Part of the Loopa iOS app guide.
The Fasting timer is where you start and end a fast, watch the clock run, and keep a streak going. You reach it from Today's Page. Scroll down to Insights and tap Fasting. See Using the iOS app for the wider tour, and Intermittent fasting for the how and why.
General wellness tracking, not medical advice.
Starting a fast
With no fast running, the screen shows Open a Fast and a grid of protocol chips (such as 16:8, OMAD, and Custom) pulled from your account. Tap one to pick it. Choosing Custom reveals a Target hours stepper so you can set your own window (starting at 16 hours). Tap Start Fasting and the clock begins.
The live timer
Once a fast is running, a large ring fills the screen and counts up every second in HH:MM:SS. Above it, a label shows your protocol and goal (for example "16:8 · GOAL 16H"); inside the ring, the progress percentage climbs until it reads GOAL REACHED and the ring turns green. The moment you cross your target you get a success buzz.
Under the ring, a metabolic stage badge and strip track roughly where a fast of that length tends to put the body:
- Fed, from the start
- Fasting, around 4 hours
- Fat-Burning, around 12 hours
- Ketosis, around 16 hours
- Autophagy, around 24 hours
These are general stage markers, not measurements of your body. Tap End the Fast to stop the clock.
Your calorie target during a fast
A fast you planned to run a full day or longer sets that day's calorie target to zero. There is nothing to spend, so Loopa does not offer you a number to spend it against. The ring, the count on Add Food, your macros and every coach all read the same way. End the fast and your target comes straight back.
Fasts shorter than a day keep their target. 16:8, 18:6, 20:4 and OMAD are eating patterns with a meal in them, so nothing about your target changes while one is running.
The line is drawn on the length you chose, not on how long the clock has been going. A 16:8 you forgot to close is still a 16:8, and it will not take your day's food away.
Fasting patterns suit some people and not others. The US National Institute on Aging's review of calorie restriction and fasting diets advises talking with your healthcare provider about the benefits and risks before making any significant change to your eating pattern (https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/calorie-restriction-and-fasting-diets-what-do-we-know).
Everything else keeps working throughout: water, activity, weight, habits and your streak are all unaffected.
Streaks and history
A STREAK card shows how many days your fasting streak is running, with a flame that leans in once the streak is above zero. Below it, The Record lists your past fasts, each with its protocol, how long it ran (for example "16.0h"), and when it ended. Before your first fast you'll see '"No Fasts On Record. Start your first fast to begin tracking." Pull down to refresh.
The Live Activity
While a fast is running the app can show a Live Activity on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, so you can check the elapsed time without opening the app. The timer is kept in step with the server: if you end a fast on another device or on the web, the Live Activity ends too rather than leaving a stale clock going, and the same state is mirrored to your Home Screen widgets. This needs Live Activities enabled for the app in iOS Settings. See Fasting Live Activity for the details.
You can also start, update, or end a fast through Siri and Shortcuts. See Siri and Shortcuts.
