My DIY Fasting Mimicking Adventure: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Olives

Okay friends, story time. So there I was, scrolling through research papers at 11 PM (as one does), when I stumbled across Dr. Valter Longo’s work on fasting mimicking diets. The science was fascinating—cellular regeneration, metabolic resets, potential longevity benefits. Basically everything my 32-year-old body was starting to whisper it might need.

But here’s the thing about me: I’m that person who reads ingredient lists at the grocery store and googles “what actually IS xanthan gum?” So when I looked at the official ProLon® kit, my brain immediately went to “but WHY these specific foods? And what if I want to understand exactly what’s happening to my body?”

Plot twist: I decided to create my own version. What happened next taught me more about nutrition science than any wellness blog ever could—and completely destroyed some assumptions I had about how my body works.

Why I Went Rogue

Look, I have nothing against the official program. The convenience factor is real, and everything’s perfectly calculated for you. But I needed to understand the “why” behind every single component. Call it my control-freak tendencies or genuine curiosity—probably both.

Plus, and let’s be honest here, if I was going to eat very specific foods for five days straight, I wanted to make sure I could actually stand them. There’s nothing worse than being hangry AND eating something you hate.

The Science Detective Work

Creating my own fasting mimicking protocol meant becoming a temporary nutrition nerd. The magic formula: super low protein (under 20g), moderate healthy fats, and staying under 850 calories per day. Simple in theory, surprisingly complex in practice.

After weeks of spreadsheets that would make my accountant proud, I landed on something that hit all the targets while being actually doable. Here’s what my days looked like:

Morning (because calling it breakfast felt too optimistic):

• ½ Avocado (48-58g) - my new best friend
• Olive Oil (10-15ml)
• Walnuts (3-5 halves)
• Black coffee (because I’m not a complete masochist)

Midday situation:

• Cucumber (170-200g)
• Tomatoes (100-130g)
• Green Bell Pepper (75-147g)
• Zucchini (150-155g)
• Carrots (200-220g)
• Green Olives (23-60g) - spoiler alert: these saved my sanity
• Olive Oil as dressing (10ml)

Evening:

• Basically the midday meal repeated with slight variations—more cooked vegetables, sometimes swapping cucumber for extra zucchini, always with olive oil as dressing

Total damage: 700-850 calories of mostly vegetables and healthy fats. On paper, it looked reasonable. In reality… well, we’ll get to that.

Why This Actually Worked (Mostly)

Here’s what surprised me: the simplicity was genius. No complicated recipes to mess up when my brain was running on fumes. No exotic ingredients that cost more than my monthly Netflix subscription.

The avocado and olive oil in the morning gave me sustained energy without the blood sugar roller coaster. And those massive salads? There’s something psychologically satisfying about eating a huge bowl of food, even when it’s basically fancy rabbit food.

Those olives though? They became my emotional support snack. When I was fantasizing about pizza (which was often), those little bursts of salt and fat kept me from staging a full rebellion.

Day 5: When Everything Went Sideways

Okay, real talk time. Everyone says days 1-2 are brutal and day 3 brings mental clarity. Day 5 is supposed to be smooth sailing, right?

WRONG.

I woke up on day 5 with a headache that felt like my brain was trying to escape through my forehead. The mental fog was so thick I couldn’t remember why I thought this was a good idea. I sat there with my sad avocado breakfast seriously considering whether this was the hill I wanted to die on.

That headache taught me something nobody mentions in the glossy FMD articles: muscle preservation during extended low-calorie periods is no joke. After some googling (okay, a LOT of googling), I learned about glycerin supplementation for maintaining muscle mass without breaking the fast.

Note to future self: start the glycerin on day 3, not day 6 when it’s too late.

The Plot Twist: When Magic Actually Happened

But here’s where this story gets interesting. Despite that day 5 disaster, the week after finishing was absolutely wild in the best way.

The weight loss stuck around—and I mean really stuck. I lost about 3 pounds during the five days, and three weeks later I’m still down 2 pounds. But this wasn’t the usual “oh look, I lost water weight and it’s back by Thursday” situation. My body felt like it had actually recalibrated to a new normal.

The energy shift was even more dramatic. You know that 3 PM energy crash that hits like a brick wall? It just… disappeared. I found myself naturally energetic well into the evening, like someone had secretly upgraded my internal battery pack.

The Metabolism Surprise That Floored Me

This is going to sound weird, but I could literally feel my metabolism running faster. I’m someone who’s perpetually cold—you know, the person wearing a sweater in July and complaining about office air conditioning. But after FMD, I was generating noticeably more body heat.

My hunger cues completely reset too. Instead of the erratic “I’m starving” followed by “I couldn’t eat another bite” cycle, I started getting hungry at regular, predictable intervals. It was like my body remembered how to properly communicate with itself.

What I’d Do Differently (Because There’s Always a Next Time)

Looking back, my vegetable-heavy approach worked better than expected. The fiber kept me satisfied, the fats provided steady energy, and the minimal prep meant I wasn’t obsessing over complicated recipes when my brain was already running on empty.

But next time (and yes, there will be a next time):

• Start glycerin on day 3 for muscle preservation
• Add more salt (probably more olives) to prevent headaches
• Block off day 5 as a complete rest day
• Actually track my electrolytes instead of just hoping for the best

The Real Talk Takeaway

This experience showed me how much we still don’t know about optimizing these protocols for real people with real lives. The standard approaches are a great starting point, but everybody’s body has its own opinions about what works.

Am I the only one who found day 5 brutal instead of easy? Have you tried the vegetable-heavy route, or did your DIY version look completely different? I’m genuinely curious about how everyone else navigated this—drop a comment and let me know what your experience was like.

And listen, if you’re thinking about trying this yourself, just remember: it’s okay to modify as you go. Your body will tell you what it needs—sometimes loudly, as mine did on day 5. The key is listening and adjusting, not pushing through just because that’s what the plan says.

Quick disclaimer because I’m not a doctor and this is just my personal adventure: Always check with your healthcare provider before starting any fasting program. ProLon® is their thing, not mine. And definitely ask about supplements like glycerin before adding them to your protocol.