Intermittent fasting has become one of the most popular weight-loss methods during the recent years, but to track overall fasting journey is always a question mark. now, as technology has made everything easier and with the evolution of digital apps especially on mobile devices, it is now quite easier to track the daily meal in-takes, do calories calculation, check nutrients and keep track of much more….
These benefits and objectives of using these apps are just not limited to weight loss specifically, but it also provides statistical insights and proven procedural steps by steps direction in maintaining overall health and keep good balanced diet in meal intervals during the whole fasting period. The fasting tracker apps widely available on different app store platforms are highly recommended especially for achieving long-term goals as it is commonly observed that the person will get easily distracted while following his/her weight loss journey if there is no check and balance is deployed. With so many varieties of food available and the changed lifestyle in this er, it is very hard to start a dieting journey but if subsequent record-keeping is there, it is much easier to start and be your own coach.
Still not convinced? Here are more reasons to start your weight loss journey with fasting tracker apps right away.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting is a proven weight loss method which uses the body’s natural ability to burn fat, showing visible results without making much effort. It is not a diet plan itself but a guide that allows people to take their daily meals within a few hours and fast for the remaining hours. This diet method focuses on the time and duration of eating. There is plenty of scientific evidence on how intermittent fasting can provide several health benefits such as;
▪ It regulates blood pressure.
▪ It generates a natural cellular system.
▪ It reduces chronic inflammation
▪ It indicates insulin resistance.
▪ It burns body fat
▪ It maintains good hormonal health.
▪ It saves from type 2 diabetes
▪ It maintains weight for a long.
▪ It improves metabolic rate.
▪ It protects from cardiovascular diseases
▪ It boosts immunity.
▪ It enhances the quality of life
Our top recommendation – Zero Calories fasting tracker app
Best features
o Highly customizable- it allows users to customize fasting times, eating hours, and reminders alert. Also the whole app UI can be fully customized based on variety of colors.
o Complete health tracker– A single app to track weight progression, water intake, glucose levels, ketones, and even body measurements. Also, all these data can be viewed on graphical format as well.
o Fasting groups- it allows users to join fasting journey with other people and motivate each other to lose weight.
o Affordable- The basic version of this app is free for everyone. But the premium version costs only $1.99 per month.
o Availability- This app is available on both iOS and Google Play Store.
How to use Zero Calories Fasting Tracker App?
This app is primarily based on intermittent fasting methods & proves to be very helpful to those who are interested in trying intermittent fasting for weight loss but it doesn’t limited to only intermittent fasting. In fact, other users who just want to monitor their overall health can also use this app by customizing its features to their needs.
Intermittent fasters can do the following action on Zero Calories – Fasting Tracker App.
▪ A direct access to many standard fasting plans
▪ An easy way to track the fasting hours
▪ Create a group fasting plan with friends
▪ Add starting and ending entries
▪ Keep track of water intake
▪ Keep track of weight loss
▪ Record of body mass index (BMI)
▪ Comparison of weight loss progress
▪ Allows customized fasting plans
▪ Set reminders and notifications
▪ Track ketones, glucose, and overall health score
▪ Sync and share this information on social media
The final word
Intermittent fasting is a popular way to lose and maintain weight. Zero Calories – Fitness Tracker App helps do exactly that. This app is a one-stop station where users can monitor their health parameters, diet/water intake, workout routine etc. There is absolutely no need to maintain different diaries or books to keep a record of all these things. This app improves your lifestyle habits, as they have a huge positive impact on an individual’s health.
Intermittent fasting is an innovative form of fasting which focus mainly on the “timings “ of eating. It is different from other types of diet plans that focus on “what “ to eat. It’s a diet strategy that involves alternating periods of eating and extended fasting (meaning no food at all or very=low-calorie consumption).
With intermittent fasting, you only eat during a specific time and due to this reason fasting for a certain number of hours each day or eating just one meal a couple of days a week, can help your body burn fat. Intermittent fasting works by prolonging the fat-burning period of your body. This fasting method has recently become a health trend. It’s not only claimed to cause weight loss but also improve metabolic health, brain health and perhaps even extend lifespan.
