Over the last year or so, I have done my fresh food version of the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) four times.
I have received quite a few emails from subscribers telling me of their successes with the FMD, and asking me questions. I have decided to answer the most frequently asked questions for you in a few videos: I just posted three new videos to my Youtube playlist, and below, I’ll give you a quick overview of the questions I’m answering in each.
In the first video, I give you my opinion on whether or not you can save yourself the time to prep and cook fresh food meals every day and simply eat two avocados a day, along with some greens powder (as recommended on some websites), and I discuss how the macros of the avocado FMD differ from those of the version tested by Dr. Longo.
Many of you ask me how to get the recipes for my fresh food FMD, and I go over that question in this video (@ 1:36 min): if you are a subscriber, your welcome email contains a link to a page on my site where you can download both the nutrition tracker and a PDF of the recipes. If you would like to subscribe, you can leave your email at the bottom of this page.
What can I have for breakfast? (@ 2:32 min in the video) As you may know, I intermittent fast and don’t eat breakfast, so my recipes do not have a breakfast component. I have some suggestions on what to do for people who prefer to have breakfast.
I answer the question of whether you can substitute foods (@ 4:30 min in the video): if you don’t like kale, for instance, or butternut squash is not in season where you live, or macademia nuts are too expensive. The simple answer is that yes, you can substitute, BUT you may have to tweak the rest of the foods allowed for that day, because every food has a unique combination of macros and since protein is so severely restricted on the FMD, that is the one macro you really need to pay attention to when you decide whether or not to swap some of the foods in my recipes for foods you may prefer.
Many of you love the idea of fresh food every day, but are less in love with the idea of making every meal from scratch. So I talk about the best way to prep for the FMD (@ 9:54 min in the video) and how to save time by doubling up on meals: cook two portions of the “day 2” dinner, for instance, and eat one fresh on day 2, and save the other to eat on day 4, essentially repeating the the entire day 2 food selection twice.
Can I have coffee on the FMD?? (@14:21 min in the video) For the coffee fanatics among you, there’s good news! While the goal is not to drink any caffeinated beverages during the FMD, Dr. Longo allows one cup of coffee per day (yes, just ONE!): black, without sugar or cream. For those of you who don’t need their morning coffee, but would still like something other than water, I give some suggestions of what else you can drink on the FMD.
For those of you who follow low carb diets, the FMD can seem a bit challenging because on days 2-5, almost half of the daily calories come from carbohydrates. And, even more challenging, my fresh food FMD uses both butternut squash, which contains some (natural) sugars (all within Dr. Longo’s parameters, though), and white potatoes (often considered a simple carbohydrate) to fill the carb requirement, along with other vegetables. I explain why I use potatoes as a carb component in my fresh food version of the Fasting Mimicking Diet, rather than, say, quinoa, and why I typically suggest that you steam the potatoes the day before and then let them cool and eat them the next day. The process of cooling changes the composition of the potatoes and makes the previously highly glycogen spiking starch in potatoes a resistant starch that has a much better effect on your blood sugar (discussed @0:55 min in the video).
Some of you have asked about the “Cindy’s Balsamic dressing” I use on two of the days. I put that in my recipes because it’s what I actually use, but I realize that that brand may not be available where you live. So I give you some suggestions on how to make your own balsamic dressing (@ 3:39 min in the video).
And finally, I give you some suggestions of what to eat on refeeding day (day 6 of the FMD), the transition day before you eat normally again (@4:58 min in the video). There are some differences between what Dr. Longo recommends to people on Prolon vs. what I do.
These were some of the questions I have gotten from you quite frequently. Let me know if you have other questions. If I get enough, I’ll do some more FAQs!
If any of you are inspired to do the FMD, fresh food or Prolon, let me know how you make out! I would love to hear how you felt on the diet, what your challenges were and what you would do differently!
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