Introducing “Zero,” a new app to help you fast | Hacker News Reader

Introducing “Zero,” a new app to help you fast

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38 pointsobilgic23 comments

The reasons given for needing an app to do this are spurious. Classic case of over-complicating a simple thing.

I saw an app for 5 minute meditation (I think it is a yc company) https://www.simplehabitapp.com it is one year for a $100 or something or $300 for lifetime. I think a lot of people believe that if they spend money, it makes them more likely to follow what they set out to do. App creators are more than happy to provide that service (exercise apps, weight tracking apps, etc.)

For sure. It makes them accountable. Check out why dietbet.com (no affiliation) works for the same reason.

Having an external motivator is often a helpful way to develop a new habit.

Motivation: I had better solve this issue myself or I will need an external motivator which will inconvenience me in some way.

  Within 7 days, I had dropped five pounds.

Using just scale-weight changes to pronounce a diet a "success" is folly. Any glucose-reducing diet will produce considerable water loss.

I lost 13 pounds in less than 36 hours the first time I went keto. I then lost virtually nothing in the subsequent 3 weeks.

This is a related video that I believe is worth watching: Longevity & Why I now eat One Meal a Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKfR6bAXr-c

Wouldn't it be wiser to skip dinner instead of breakfast?

No it doesn't you use nutrients in your sleep going to bed on an empty stomach is not healthy and mentally harsher than skipping breakfast and taking an early lunch.

this is really interesting, do you have a source?

It would be nice if we could remove the "@KevinRose" bit from this title. Allowing that kind of callout further promotes the growing concern (reality?) that the people behind a startup matters more than what problem the startup is actually trying to solve.

If someone is really wondering what Kevin Rose is up to they can do a simple search and find out.

I first parsed this as an app to help you message Kevin Rose quickly.

Frankly, the only thing notable about it is that Kevin Rose is doing it. It's a clock. I think it'll age off HN naturally and quickly.

At the early stages, which problem a startup is solving is a fluid thing. Given that the team remains relatively constant, emphasizing the founders makes sense when predicting startup success.

Thanks, we've removed this.

So once you get the bad PR of someone dying from using the app and possibly investigated by the FDA/FTC who will want to use the app? This is one of the scariest apps I have ever come across.

I would be fascinated to learn the death toll associated with skipping breakfast.

I see lots of people who run on just coffee for breakfast. They are also some really cranky motherfuckers till they've had lunch.

Intermittent fasting is actually found to improve longevity.

Some people with disorders would not benefit, but that's like saying a fitness application is bad because somebody with brittle bone disease might use it and injure themselves.

I assume this is prefaced with the standard "consult your doctor before" warning.

It takes a lot to die from hunger when you have food in the fridge. That is if you use an app that tells you not to eat but your body is telling you you are going to collapse, you won't even have to think, you will magically find yourself in front of the fridge in no time.

What a silly comment. Many people do intermittent fasting safely and effectively. Claiming that this app somehow poses a health risk to people is like saying a recipes app poses a risk because might follow the recipe and then die from overeating.

what's dangerous about not eating from 8PM - 12PM ? I do this almost daily. Listen to your body and feed it if it's hungry, not because of some set schedule that society and the food industry have set forward. This isn't at all difficult... not to the extremes of contributing to untimely death.

So because one person could misuse this information, the app shouldn't be created?

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