Why do Intermittent Fasting – Benefits Round up
Fasting is a time tested and ancient tradition that has been adopted by our ancestors as well. It has been used not only for weight loss but to improve concentration, extend life, prevent Alzheimer, prevent insulin resistance and even reverse the entire ageng process (to an extent). Numerous celebrities can be found using this exact method to bring their body to perfect shape.
When you fast, insulin levels drop and human growth hormone increases. Your cells also initiate important cellular repair processes and change which genes they express. Intermittent fasting helps you eat fewer calories while boosting metabolism slightly. Studies show that intermittent fasting can reduce oxidative damage and inflammation in the body. Intermittent fasting can also improve numerous risk factors for heart disease such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglycerides and inflammatory markers. This fasting method helps triggers a metabolic pathway called autophagy, which removes waste material from cells. It may also have direct benefits on brain health.
How this Works – Various methods outlook
There are several different ways to do intermittent fasting, but they are all based on choosing regular time periods to eat and fast. For instance, you might try eating only during eight-hour period each day and fast for the remainder. Or you might choose to eat only one meal a day. Here are a few of the most popular methods.
1. OMAD
That stands for One Meal A Day, and it’s an extreme form of intermittent fasting that involves eating only one meal in a whole 24-hour window. It is one of the most popular fasting methods. It allows you to eat whatever you want, including junk food, but when you’re not eating, you’re only allowed to drink calorie-free beverages like black coffee and water. While there are no restrictions on how many calories can be eaten during this window, it’s advised that you sit down for your meal at the same time each day but no harm in enjoying your meal any time of day — morning, noon or night — although it is recommended eating your meal in the evening. This form of fasting is quite an easy and sustainable way to lose weight and enjoy your favourite food. It might be hard at the start, but your body will adapt eventually and there will be no cravings during the day. The objective is that by limiting yourself to just one “feeding” per day, you’re technically reducing your overall caloric intake across 24 hours, thus automatically losing weight without having to cut out certain food groups or tracking macros or calories like many other weight-loss diets.
2. 18-hours Fasting
This is an advanced version of the Wolverine diet. You will be fasting each day for 18 hours and have a feast for 6 hours. In the first 12 hours of fasting, your body burns glycogen (a molecule that stores sugar) and in the last 12 hours, it starts to burn fat stores(ketosis). Most people will be able to stay 1 or 2 hours in a state of ketosis. This type of fasting will lead to more weight loss compared to the 16 hours of fasting because of a smaller eating window. You have to manage to consume all your calories within those 6 hours. In that time, you can have 2 full meals and a snack. You can choose either to skip breakfast and have early dinner, or to skip dinner and have a late lunch, or adjust your eating schedule to your personal preference with the condition that your meals should be within the 6-hour window. And for the rest of the day, you need to stick to a healthy well-balanced diet, if you want to improve your wellness and slim down a couple of sizes.
Try to avoid sugary foods and drinks, junk food, and other products filled with unhealthy components such as trans and saturated fats. This is a much more rigid form of intermittent fasting and best saved for experienced fasters who’ve tried other methods.
3. 20-hours Fasting
This is an advanced version of the 20 hours fasting regime. You will fast each day for 20 hours and eat inside 4 hours window. This fasting regime is not easy and it is mostly recommended for obese people who carry more body fat. With the 20 hours fasting, you will be able to stay 2 to 4 hours into the state of ketosis (burning fast), improve skin health and digestion. This would involve eating either one large, lengthy meal or two smaller meals within this period. Most people who decide to take this on, usually start on the 16/8 plan, and gradually increase the number of fasting hours The 20/4 method is not one that anyone should jump right into as it can be very difficult to follow and can end up making you feel completely unmotivated and queasy, Because the eating window is so small, you really won’t have enough time to eat more than 1-2 meals per day. Most people will focus on eating a big meal that contains most of the calories they need for the day.
