Fasting Guides

Free, practical guides to intermittent and extended fasting from FastingPals: getting started, the science, hydration, exercise, mindset and safety.

Getting Started

What Is Intermittent Fasting?: A plain-English explanation of what intermittent fasting is, what it is not, and why millions of people use it.
16:8 vs 18:6 vs OMAD — Which Should You Do?: A breakdown of the three most common fasting windows, their trade-offs, and how to choose the right one for your lifestyle.
What Actually Breaks a Fast?: The definitive guide to what you can and cannot consume during a fast — based on what actually triggers an insulin response.
Can I Drink Coffee While Fasting?: Short answer: yes. Here is the longer version — including what to add and what to avoid.
Electrolytes Explained: What electrolytes are, why they matter during fasting, and how to replenish them without breaking your fast.
How Long Until Fat Burning Starts?: The timeline of what happens inside your body from your last meal through a multi-day fast.
What to Expect Your First Week of Fasting: A realistic, honest look at the physical and mental experience of the first seven days — including what is normal and what is a warning sign.
Welcome to Fasting Pals — What the App Does: A quick tour of everything Fasting Pals offers — from solo tracking to group fasts, games, points, and the knowledge base.
Starting Your First Fast: Step-by-step guide to starting a solo fast or a group fast in the app, and what all the options mean.
Group Fasting — Fasting With Friends and Strangers: How to start a group fast, invite friends, join a public fast, and what you can do together while fasting.
Adding Friends and Sending Direct Messages: How the friends system works — sending requests, accepting them, and messaging friends outside of a fast.
Points and Badges — How the Rewards System Works: A complete breakdown of how you earn points, what triggers bonus points, and all the badges you can unlock.
Games You Can Play During a Group Fast: How to access and play the four multiplayer games available during a group fast — Pictionary, Cee-lo Dice, Hangman, and Trivia.
Timer Features and Tools: Everything the fast timer shows you, how to log mood and activity, how to adjust your fast, and what the Tools section offers.
Notifications and Your Fasting History: What push notifications Fasting Pals sends, how to enable them, and how to use the History tab to track your progress over time.

Troubleshooting

Headaches During Fasting: Why fasting causes headaches, and the specific steps that resolve them in most cases within an hour.
Dizziness During Fasting: Feeling dizzy or lightheaded during a fast can be unsettling. In many cases, there is a simple and explainable reason, and it can often be corrected safely. Dizziness is usually a sign that your body needs an adjustment, not necessarily that something is seriously wrong. Understanding the cause is the first step.
Feeling Cold While Fasting: Why fasting can make you feel cold, and what to do about it.
Bad Breath During Fasting (Keto Breath): The cause of the distinctive fasting breath odor, why it is actually a positive sign, and how to manage it socially.
Breaking Through a Fasting Plateau: Why weight loss stalls during intermittent fasting and the evidence-based strategies to restart progress.
Will Fasting Cause Me to Lose Muscle?: The honest answer — including what the research shows and what factors actually protect muscle during fasting.
Low Energy During Fasted Workouts: Why training while fasted feels hard at first — and how to improve performance as your body adapts.

Science Simplified

Insulin and Fasting: The Core Mechanism: A clear explanation of what insulin does, why elevated insulin blocks fat burning, and how fasting addresses it.
Autophagy Explained Simply: What autophagy is, why it matters for health, and how fasting triggers it.
Ketones: What They Are and Why They Matter: Ketones are a type of fuel your body makes when it does not have enough incoming food energy. They are a normal, natural part of human metabolism. When you are fasting, your body begins producing ketones to help power your brain and body. This is one of the key ways your body continues functioning without eating.
Growth Hormone and Fasting: Why fasting triggers a significant growth hormone release and what this means for muscle preservation and metabolism.
Metabolic Flexibility Explained: What metabolic flexibility is, why it matters, and how fasting builds it.
How Fasting Stabilizes Blood Sugar: Why intermittent fasting tends to smooth out blood sugar swings — and why stable blood sugar matters for energy and health.

Mindset & Discipline

Cravings vs. Hunger: Knowing the Difference: One of the most important skills in fasting is learning the difference between real hunger and cravings. They can feel similar, but they are not the same. Understanding the difference helps you make better decisions and makes fasting much easier. Many people discover that what they thought was hunger was actually a craving.
Dopamine, Food, and Why Breaking Habits Is Hard: Why food addiction patterns form and how fasting restructures the reward system over time.
Emotional Eating and Fasting: Understanding the emotional eating pattern and how intermittent fasting helps — and sometimes challenges — it.
Building Willpower Through Fasting: Willpower is not something you are born with or without. It is a skill that can be trained and strengthened over time. Fasting gives you regular opportunities to practice this skill. Each time you choose not to eat, even when you could, you are training your brain. Over time, this can make self-control feel easier and more natural.
Habit Stacking: Building Fasting Into Your Life: Starting a fasting routine is easy. Remembering to follow it consistently is harder. This is where habit stacking becomes powerful. Habit stacking means attaching a new habit to something you already do every day. Instead of relying on motivation, you use your existing routines as anchors. This makes fasting feel automatic instead of something you have to constantly think about.

Hydration & Supplements

Sodium During Fasting: Why sodium is the most critical electrolyte to address during fasting and how to get enough without breaking your fast.
Magnesium: The Most Overlooked Fasting Supplement: Why magnesium deficiency is extremely common, why fasting worsens it, and which form to take.
Potassium and Fasting: The role of potassium in fasting health and how to ensure adequate intake without supplementing carelessly.
Refeeding After an Extended Fast: How to break a long fast safely — why the first meal matters as much as the fast itself.

Exercise & Fasting

Strength Training While Fasted: What the research says about lifting fasted, how to optimize performance, and when to eat around your training.
Cardio While Fasting: Fat Burning Maximized?: The case for fasted cardio, its real limitations, and how to structure aerobic training around your fast.
Muscle Preservation Strategies During Fasting: A practical guide to protecting lean body mass while maximizing fat loss through intermittent fasting.

Safety & Medical

Who Should Not Fast (Or Proceed With Caution): An honest list of medical conditions and circumstances where fasting carries real risks — and what to do instead.
Fasting with Diabetes: What You Need to Know: The specific considerations for type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, and metabolic syndrome — and why medical partnership matters.
Eating Disorders and Fasting: Proceed Carefully: Fasting can be a helpful tool for some people. But if you have a history of disordered eating, it can also become a trigger. This article is a cautious guide to help you think it through safely — without shame and without pressure. If fasting has ever been part of a harmful pattern for you, your safety comes first.
Hypoglycemia During Fasting: Signs and What to Do: How to recognize low blood sugar during a fast and respond appropriately.
Fasting and Medications: Fasting can change how your body tolerates, absorbs, or responds to medications. Some meds must be taken with food, some work best on an empty stomach, and some can be riskier during fasting because of dehydration, electrolyte shifts, or low blood sugar. This is general information — always follow your prescription label and your prescriber’s instructions.