My wife was thinking of doing a PSMF (protein sparing modified “fast”, basically low calorie, high protein) a few days a week, so I was thinking of joining her.
For those of you who tried this:
1- how many days a week did you do?
2- how many calories per day?
3- how many meals per day?
4- did you or could you do these on a day of (morning) exercise?
Well, if no one answers, I’ll fill everyone in on what we did. I might try OMAD with say 500 calories or so. This will allow me to eat dinner with the family. Or maybe 2MAD with only 250 calories per meal. Not sure I can do that though. Fasting might be easier.
I’d agree there… avoiding food completely rather than triggering your eating hormones with insufficient food would seem a better option.
Im afraid I was put off PSMF by Walter Lungo and his vegan nonsense
I think it would be difficult, but some people seem to like it. Maria Emmerich (a keto person with many great recipes) has been advocating it, particularly for women. She has had some success with women, although it’s always hard to tell how much because of course the people who fail aren’t success stories.
But there was another Bob on here who had to do a PSMF for surgery (I think?) who had success when things like fasting did not.
I think of it as one potential tool in a toolbox. If it works, it becomes a prominent tool; if it doesn’t it’s either tossed out or goes under other tools.
Bob, it’s been a while, but I did quite a few days of 400 - 600 calories, just eating one time, a couple cans of sardines and some cheese - things like that. I was new to keto but pretty well fat-adapted (so I think anyway) and had no problems with it. Plenty of fat to make up whatever energy was needed; really worked well.
Total fasting is probably easier for me, but protein and fat is a great way to go. If it was 500 calories of carbs after not eating for a day - probably disaster would follow.
That and fast seems better than starvation to me… I can’t wrap my head around such a thing but it is popular… And not just because I am extremely incompatible with tiny meals or the idea of starving myself (I can’t even eat 1000 kcal as it just makes me hungry. it not immediately, soon). I can understand when people do something I never could try in many cases but PSMF sounds almost as weird and wrong as dry fasting to me.
I never heard about why it can be good. It seems a great recipe to slow down our metabolism unless we do it very short term. Well, you other people, not me 
Maybe there are special circumstances, cases when it works somehow?
And of course, some people have enough body fat to pull a huge energy deficit off (of course they may not be able to do it for reasons like hunger due to tiny meals…), that’s another matter and a special case as most of us don’t have that.
Still, it’s interesting to me, the one who doesn’t need to do it themselves so I am looking forward to your experiences and thoughts!
I typically water fast. But when it gets tough, something like a fatty salty bone broth can make all the difference and renew energy and resolve. For me it helps to look at that as giving myself help with my fast if I need it, rather than viewing it as a diet of 300 calories a day.
I did an extended fast for 12 days recently and was then going to break the fast, but my body signalled that it was happy to continue fasting, as long as I ate a small protein snack (much smaller than a meal) once a day and I continued this PSMF pattern for another 14 days.
I don’t know how many calories it was, but it was basically OMAD, with a very small meal size (for example 3 or 4 slices of cheese).
I have no idea whether this was “right” or “good” or what someone “should” do. I just tried listening to what my body wanted to do and apparently that pattern was what it wanted to do for 2 weeks, after the 12 days of EF.
I guess like with so many things, it’s a trial and error thing to work out what works for you (and to define what “works” means - ie. trying to lose weight, trying to fast without losing muscle mass, being able to exercise, etc etc)
I really do not like fasting. I probably just don’t have the will power for it, but I have done fat fasts for three or four days and those work pretty well for me.
Fat fast was really surprising as it was starvation level food intake for me (fine for a very short time) and I still got satiated… Fat doesn’t make me hungry even if I undereat, just protein. It must be individual like almost anything hunger/satiation related.