Changes to Fasting

scottsimpson

Hi,
Two changes I'd like to see with fasting:

• In the diary screen (web and mobile), I'd like to see the time to go before ending and scheduled end time displayed - now it's just showing elapsed time.
• Starting a fast seems harder than it should be - with a default fast length set (say 16 hours) I want to be able to just start a "default" fast with one press. This can keep the scheduled fasts for when I want to do something different. I've used the Zero app for fasting before and I think the interface is perfect. I'd love it if Cronometer could work in a similar fashion.

Thanks for your consideration.

Karen_Cronometer

Great suggestions @scottsimpson I'll pass these along to the team.

Thanks!

AsthmaticMermaid

Also chiming in as I updated my membership to Gold just for the fasting feature. Pretty disappointed so far at the lack of customizing and the features revolving around it, but I'm able to MacGuyver a few things just so I can keep everything logged. I too wish there was just a simple start/finish option; would love to log hours that way. Or to swap from "time elapsed" to "remaining time left". I'm always usually on a 20:40, but it's annoying to choose between logging as a "repeat" fast and choosing to not worrying about time logs (i.e setting my 20:40 starting from 8pm-4pm, but I'll start and stop at different hours through the week due to circumstances), or if I want to know specifically when I started or stop, I have to customize hours and make a non-repeating fast every day which is annoying. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet, but for such a "simple" feature, I struggle to find a good groove like I did with Zero. I'm still going to continue logging my fasts in Zero until Cronometer adopts close to the same features, but it's at least nice to log what I can in the mean time. Was just expecting more from it being a "Gold member" feature only.

As a side note, I absolutely *love* when other apps alert me of when my fast has finished/I've completed or passed my goal, and it'd be nice to maybe see a recognition for "streaks". I've always wanted this with logging entries per day too which was my favorite feature with MyFitnessPal. It made me really enjoy logging every day and seeing just how many days in a row I've logged, and getting a badge or congratulations on top of it helped with motivation. I would be so happy if these features eventually made their way to Cronometer. :)

AlaskaJedi

I have been using Zero for over a year and it's amazing, simple and intuitive, seeing that fasting was available in Cronometer was a big reason to upgrade to hold but the fasting feature is painful to use. In Zero you are able to specify your duration and start your fast which will go until you stop that fast, no scheduling, you are able to go over or under without changing the schedule, you can see the time remaining, and you can get reminders of your progress. In Cronometer you can start a fast but if you need to change anything about it you have to go in through the settings menu (very unintuitive btw) and change your previous fast, which is going to end on the scheduled end time, I know in my experience a 20 hour fast can turn into a 24 hour or longer fast if things come up or if I'm not hungry, this is why the timer going until you stop it on Zero is much better IMO, if I forget to stop a fast I will know when I try to start a new fast, and I can change the end time when I close it, I would rather do this than have the fast end early because it's on a schedule which I most likely won't remember to do. My fasts usually vary from day to day so scheduling a fixed time is difficult, and I often do alternate day or every two day fasting routines so scheduling gets tricky when my only options are in daily or weekly increments. Overall I'm pretty disappointed with the fasting feature, its such simple concept, I don't get how an app that does everything else so well would get this wrong. Are there any plans to improve this feature or potential integrations so we can import our fasting data from another source??

Fern36

Where do I find the fasting options?? OK, never mind, just found it.

Karen_Cronometer

We've updated the fasting feature to include a start/stop button in the diary page. You can start fasts without scheduling right from the diary page. No need to go via the settings tabs to make adjustments.

Check out how to quick start a fast in our user manual: https://cronometer.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360036016612-Mobile-Fasting

AlaskaJedi

@Karen_Cronometer thanks for your reply, I having been using the start/stop button in the android app but it still defaults to 16 hours, I have to then edit that fast, granted I can do that from the same page but It requires me to specify duration and end time, an option to keep the fast open past the target duration until manually ended would be useful in my opinion. One thing I have been doing to workaround this is setting a longer duration when I edit the current fast so it is still running when I want to manually end it, for example a 20 hour fast I would set to 21 or 22 hours, the progress bar is slightly off but that's not a big issue for me. Is there a way to set a custom default duration so when I click start from the diary page it uses a different duration than 16 hours?

