Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet Day 5 Review: Is This For Real?!?

Wow. Done.

I really didn't think I could do but I did and only cheated just a wee bit.

Brown Beach House Tel Aviv Review: An Urban Oasis in The Heart of Tel Aviv

Finding hotel accommodations in Tel Aviv can be tough. Hotels are expensive and, many times, the price doesn’t reflect the level of expectation. It is an expensive country. 

With that in mind, I looked thoroughly for a room for my one night stay in June 2019. After hours of research, I found it theBrown Beach House. I was actually still in Tiberias when I booked the room  wanted to be in Tel Aviv to make my commute to Ben Gurion Airport for a 1AM Sunday morning flight home more palatable. Getting to the airport for a flight on Shabbat is well-planned consideration anyone visiting Israel should make.

Turns out, my last-minute decision to stay at the Brown Beach House was one of the best I've made during my 10-plus years going visiting Israel.

I found the Brown Beach House hotel, a 55-room boutique property, through Google research. It looked fun and well-situated. I was able to score a room for $275 for a Friday, June 7th stay which included a complimentary breakfast. I was thrilled with this as it was a holiday weekend with visitors flocking to Tel Aviv to celebrate Shavuot.

The hotel has a Hollywood-glam-at-the-beach vibe. The lobby is quite small but welcoming. When I arrived, the front desk attendant offered me a glass of sparkling wine, which I gladly accepted after my train from Tiberias. Check-in was a breeze and I was struck by how intimate the hotel seemed. The staff was genuinely congenial, something you don't often see in Israel.

Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet Day 4 Review: Here Comes That Energy Boost

Day four on the Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet? Gamechanger.

I woke up at 5:30AM with some energy. Not just some energy. I felt good. The headache I felt on days two and three still persisted but it wasn't as pounding. It was...manageable. I don't take aspirin, ibuprofen or any of that stuff, so I've just been dealing with it. Today it truly was tolerable.

Save this workout if you're looking for an upper body burner! pic.twitter.com/qKZU1OHoz3

— Women's Health (@WomensHealthMag) September 19, 2019

I felt so good this morning that I even did this light, stress light, arm workout from Women's Health. I had so much energy this morning that I almost skipped into school when I dropped of my daughter in her classroom.

Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet Day 3 Review: The Brainfog Is Still There!

Prolon offers a daily email to offer words of encouragement. Day three's email said "Some people find day 3 to be challenging".

Great. That's exactly what I want to read when I wake up at crack-thirty in the morning with a caffeine withdrawal/fasting/brainfog headache. Ugh.

Day three on the Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet offer another round of sparse meals: L-Bar, Butternut Squash Soup, Kale Crackers (damn, I was happy to eat those!) followed by White Bean and Spinach Soup for dinner. I supplemented the day with more tea, water, sparkling water and the L-Drink.

RELATED: Day 4 Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet Review: Here Comes the ENERGY!

Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet Day 2 Review: Brainfog Sets In

Another sneak peak from Instagram Stories

"I woke up like this and I didn't have one cocktail last night! Promise," that's what I told a number of friends and colleagues on my second day of my five-day Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet when they asked me how I felt.

Monday morning was not pretty. Literally and figuratively. I woke up with puffy eyes and headache! Way to enter the work week. 

Some individuals who fast experience brain fog or caffeine withdrawals. I think my headache might be both. I usually have one cup of black coffee in the morning and either a green tea or diet drink (I know, it's my thing, don't hate me!) in the afternoon. Since I was focused on eliminating that second hit of caffeine, perhaps some of the headache was from the caffeine withdrawal. Perhaps it was something else: sugar or carbohydrate withdrawal. Whatever it's from it sucked but I was still focused on powering through the day and staying on the protocol.

Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet Day 1 Review: It's Not So Bad!

"And why exactly are you doing this?" a colleague asked me when he saw the kale crackers I was eating instead of a typical pregame meal.

"I just want a reset," I deadpanned while actually enjoying the kale crackers.

This was my first day on the Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet, a plan that, in theory, is supposed to replicate the benefits you receive from fasting. The difference is that you can eat, rather than not eat. Now, it's not feast on gorgeous produce. Instead it is is prepackaged food prepared by L-Nutra a nutrition technology that sells the five-day fast.

5 Free Workouts You Can Stream Anywhere

Do you struggle trying to squeeze in a workout? To that end, is exercise one of the first things to go when your schedule gets overloaded? Here's the thing: it shouldn't. Exercise really is one of, if not the, easiest thing on your to-do list you can accomplish.

Dubious? Do you have 30 minutes to spare? Of course you do. Then you have time to exercise.

Exercise should be non-negotiable. The benefits of working out extend far beyond anything relating to weight loss. It gives you more energy, improves you mood, helps you think better, reduces cholesterol and improves your posture. That's the tip of the iceberg. The UK's Academy of Medical Royal Colleges published a report in 2015 calling exercise the "miracle cure".