A few days ago, I shared what intermittent fasting had done for me and the health benefits I have felt. This app has helped me get going on my journey and is now an essential tool for tracking my body – it’s time to look at Zero fasting tracker. Available on iOS and Android, I am using the iOS version installed on my iPhone 11 Pro and Series 5 Apple Watch.

This app will only appeal to you if you are intermittently fasting, and even if you are, most people still won’t rely on one. I only started looking for something when I needed a kick to keep me going and also to keep track of my habits better. With that, the Zero app is full of fasting information on why to do it, how to do it and the answers to loads of questions you might have.

I found when first starting out it was both a hindrance and help to have something counting down the hours until I could eat again. So you might look at other options first – but what the app does well is make everything easy to find and straight forward to understand. Splitting areas into four tabs across the bottom to see your timer, check out the fasting options,  delve into your fasting history or learn more about fasting in general.

Zero enables you to start and stop your fasting quickly and gives you default options for regular ratios and also custom options. You can also get handy notifications (if you choose to switch them on) when you are in the final hour of fasting and indeed when you can start eating again. All customisable using the fasts tab at the bottom.If you’re feeling hardcore, you can track a full fast for up to 168 hours!

Users will spend the majority of the time starting and stopping the timer from the timer tab. Featuring a beautiful big clock, counting down the hours until your feeding window, or counting up the hours you have been feeding for. The big green (or red) button starts and stops your fast dependant what state you are in. If you forget you can edit start and stop times, and leave feedback on your fast at the end of each cycle.

Apple Watch App

You can also start and stop fasting with the companion Apple Watch App. There isn’t much more you can do on the watch, but it does come with complications in a range of sizes to slot into your choice of Watch face. I found this too overbearing and reminded me too often, which proved annoying after a while, but having a tap on your wrist when there is only an hour more to go can be helpful.

It would be great to be able to edit fast start points and change the ratios on the Apple Watch in future updates. If I make a mistake or want to check my history, I have to pull my phone out, whereas a swipe across to different areas would be useful. You are able to change the number of hours you want to fast for before starting and this updates the iOS app information.

As well as a glorified alarm system, the app will track every fast you do and display it in one of the easiest to understand designs I have used. All the information is straight forward and easy to navigate. You will find information on your fasts, comparisons in time, and if you hit your intended target. Along with this, the app pulls heart rate data from an Apple Watch, allowing you to see trends easily. Since starting, I can see a pronounced decrease in resting heart rate, and this provides more positive feedback that everything is going well.

Of course, there is a certain amount of gamification attempted by the app, encouraging you to put together ’streaks; and awarding badges. You can buy into this if you wish, but there is some research to say this does help motivation for health-related areas, so it’s understandable these kind of features are here.

Last but not least, you can find answers to all of your questions in the Zero Learn tab. It’s filled full of interesting information and blog-type posts that help get (and keep) you going. If you can’t find the answer here, it’s not worth knowing. Of course, only people that want to start or are already fasting will even download the app never mind about go digging in here, so my definition of interesting might be subjective.

If you want to get started intermittent fasting, or you need something to track your cycles going forward – look no further than Zero. I can’t find a bad word to say about it, and it’s become invaluable to me.