller but also more relaxing – filling that time with talking and sharing, rather than overeating. The important part of all this was to recognize that our weight loss on the fast was not permanent, and it wasn't due to water loss but more likely the reduction of bulk in our intestines. Changes in our eating habits following the fast have been critical to our continued success. Thirty days following the fast, we are continuing to be careful with how much we eat and how many calories we consume. What seemed like an adequate meal before the fast now feels like too much to eat.

Here is my experience with the prolon diet. The first day I started the diet I began by eating the nut bar and drinking the herbal tea and taking the algal oil as instructed, I felt good on that. I went about my day and had plenty of energy. I wasn't hungry until noon when I drank the carrot ginger soup and took the nr1 supplements and ate the crackers and the olives. This is where things started to go south. My stomach got so bloated. I looked like I was pregnant. It was so uncomfortable it was hurting my back. I continued on anyway and in the afternoon ate the L-bar nut-based. By the way, the soups do not mix well. It's terrible that they are lumpy and just will not blend. My stomach was still hugely bloated at this point and I decided to deviate from the meal program and eat some normal food. I figured that it was the large amount of fiber that was messing up my stomach. For day two, I decided to eat some of my own food for my first meal and then eat all the other meals as prescribed in the diet. I did not experience the horrible bloating on this day that I got on the first day and I started to wonder if it was the crackers that actually created my bloating. They have sunflower oil in them and sunflower oil is one of the bad oils and could have messed up my digestive system. If you want to know what bad oils are, look up Dr. Cate Shanahan and the hateful eight seed oils. On day three, I followed the diet almost to a tee. I did not eat the crackers. I substituted some crackers I have for that. On this day I was extremely hungry all day long. I stuck to the plan like a trooper but I was hungry all day and very uncomfortable. Day four I woke up extremely fatigued. I was so tired. I didn't think I could do another day of this diet. I decided to stop at this point and go back to my normal eating. By the way, I normally eat keto. This is why I am wondering if this plant-based diet was just too far off of the norm for me and also had too much fiber. I will say I did lose 3 lb in 3 days but I was so hungry and tired at the end of this that I ended up overeating and gaining it back . I do not recommend this diet.

Overall I liked it and plan to do it again in 8 weeks. I just finished Day 5. The second day is the worst by far and the morning of Day 3 was hard as far as hunger goes. But by the end of Day 3 my body had totally adjusted to the limited calorie intake and I was feeling good for days 4 and 5. (Day 1 was kind of normal) What I loved: The packaging is great. They package each day in its own individual box and make it easy to follow. It's great for grabbing and taking it to go if you are going to work or going out all day. I really liked the breakfast nut bar each morning, the mini cocoa bar, the crackers and olives. I also enjoyed all the tea. What I thought was okay: The L drink mixed with plain water was a no for me. Just a very chemical-like flavor. I saw that some of the YouTube reviewers had mixed it with the hibiscus tea so I did that the rest of the days and it turned out delicious! I made a 32 oz cold brew of the hibiscus tea and mixed it with the L drink. I left it in a glass jar in my fridge and just poured a glass at a time throughout the day. I always left the last cup for the end of the day as a dessert type treat. The soups were okay. The taste overall was good but they come in powder form that you mix with water and even with putting it in my ninja blender to mix it well, I always ended up with clumps at the bottom of my cup. I put me off texture-wise. I also, personally, hate eating the same thing every day and even though the soups were all different flavors, they all tasted the same to me. By day 3 I was sick of the soups and skipped the second soup of the day on days 3, 4, and 5. I just made sure to keep my L Drink for the afternoon and evening to help curb hunger. But honestly my body adjusted well to the fast and I didn't really feel that hungry skipping them. I do plan to keep doing this fast though. Overall the positive outweighed the negative. I have a 50 lbs weight loss goal so I plan to do the fast every 8 weeks just to keep me on track. I probably won't do it consistently after I hit my goal weight, but I envision ordering again as a reset after a vacation or the holidays. It was a great experience for me mentally to get back on track.

