My review of Fasting with Zero
I may have been living in a cave for the last 10 years but I had never heard of fasting prior to a discussion with one of my collaborator back in summer 2020 (at a bar, seems a century ago).
Gabriel (his name) told me about his 2 to 3 days fasting habits, from time to time. He told me about the virtues of such habits.
Let me tell you I was kind of stunned. My own habits are: Food, meals, can’t live with my 2 to 3 meals a day. Dude, are you crazy??
Then came the pandemic, the lockdown, the un-lockdowns, the re-lockdowns, the anxiety and stress (as an entrepreneur you can imagine there is some kind of stress to run a company in such wild weird times). I also stopped practicing workouts, which I was used to do up to 3 times a week during 2018 and 2019.
Guess what, end of November when I fearfully stood on the scale, I realized 2020 added a 25 pounds which nicely and subtilely covered my belly and other parts of my body. Being 44 helps a lot storing fat at really cool spot of your body.
Good cocktail for that is: Less (understand none) physical activities other than staring at a 34 inches screen 10 hours a day + fast junk food from time to time + alcohol from time to time = 25 pounds in 9 months. Nice lil’ baby of mine…
On November the 29th I saw one of Chris Messina’s fleet with a series of screenshots of a fasting app called Zero. First Gabriel, then Chris Messina, it was too much for me not to dig further into “What the fuck is fasting?”. So I jumped into his DM and asked:
Doctor Messina (although on this picture He’s turned into Christmas Sina) kindly answered me and led me to this app.
First, the app is just a real UI/UX work of art. It starts by asking you a couple of questions about your eating/feeding habits and guides you towards the recommended fast you should try.
There’s also a bunch of super useful content to learn more about “fasting” and how your body reacts to fasting. The pedagogical part of the app is awesome and very useful.
Not to mention the gamification part with the challenges and all which is also something really well done.
My first ahah moment was when I realized I’ve already been fasting for years... I’m not a “breakfast person”.
So to speak, my last meal is around 8PM and the next meal is at lunch the day after. Thus, I’ve been already doing 16:8 fasts on a daily basis without knowing it. (you eat for a 8 hours window and don’t eat for 16 hours).
Ho, wait a minute, let’s be honest, I was also a “snacking person”. 10 PM, from time to time it was the best hour to eat something like ice cream, cookies, cheese or whatever made me feel good while watching The Queen’s Gambit.
So this was definitely not fasting.
When you say fasting, you only drink water, tea, coffee but you don’t “eat” anything. This 16 hours weren’t fasts.
After clicking around the app, I thought I could try a “real” 24:0. I decided to eat my last meal at 8PM for dinner, usual and then fast until the next dinner the day after.
First thing I realize is how easy it was. Honestly, the app + Chris’ support + the fact that I couldn’t support this belly and overweight.
My will was real and the first fast went very well. Of course, you want to eat and feel your stomach is begging for food. But these moments are temporary and it’s just like when you quit smoking. Take a glass of water, drink a lot and these bad feelings vanish, trust me.
Days after days, I learnt always more, watched documentaries about fasting etc. I kept on doing fasts 24:0 and eventually found a real rhythm at one 24:0 every other day with no pressure. That’s to say, when I’m really too hungry, I just eat normally and stop my fast (no pressure, this should not be a torture).
Now, regarding the effects on me, my body, my overall feeling and health. Man, I can tell you only positive stuff which I tracked for one month to be able to share them with you.
The first positive outcome which come to my mind is a psychological one. I can say fasting shifts the way I eat and see how I eat. I came to realize deeply how I feed my body. Most of my eating habits weren’t for physiological needs but more to feed emotional needs.
Fasting made my brain change the paradigm and see my eating habits differently. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t become obsessed about calories or nutrients counting or whatever but I just mentally feel more awakened to what I eat and how I do eat on a daily basis.
Then, come the tangible, trackable, countable outcomes.
Weight
One month of fasting led me to loose 10 pounds (5 kg). From a solid 208 pounds (94,4kg) which is clearly overweight for my height (1,8m / 5ft 10).
Loosing weight was clearly one of my top first goals but I didn’t expect to loose so much so fast. I even think it may be too fast. Anyway, this is a totally rewarding challenge and I can feel and see it everyday.
Heart rate / Sleep / Stress
My heart rate went from 67/73 rest time to 58/66.
My sleep is also WAY better. I used to wake up several times a night and have weird nights. I now have more regular 8 hours of sleep nights.
These two positive effects led to less stress, better health and better overall feeling.
Last but not least, I used to have acid rises from my stomach (which may have been caused by too much stress), it’s nearly totally over now (I gave up all the pills and meds).
Conclusion
This is my 2020’s discovery of the year. I think I’m going to stick to maybe the OMAD fasting (One Meal A Day). I feel my body is good with this kind of eating habit.
Talk to you doctor to see if she’s ok with that prior to start anything. Start with reachable challenge and, most importantly, listen to your body, it will tell you what is best for you.
Notes for our Zero App readers:
Zero app, you should definitely add features to your app for more traction and more interactions between your user base and eventually create a fasting community:
- Ability to follow user (fasting partner or friend), so that people can mentor or help new users
- Ability to start fast at the same time with someone you follow, for challenge reasons
- Maybe stories (post a pic of your break fast meal)
… Your app is great but lacks too many “social features”