Karen_Cronometer

Setting a custom default duration for your fast is a great suggestion! Thanks!

CalorieGuru

Is there a way to do an open ended fast? I usually do a 16 hour fast but sometimes its 18 hours or 16 hours and 20 minutes. I'm not sitting with a drumstick in my hand waiting for the timer to end. And it's a pain to extend it.

I'd like to be able to set a start time for a fast and just hit the end button when I end it. No need for a donut graph; just the current duration would be ideal

AlaskaJedi

@CalorieGuru I do the same thing, an open ended fast is far more useful to me as I'd rather correct a fast that went too long than have it end while I am still fasting. My workaround is to edit the current fasts duration to longer than I'm going to fast so I'll make it 24 hours and then at 20 hours I'll end it via the app. The downside is the progress bar is for the longer duration. I wish we could keep a fast going without changing the schedule, I like how Zero will tell you when you reach your fast goal and keep the timer going so you can see how far over or under you are.

skippybosco

@Karen_Cronometer Another vote for an option to have an open ended fasting time, I'd even go so far as to say I'd rather not provide a name for every fast, just a start and stop.
I was hopeful when I saw the basic start and stop button, bummed it is anchored to a specific fasting time.

I alternate between a 18/6 fasting schedule on training days and 23/1 fasting schedule on rest days. But I'll do an extended 2-3 day fast a couple of times a month. I don't need to be reminded when my eating window opens or closes, I just want to be able to push start and have the flexibility to stop when I want, whether that is 18 hours, 23 hours or 168 hours.

Couple of questions for those that are currently using the fasting feature:

1. How is it displayed on the Diary page?
2. If you add a food to the diary does it ask or auto stop the fast for you?

CalorieGuru

I agree on the naming. Highly annoying. How about a default of "Current Fast".

Cwaits1118

I love the layout of Life Fasting and would love to have something like that on the side of the diary page - just a simple Start and Stop and a countdown but also the ability to adjust those times if you did want to set specific times or needed to change them. Something about seeing the little circle with the timer and checkpoints on the phases makes fasting MUCH easier
Maybe even just integrate with Life instead of the in-app fasting?

CalorieGuru

while I'm here, is there a visualization for fasting? It just make a list of fasts but I don't see any way to correlate it with my weight loss or calorie intake or anything else. What's the point of it?

Karen_Cronometer

@CalorieGuru you can visualize your Fasting windows on the charts in the Trends tab. So you can overlay your energy intake on your fasts, for example.

Click on the menu in the top right corner of a chart to show Fasts.

CalorieGuru

I see it now, thanks

Markjowen

https://forums.cronometer.com/discussion/comment/13149#Comment_13149

With regards the stop/start button for fasting... I see the start button. But I didn't see a stop button. The fast just stopped by itself. I then had to edit it to enter the correct time that I finished the fast. (Originally, it was meant to be an 18 hour fast, but it went longer).

Am I missing something?

CalorieGuru

I stopped using it; it was too cumbersome.

TxBrandi

I totally agree! I was also a Zero user. I cancelled my subscription just a little too early as i thought that the fasting in Cronometer would work the same.

Like some of the others here, my fasts also often go longer if I'm feeling up to it. For example, I have it set up for 18 hours, but today, my 18 hit and I decided to go to whenever dinner is tongight (so 22 or 23 hours), yet my timer stopped. Now I have to edit. I'd like it to stop when i hit the button for it to stop!

CalorieGuru

I decided that keeping track of them wasn't that important. The main thing I did for my diet was to give up breakfast and lunch and eat 2 meals after a long fast. Every day. Sometime I have 1 meal a day; essentially a 24 hour fast. But the real point was to make it easier to do under 1500 calories a day. The fasting itself wasn't really the point.

Primeofmylife2021

Agreed - I do not like the auto stop of a fast. I start with a 16-8, but often stretch it longer. Having to go back and edit the fast is a pain. Can our lovely Cronometer programmers add an auto stop when food is entered and tracked? Pretty please? I am still using my Sunrise app for tracking. Very easy and visual.

A_Keto_Newbie

The open ended feature for fasting would be great. Like the others have mentioned I fast as well and more often than not extend my fasting and this feature would be super helpful.

ChrisKay

Just started tracking again after a year off, glad to see the start/stop fasting feature was added! So much better now!