4. Warrior Fasting
The warrior diet is a fasting regime that is based on the eating patterns of ancient warriors, who consumed little during the day and then feasted at night. This type of diet focuses on eating healthy. It allows you to eat during the day while not breaking your fasting, so it makes it easier to sustain. This program includes meal plans and the most efficient home workouts for fat loss. In contrast to other methods, you are allowed to eat some raw fruits and vegetables, and some lean protein during the 20-hour fast period. This fasting schedule is based on the idea that our ancestors spent their days hunting and gathering and would then feast at night. Therefore the 4-hour eating window shall be in the evening and you should follow a special order of eating specific food groups: starting with vegetables, proteins and fat, and eating carbs only if you are still hungry. Another thing about this diet is that it emphasizes food choices that are similar to a paleo diet. Even though this can be a challenge to follow, the big meals at the end of the day will be very rewarding and you will be feeling your best since you will only be consuming unprocessed and whole foods.
5. 36-hours Fasting
This kind of fasting is focused on longevity, body healing, and autophagy. It should be performed only once per week, or a few times a month. Your body will hit autophagy – a process of regeneration where the body cleans damaged cells and creates newer healthier cells. It is also a very quick and aggressive way to lose body fat. By the end, you will burn around 1-2 kg of body fat. During this fasting, it is important to take electrolyte supplements. The best way to do this type of fasting is to eat dinner on day 1, you would fast for all of day 2 and not eat again until breakfast on day 3. This is generally 36 hours of fasting. This might provide a more powerful weight-loss benefit and may help avoid the temptation to overeat dinner on day 2. After a 36-hour fast, when you start eating again you continue to burn fat in excess of glycogen (carbohydrate) for energy.
6. 16-hours casual Fasting
This type of fasting involves eating only during an eight-hour window during the day and fasting for the remaining 16 hours. This is one of the easiest and beginner-friendly fasting programs. You can start by fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8 hours. There are no food limits. This kind of regime will promote weight loss, improve energy, and give a rest to your digestive system. It may support weight loss, improve blood sugar, boost brain function and increase longevity. While other diets often set strict rules and regulations, it is relatively easy to follow and can provide real results with minimal effort. The fasting cycle can be repeated as frequently as you like — from just once or twice per week to every day, depending on your personal needs and that is the reason this fasting is popular because it’s easy to follow, flexible and sustainable in the long term. There are no restrictions on the types or amount of food that a person can eat during the 8-hour window. The easiest way to follow this plan is to choose a 16-hour fasting window that includes the time that a person spends sleeping.
7. 16-hours Fast
This method is also known as Wolverine Diet as it is popularized by Hugh Jackman who used this type of fasting to build his Wolverine body. Eating all of his daily calories in the 8-hour eating period and followed by 16 hours long fast every day. For him, this 8 hours eating window started at 10 am and ended at 6 pm. So, the fasting period for him was mostly spent in the evening and night, resting his body and sleeping. This is a brilliant technique that provides sufficient time for the body to heal after a workout and prevents hunger and unhealthy food cravings. During this 8-hrs window, you must be doing some special workouts along with consuming healthy foods. Workouts always benefit greatly in intermittent fasting protocol. You can carry out gym sessions in the mornings, while the body is still in the fasting state.
8. 24-hours Fasting
Quite simply a twenty-four fast is a day in which no food is consumed. It is advised however that individuals consume water, and in most cases, black coffee and or green tea is also allowed. Additionally, If you have never fasted before, approaching a 24 hour fast might seem like a huge task to take on & it is preferred to start with 16 hours fasting plan and slowly push to 24-hours fasting. The goal of this fasting regime is to reach Autophagy – cell regeneration. While your body is in a fasted state, since no food or ‘fuel’ is coming in, your body must rely solely on what you already have within your body as a fuel source. While your body is focusing on finding a fuel source within, it has the chance to get rid of any ‘junk’ cells, which can include dead, dying or damaged cells. In this 24-hours fasting period, the liver goes through a process known as lipolysis, which is the breaking down or ‘burning’ of fat. Fasting can help improve this function through autophagy, so your body can burn more fat, more efficiently. Also, studies have shown it leads to healthier skin and longevity. As we can still reach this state by consuming tea and black coffee, it is advised to drink only water to achieve complete autophagy.
