The Data-Driven Fasting App User Guide

We’ve designed the Data-Driven Fasting app to be simple and self-explanatory. But this section of the Data-Driven Fasting FAQs gives a high-level overview of the DDF app.

How To Get the DDF App?

You won’t find the DDF app in the app store.
The DDF app is a ‘web app’ that will function on your computer or your phone. Once you add it to your phone’s home screen, it will function like a native app.
You can access the DDF App here and find your trigger right away.

Try the DDF App now!

How to Record Your Blood Glucose Values

Click on track -> glucose

Use the drop-down box to select before meal, waking or after meal, then enter your glucose value.
If you test but choose not to eat, you can untick the ‘did/will you eat?’ slider (so the value won’t be included in your trigger calculations).
Reflect on and record your hunger level in the app (1 – not hungry, 5 – extremely hungry). Before long, you will start to calibrate your sensations of hunger with your blood sugar level.
You can make notes about how you feel at the time to provide context.

Rate Your Hunger

When you log your glucose, you can also rate your hunger (1 = hungry, 5 = starving).

Being mindful of your hunger levels is critical to the DDF process. In time you will be able to more accurately ‘guess’ your current blood glucose based on your hunger levels. As you can see from the chart below from the analysis of the data from the DDF app to date, people tend to feel greater hunger when their blood glucose is lower.

Use the Events

If you test your blood sugar and find it’s higher than you anticipated, consider ticking one of the ‘events’, such as
- stress,
- exercise,
- fatigue,
- poor sleep,
- menses (i.e., between ovulation and your period), or
- pain.

Ticking one of the ‘events’ will give you a temporarily elevated trigger (+ 10 mg/dL or 0.4 mmol/L) for the next 24 hours, which will allow you to eat even though your glucose is affected by one of these factors.

Changing the Time and Date

By default, the date and time will be set to now. However, if you want to enter historical data, you can change the date using the calendar and the time by clicking on the clock below the calendar.

How To Record Your Biometrics

Click/tap on track -> biometrics and select the value you want to record, such as:
- weight,
- body fat, or
- waist.

How to Record Your Meals?

Click/tap on track -> meal and upload a photo of your meal.
You can name/describe your meal and note how much it raised your blood sugar and how full you felt after the meal.
Before long, you will develop a shortlist of meals that you know to work for your blood sugars and help you feel full while flagging the ones that don’t work as well for you.

Switching to Hunger Training

After your first meal on day 3 of baselining, you will be allowed to switch to hunger training. However, we recommend you log at least three days of premeal blood sugars before starting hunger training.

When you’re ready, click on ‘the click here to start hunger training’ under your name in the DDF app.

How to See Your Meals?

To see the meals you have recorded, go to navigate -> meals.
You can sort the meals by satiety or glucose rise. This will help you understand which meals you should prioritise and avoid.
Before long, you will have a short list of foods and meals you know you enjoy and work for your metabolism.

How to See Your Biometrics?

Go to navigate -> insights to see your progress charts (e.g., weight, waist, blood sugars) and milestones.
You can change the charts that show in the insights section by going to profile (click on the little person symbol in the top right) and then hiding the charts you don’t want to see.

Your Diary

Reflecting on your DDF journey and journaling your thoughts, feelings and learnings can be a powerful way to reinforce your learnings.
You can make notes in Your Diary in the DDF app. Simply go to navigate -> diary.

How Do I Edit the Values I Entered?

If you made a mistake, you can go to navigate -> history and then click on the three dots on the right of the value to edit.

You can click on ‘grouped log’ to see your data grouped by the type of measurement.

How to Change Your Target Rate of Weight Loss

You can change your target line on your weight loss chart by going to your profile (click on the person symbol on the top right) and changing the rate of weight loss in the drop-down box.

Changing the target rate of weight loss doesn’t change your trigger calculations. Instead, it only changes the green line on your weight chart, which gives you a projection of where you’ll be in a couple of weeks.
While your weight can jump around from day to day, seeing a trend line through your data can help you see the long-term trends and where you’re going. When people get a glimpse of where they could be, they are encouraged to continue.

