Janet, thanks for the sanity. We tend to be obsessed with perfection when it's impossible. Maybe this trait is part of my own frailty.

One of the many diets I went on in the 70s was the one where I went for a shot of preganant mare's urine (I'm sure it wasn't) every morning and at no fat and fewer than 500 kcals daily. As I was dancing 8 shows a week while on this plan, the weight loss was extreme and rapid.

Currently there's a diet in vogue, the Fasting Mimicking Diet, which I believe is the same thing without the horses.

What I've gleaned over the years is that my body thinks of anything under 500 kcals per day as a Fast. I think that's why, when I discovered this thread three years ago, it was simple for me to embrace Dr. Fung's Protocol. It worked for me using broth and the other incremental fats you mentioned.