9. 30 days quick Fasting
It is the toughest form of fasting and not recommended to people who have never done any type of fasting in the past. This is a plan that is made to get in shape within 30 days. It consists of 28 days of the regime where you can use only water consumption and 2 days of cheat days where you are allowed to eat whatever you like. It is quite demanding and it includes meal plans and home workouts. If you follow the plan, you can easily drop 10% to 15% of bodyweight because various studies revealed that by adopting this 30 days fasting plan, the human body loses approximately 0.9 kg weight every day which leads up to 25 kg in the whole 30-day period. This method of fasting can especially help bulky bodies, stubborn belly fat and people who are averaging 100+ kg to reduce max weight and made their bodies under satisfactory weight bracket.
10. Blitz Fasting
A quick way to lose 15% of body weight in just 10 days. It is extremely demanding and it includes a meal plan and home workout routine. This plan is widely adopted by teenagers and young adults. First few days can be more challenging and full of cravings but as days pass, this becomes easy to adopt. Creamy Coffee in the breakfast help pass the whole day effectively and cleanses junk cells from the body. The plan is created to force your body to use stored body fat as energy and preserve muscle mass. It is recommended to eat enough protein while in a caloric deficit and do strength training this prevents major muscle loss.
Zero Calories Fasting Tracker App – Features
First things first – It is a digital diary in your pocket to track your fasting plan. It allows users to modify fasting time and length of the fast, track body weight, body measures, ketones, glucose and body fat. This app is best of its kind so far and consists of all features that can be easily converted into home screen widget. In this way, user can use all the features without actually opening the app and can just tap to start or end a fast. It tracks your IF time and sends a push notification when you have completed your fasting goal
In addition to that, this app offers collaborative diet by enabling the use of group fasting for fast with your friends and family. You can measure Body Mass Index – BMI to get an insight of your health score and compare the figures and Index with your group.
This app tracks numbers based on highly advanced science-based statistical data and that data can be exported as .csv file to your desktop or mobile devices. Apart from this, the GUI of the app is fully customizable in respects of colours and positioning. All health characteristics like Body fat, Glucose Levels, Ketone Levels, weight & water intake are exhibited and plotted on Graph levels for easy analyzing and understanding. It’s available to download on both Android & Apple Store.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is one of the most popular methods for weight loss. Unlike other diet plans, IF doesn’t specifically require a person to eat less, starve the body or eat specific foods. A personalized intermittent fasting schedule allows a person to eat healthy food in carefully planned meals concerning time and fast for the remaining hours. Here is an essential guide on which type of intermittent fasting brings the fastest weight loss benefits. But first, let’s clear some misconceptions about this method.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting is not particularly a diet plan but a different dietary pattern that specifies certain eating and fasting hours. It is nowhere close to the conventional weight loss dietary methods. There is no particular plan, food, or recipes that a person should eat and follow. It only specifies a time to eat them.
Fasting is prevalent in many cultures, regions, and civilizations. From the food shortage days to religious reasons to fast, this self-induced intermittent fasting has always been around us. Interestingly, fasting is natural and more beneficial for the body than eating four to six small low-calorie plans all day. However, your choice of an intermittent fasting schedule can bring different results, as per your requirements.
Blue, Breakfast, Clock, Concepts, Plate
Health benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting for weight loss is one thing, but what most people don’t realize is that it has several other benefits to offer as well. It not only sheds the extra fat from the body, but also improves cognition, memory, energy levels, and stamina.
IF reduces the chances of insulin resistance, and there is scientific evidence that intermittent fasting can reduce insulin levels up to 31%, thus saves from diabetes type 2. It also slows down the response of inflammation markers, improves heart health, and protects from cancer.
Intermittent fasting is great for weight loss
The incredible thing about intermittent fasting is that it is highly adaptable and allows every person to customize their plan. For example, it is unnecessary to follow the same intermittent fasting routine as your friend is following. If you have a different routine, sleeping cycle, work timings, and activity level, you can modify your plan all by yourself, that too, without professional help. Here are a few options in intermittent fasting plans.