We suggest you start with 0.5% per week (easy). If you find your weight is dropping faster after a couple of weeks, you can dial up the target to 1.0% per week to match your actual progress.
For long-term sustainability, we don’t recommend you push to lose weight at more than 1.0% per week. Consistent progress is better than rapid progress, followed by rebound binging. For more details, see How Much Weight Should I Lose Per Week?

Does It Matter If I Measure In mg/dL or mmol/L?

The DDF app will identify your location and choose the right units for your country.
As a general rule, people in the US measure blood glucose levels in mg/dL (imperial) while the rest of the world uses mmol/L (metric). To convert mg/dL to mmol/L, simply divide by 18 (and vice versa).
If you need to change your units, click on the little person in the top right corner of the app, go to account and use the drop-down box to change your BG units.

How to Add Your Trigger Value to Your Meter

If you’re using the Contour Next One meter, you can set up the Contour app with your trigger and upper limit.
Go to My Care -> Target Ranges and enter your current trigger as the ‘low’ and your upper limit (i.e., trigger +30 mg/dL or 1.6mmol/L) as the ‘After Meal or Overall High’).

When your glucose is below your trigger, the meter will flash red; if your post-meal glucose is above your upper limit, it will flash yellow.

You can tag a glucose value as before or after a meal using the app or the meter when you log a glucose value.
You can also go to My Reminders in the app and set up a reminder to test your blood sugar one hour after a premeal reading.

The ‘Upper Limit’ On the Hourly Glucose Chart

The upper limit line on the hourly glucose chart in the DDF app is set at 30 mg/dL or 1.6 mmol/L above your current trigger.
The primary goal of DDF is to simply wait until your blood glucose is below your trigger before eating. However, it’s also helpful to dial in what and how much you eat so blood glucose returns below baseline more quickly.
If your post-meal blood glucose during baselining goes above the ‘upper limit’ line, it’s a sign that you overfilled your glucose tank.
If your glucose rises and remains elevated for a long time above your trigger, it’s also a sign that you’ve overfilled your fat fuel tank.
You can think of the upper limit and your trigger as ‘lane lines’ to guide you by:
- not surpassing the upper limit after you eat, and
- falling just below your trigger before you eat.

Can I Reset My Trigger?

During each round of the Data-Driven Fasting Challenge, your trigger will progressively decrease – it won’t go back up.

If you click on the three vertical dots in the top right of your trigger value, you can:

reset your trigger – to revert your trigger to what it was at the end of baselining,
restart DDF baselining – to restart the three-day baselining period to get a new trigger value,
maintenance mode – to use your blood sugar to maintain your current weight, or
pause mode – stop your blood sugar from decreasing but remain in Hunger Training mode in the DDF App.

If You Can’t Reach Your Trigger for the Whole Day?

If you have a party or a big weekend where you overeat, you will likely need to wait a little longer and/or modify what and how much you eat to catch up and reach your trigger. However, before long, you will learn to think twice before overfilling your fuel tank again because you are now aware of how long the excess energy takes to clear from your system.
Similarly, you may find it hard to keep up with a lower trigger later on if you try too hard too early and wait longer than you need to. People who push too hard in the first few weeks of the DDF Challenge tend to find it hard to sustain in the final weeks and get discouraged.
The Data-Driven Fasting 30-Day Challenge schedule has been structured to allow people to take a few weeks off between each challenge to practice maintaining their weight. We have eight challenges per year, with a few weeks break between each to allow people to recover and practice maintaining their weight. You can see the full schedule of DDF Challenges here.

Should I Keep Chasing My Trigger or Switch to Maintenance?

At the end of each Data-Driven Fasting 30-Day Challenge, we suggest you switch to ‘Maintenance Mode’ and restart baselining at the start of each challenge to find your new baseline trigger.
Learning to eat in a way that maintains your weight is a vital skill in your weight loss journey. The Maintenance Phase will allow you to track less frequently. The DDF app will also give you a higher pre-meal trigger to check whether you need to refuel and will adjust up or down to ensure you maintain your weight without regaining.

The Milestones in the DDF App

Celebrating small wins along the way is essential, especially if you have a lot of weight to lose to reach your goal.
The milestones in the DDF app highlight successful small steps along the journey to your goal.

Join the DDF 30-Day Challenge