Hi ,

Over the past few weeks, I’ve returned to something I’ve often recommended to my patients: tracking fasting and eating windows.

There’s a quote often attributed to Peter Drucker—“What gets measured, gets improved.” And I’ve found that to be especially true when it comes to fasting. Tracking your fasting intervals is a simple but powerful strategy because it’s surprisingly easy to drift outside your planned fasting window without realizing it.

I have used time-restricted eating before and successfully lost weight with it. Back then, I could comfortably do several 24-hour fasts a week. But starting again after a break, I’ve adopted a beginner’s mindset and I am going back to the basics.

Although I knew I was fasting for less than 16 hours—typically 12 to 14 hours- I found that tracking helped me increase my fasting interval. When I look at the app and see I’m at 15 hours and 30 minutes, it suddenly feels achievable to go just half an hour longer.

Another thing I’ve noticed: when I look at the calendar view in the app and see the days I’ve exceeded 16 hours, it gives me a genuine sense of satisfaction. I’m not aiming for perfection, just consistency—but those visual cues make progress feel tangible.

Currently, my focus is on establishing the habit of 16-hour fasts most days of the week. If I go longer some days, that’s fine. Eventually, I hope to get to 24-hour fasts—starting with once a week and then perhaps two to three times a week.

I have noticed that on days when my fasting window extends beyond 16 hours, I actually feel better cognitively—more clear-headed and focused. That has been the experience of many.

Here’s what helps me extend my fasting window:

• Eating enough protein at my last meal—this also supports better sleep.
• Finishing dinner by 7 p.m.
• Getting outside for daylight and movement—these improve sleep, which in turn supports fasting.
• Staying busy—this is perhaps the most important factor for me. Since I work mostly from home, staying busy helps the fasting hours pass more easily.

One thing I haven’t done yet is check my weight. I don't have a helpful relationship with the weighing scale :-).

In next week’s email, I’ll share the pros and cons of weighing yourself while working toward health goals.

I would love to know about your experience with time-restricted eating, longer fasts, and tracking. What do you track?

P.S. I’ve been using the Zero Fasting app (https://zerolongevity.com/) to track my TRE. I’m not affiliated with them, but I’ve found it helpful.

New to fasting? Start here

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Best regards,

Shabnam.

Dr. Shabnam Das Kar, MD

Functional Medicine Doctor

Tiny Habits Coach

Email: info@drkarmd.com