5:2 Intermittent Fasting
This 5:2 fasting is undoubtedly the most commonly used type of intermittent fasting. This plan motivates people to eat as per their routine five days a week, without even counting the calories. But for the two remaining days, they have to eat 500-600 calories only. The fun part is that, these IF days don’t have to be weekends, and everyone can plan their diet days as per their preference. For additional benefit, try to follow a moderative activity plan on fasting days. Combining diet and exercise brings faster results even in intermittent fasting.
Time-Restricted Intermittent Fasting
This is another type of intermittent fasting where you have to designate an eating window every day. Ideally, people fast from 14 to 16 hours a day and eat in the remaining hours. This fasting period often includes their sleeping period or relaxing time, where they don’t have to perform rigorous physical or cognitive work. Maintaining a fast for 14-16 hours initiates autophagy in the human body, where the body starts to use glycogen in the liver for making energy. It improves fat metabolism, and a person loses weight.
Overnight Intermittent Fasting
This is probably the easiest and most simple intermittent fasting schedule where you have to do nothing! Its very easy and simple to follow. Eat whatever you eat in routine till 7 pm and stop eating anything after it. Eat your breakfast at 7 am or later in the morning to maintain this 12- hours fasting time. These 12 hours of fasting and 12 hours of eating will create a perfect balance in eating and burning the fat.
Eat-Stop-Eat Plan
Contrary to the popular IF schedules, this eat stop eat plan is based on a book with the same name. The book’s author, Brad Pilon, says that taking a break from eating now and then is the best way to lose and maintain body weight. Following a 24 hour fast once or twice a week is ideal. He also emphasizes resistance training on the fasting day to get maximum benefits.
Meal to Meal Intermittent Fasting
Some people like to follow a meal-to-meal fasting pattern. This means, they eat dinner one day and then fast for the next 24 hours and eat dinner the next day. Not specifically dinner, this type of intermittent fasting can be completed from lunch to lunch or breakfast to breakfast too. The only tricky thing about this intermittent fasting version is that eating all the essential daily nutrients can be challenging in one meal only. Some people may also experience troubled sleeping or a brain fog with this meal to meal fasting. Still, many others find it easy and useful.
Alternate-Day Intermittent Fasting
Another type of intermittent fasting is to eat one day and fast the next day. This alternate day fasting is introduced by a nutrition professor from the University of Illinois (Chicago) and has proven huge weight loss benefits. It is beneficial for obese patients who can’t follow any other type of dieting. It may feel not easy at the start, but the body gets used to it within a couple of weeks.
The final word
Intermittent fasting is immensely popular for weight loss, but how a person follows depends on personal preference and convenience. Not to mention, it is not recommended for people with metabolic diseases and autoimmune diseases. In case you have decided on your intermittent fasting schedule, don’t forget that your food quality will determine your health status. So, eat fresh, healthy, and sugar-free foods to get maximum health benefits from intermittent fasting.
Majority men idolize Hugh Jackman, or how most people remember him, Logan from X-men and The Wolverine franchise. He is famous for his acting and for his fitness routine, which he specifically built for these movies. In 2013, when Jackman first appeared in ‘The Wolverine,” he was already an A-list actor with repeated on-screen presence in Marvel movies. The first X-Men movie was released in 2000, where he first played Logan. To this day, his character holds the longest-running action superhero position under Guinness World Records. But one thing that fans couldn’t stop notice is his body transformation from a lean Logan in 2000’s X-men to a ripped Logan in 2013’ Wolverine. Jackman flaunted his super-built body at the age of 44 in Wolverine, which is nothing but remarkable. How did he manage to have this body, and that too in his late middle ages? Logan gives credits to a special Wolverine diet and workout, which starts at 8 am every morning.
Critics agree that his appearance in The Wolverine movie’’, Jackman is at his best shape and body of his career. His British fitness trainer, David Kingsbury, already has a reputation for training Top-ranked stars for big-budget movies. Along with personalized workouts, he took a nearly 4000 calorie diet per day, split into different macronutrients and a limited amount of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. His daily diet comprised of six small meals, which perfectly fit into the definition of intermittent fasting.