This was my first 5 day cleanse - I’ve done 3 days before and that was tough so I was apprehensive but wanted to try it. I have lost 21 lbs over the past year but I had plateaued and the scale hasn’t budged in 2 months. I still have more menopause weight to lose so I was hopeful this would help get me back in a weight loss mode. And while it wasn’t fun or enjoyable, it was effective and I lost 4 pounds and have lost another pound since day last week too so I’m 5 pounds down and happy to be back on my weight loss journey sans drugs like Ozempic etc. Cons: * 5 days is a long time and I had to clear my schedule of any social events as it would be unrealistic to stick to this while going out with friends or family. * for me, days 2 and 3 were really tough. I was light headed and had a mild headache both days and I was perpetually hungry. Thankfully I felt better by day 4. * I got a bit tired of the same soups and lack of variety. * I’m used to attending a spin class most mornings but I avoided them during the 5 days for fear I wouldn’t have much energy and would be hungrier so my routine felt a bit off. Pros and Tips: * It really gave me confidence knowing I could do this and I plan to do it again in a few more weeks prior to a big vacation. * it taught me that I wasn’t drinking enough water and while I’m not a big eater and have cut out sugar and flour in the past year, I still can eat much less than I was previously and feel good. * everything in the kit was pretty tasty and I really enjoyed the teas. There wasn’t anything I couldn’t eat or found to be bad. * I always ran my soups with water in a full cycle of my ninja immersion blender before heating them and they were always a good consistency. I also learned on day 3 to look at the main ingredients in the soups and add appropriate spices to help boost flavors. I used quite a bit of dried shallots, tarragon, onion or garlic salt and smoked paprika depending on the soup and that really helped. * small Persian cucumbers became my best friend and I added one daily on days 2 - 5. A great snack is to put one in a ziplock and sprinkle a fair amount of Everything but the Bagel seasoning all over it and then eat as a snack. Or I would slice one thinly and sprinkle the seasoning on top. The crunch and flavor was really good and would be so satisfying too. And they are approved (I only did one per day) and have about 15 calories only. * I did go on a long walk every morning and this was enjoyable. If you are on the fence… just do it! The pros far outweighed the cons for me.

Read the Valter Longo’s book first, researched the medical journals on the topic and concluded that there are too many potential benefits that would outweigh some of the controversy about alternative fasting types. At the end, one must decide for themselves what fits best with their lifestyle, beliefs and what they are willing to invest into a healthier self. I have completed the first cycle and being used to fast 20-36 hours intervals before I was pleased with how it progressed. I did a Tuesday-Saturday and returned to a normal diet on Sunday at noon. I really didn’t feel tired, I continued my exercise program (I lift and do aerobics) and felt good. I reduced the aerobic/lift days to only one or the other when normally I would do 2 hours on those days. I found the food being quite acceptable, the nut bars are well made, seemed fresh and had a pleasant taste. The soups are tasty especially as I broke the crackers in and mix them together. By the third/fourth day it seemed a regular routine, did not have any difficulties feeling hungry. There are plenty of teas, I love the green olives snack packages and the small cocoa bars snack which I enjoyed drinking with a tea in the morning. It was very easy to follow, loved that everything I needed is packaged together, not difficult to understand what you need to do. I will definitely continue two more cycles the following two months and recheck my blood work. The best thing is that I got my husband interested and will be doing the next cycle together. Best of all, I dropped 6lbs during the week of FMD! What I noticed decreased of abdominal fat (I’m not a large person) and losing 10-15 lbs it’s been a bit of a challenge. The other thing I really found interesting is the amount of proteins you actually need vs. what some of my trainers indicate especially when you lift. I actually consumed 30/50 % more than what I needed which explains the difficulty in loosing the desired weight. Read the book then decide for yourself what direction to go.

Day 1 was awful! Not because I was hungry but because I was trying to follow the program to a T and I didn't allow myself to have caffeine which lead to a major headache later in the day and feelings of lethargy. I was able to eat the first soup but by the second one, the thought of eating it made me want to vomit. Day 2-5 I let myself have caffeine and felt soooo much better! I iced the hibiscus tea and mixed it with an Yerba Mate and the L-drink and sipped on it all morning, delicious. I ditched the soups and replaced them with one serving of tortilla chips (obviously not the same nutrition but similar in calories). I decided following the program perfectly wasn't the point. My overall goal was to eat low in calories in a healthy way to encourage mindful eating and kickstart healthy eating habits. Which is exactly what I got out of it! Plus lost 8 pounds in the 5 days and felt incredibly energetic! I would love to make this program a regular monthly thing but only if there were soup-less options.

After researching fasting for health and reading Dr. Valter Longo’s book, I decided to try it out. I have been purchasing and using this program from Amazon for over a year now, and try to do a fast consistently every 3 or 4 months. The box everything comes in is lovely and some users actually repurpose the box. All food items are individually packaged, keeping everything fresh. And the food is organized by day, to make it user-friendly. The food is actually delicious, and I enjoy the variety of flavors! Having completed this program multiple times, I can definitely say the packages are consistent - nothing is ever different or missing. And I feel good knowing I’m actively doing something for my health! While it is pricy, using subscribe & save helps with the discount and it’s definitely worth it!

I used it because of just what it's for, a fasting mimicking diet, to help my body. It tells you exactly how to use it. Made it easy to do which I appreciate.