A Specialized Intermittent Fasting
Jackman relied on the standard 16:8 method of intermittent fasting. Considering the popularity of weight-loss diets, the Intermittent fasting benefits are no more a secret, which is why he tried to make it a part of his dietary habits. The 16:8 method means that a person eats all of his daily calories in the 8-hour eating slot and follows 16 hours long fast every day. For him, this 8 hours eating slot started at 10 am and ended at 6 pm. So, the fasting period for him was mostly spent in the evening and night, resting his body and sleeping. This is a brilliant technique that provides sufficient time for the body to heal after a workout and prevents hunger and unhealthy food cravings as when you’re awake and not doing anything, you’re prone to stare at the fridge.
Most of the shootings were scheduled after 6 pm, making it hard to stick to his intermittent fasting. He shares that keeping a fast was the most difficult when he was shooting or spending time in social gatherings where everyone sits and snacks for hours. The last meal that he took was set for 7 pm, which is too early if you are attending a dinner with friends and family, but still, he managed to do it.
In the eight-hour eating slot, he didn’t just eat anything. While he wanted to gain 20 pounds for his muscular built, he was eating between 4000 to 4500 calories per day. Before filming for Wolverine, he completed the musical drama Les Miserables, based on the French Revolution, where the spectators saw his lean body. Jackman was only 170 pounds when he started preparing his body for The Wolverine- skinny, compared to his 6 feet 2 inches height.
The Lean Meat Based Diet
Most people find weight loss and detoxification as benefits of Intermittent fasting, but the truth is that it has a lot more to offer. Jackman’s high-calorie diet, which he was eating mainly consisted of lean meats divided into five to six small meals in between eight-hour eating window. This diet included 50% protein, 30% fat, and 20% carbs, all obtained from fresh and healthy sources. For snacks, he added healthy fats such as nuts and nut-spreads.
Sometimes his protein sources changed from meats to protein shakes or both. There were no supplements added to his diet, and most of the nutrients he got from food sources alone. This special Wolverine diet and workout gave him the 12-pack abs those he proudly flaunted in shirtless scenes in The Wolverine.
Here is what his meal looked like:
(source: Hugh Jackman/ twitter.com)
A Little Help from Carb Cycling
With this intermittent fasting, he also followed carb cycling. For those who don’t know, carb cycling means to adjust the carb intake and set its ratio along with other macronutrients, i.e, protein, and fat, according to the high and low-intensity workout days. During the high-intensity workout days, his carb intake reached up to 57% of his daily diet, and on rest days, he dropped it to 16% to balance the total nutrients. It helped his insulin levels to remain stable while the body burns fat without working out, keeping the overall weight maintained. The next time someone talks about intermittent fasting for weight loss and perfect body, think about Jackman’s smart 16:8 planning for maintaining weight.
The Daily Exercise Routine
Intermittent fasting benefits soon started to appear when Jackman started exercise under his celebrity fitness coach’s supervision. These workout sessions were in the morning before 10 pm when he was still fasting. Surprisingly, exercising on an empty stomach burns fatter, especially if a person follows heavy resistance training. His trainer made him follow resistance training, broken up into exercises and rest days. In addition to the weight loss from intermittent fasting, this diet helped him stimulate growth hormonal secretion, which aided in muscle building and keeping a low body fat along with healthy bones and overall great energy. Neat, isn’t it?
Intermittent Fasting and Exercise Results
(source: Getty images)
Hugh Jackman’s miraculous transformation from 170 pounds to 190 pounds by following his diet and workout was all over the media when ‘The Wolverine’ hit the screens. This routine sounds exhausting and confusing for some people because the daily adult dietary requirements are only 1500-2000 calories. This 4000-calorie diet plan of Hugh Jackman has undoubtedly helped him sway Logan’s character for the movie, but it may not satisfy all others who want to look like him. Nonetheless, to gain 20 pounds and for a ripped body, Jackman’s miraculous transformation shows his determination and dedication, which all of us need.
