Dashboard
Weight, blood pressure, VO2 max, DEXA body composition, and metabolic panels — logged openly across the 52-week fasting project.
This page is the evidence for everything else on the site. The protocol is simple — three fasting days a week for 52 weeks — and rather than describe how it feels, the plan was to measure what it does and publish every reading, including the unflattering ones. Nothing here is retrospectively cleaned up: readings go in as they are taken, and charts redraw around them.
Two kinds of data sit side by side. Weight and blood pressure are logged frequently at home, which makes them dense but noisy. VO2 max, DEXA scans and blood panels are periodic and lab-measured, so there are fewer points but each one carries far more weight. Where a reading looks strange, the usual explanation is timing — whether it was taken on a fasting day or a feeding day changes hydration, and hydration moves several of these numbers.
An important caveat: this is one person, unblinded and uncontrolled, with no control group and no clinical supervision beyond routine lab work. It cannot show what fasting would do to you. It can only show what happened to one body, in detail, with the dates attached — read it alongside the medical disclaimer. The exact procedure, device and known limitations behind every figure are documented on the methodology pages.
The dashboard
Weekly weight and BP, periodic VO2 max, DEXA scans, full metabolic panels, and breath and blood ketone readings. Live data — every reading is added to the trend.
Working out your own numbers? The fasting weight loss calculator estimates how much of a fast's weight change is fat and how much is water.
Each logged entry
Systolic / Diastolic
Cardiorespiratory fitness
Body fat % and lean mass (lb)
Acetone, measured in PPM
Beta-hydroxybutyrate, mmol/L
Quest Diagnostics · latest —
Total cholesterol
—mg/dL
HDL cholesterol
—mg/dL
Triglycerides
—mg/dL
LDL cholesterol
—mg/dL
Chol / HDL ratio
—
Non-HDL cholesterol
—mg/dL
Quest Diagnostics
Fasting glucose
—mg/dL
BUN
—mg/dL
Creatinine
—mg/dL
eGFR
—mL/min
Total cholesterol
—mg/dL
HbA1c
—%
Body fat
—%
VO2 max
—ml/kg/min
Breath ketones
—PPM
Blood ketones
—mmol/L
Case study · Two graded exercise tests
A clinical graded exercise test on a metabolic cart established a baseline of 49.1 mL/kg/min on June 14, 2026 — the 97th percentile for age. A retest on September 18 measured 41.4, a drop of 7.7 or 15.7% over roughly 14 weeks. That is a real decline, not measurement noise, and it is the single most concerning signal the project has produced so far.
Baseline
49.1
June 14 · 97th percentile
Retest
41.4
September 18
Change
−15.7%
−7.7 mL/kg/min
| Metric | June 14 | September 18 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| VO2 max | 49.1 mL/kg/min | 41.4 mL/kg/min | −7.7 (−15.7%) |
| Percentile (age-matched) | 97th | — | Not reported on retest |
| Test date | June 14, 2026 | September 18, 2026 | ≈ 14 weeks apart |
The original metabolic-cart test also captured ventilatory thresholds and peak exercise metrics, which anchor the training zones below.
VO2 Max (June)
49.1mL/kg/min
97th percentile
Peak power
120W
Max heart rate
153BPM
Peak ventilation
108L/min
Max tidal volume
2.6L / breath
VT1 · Aerobic baseline
110 BPM·75 W
Upper limit of pure aerobic efficiency. Below 110 BPM, metabolism relies almost exclusively on fat oxidation — the optimal zone for building mitochondrial density and sustaining endurance without compounding systemic fatigue.
VT2 · Anaerobic boundary
127 BPM·97 W
Sustainable maximum output — the lactic threshold. Past 127 BPM, the body pivots sharply toward carbohydrate burning and lactic acid accumulation, and ventilation accelerates to clear CO₂.
A 15% drop in three months is large enough to be physiologically meaningful, not test-to-test wobble. Possible contributors include reduced training volume during the fasting protocol, lower carbohydrate availability on fasting days, and the cumulative stress of repeated caloric deficit. It is also possible that hydration differences between the two tests shifted the per-kilogram denominator. The decline does not mean the fasting protocol is safe or unsafe — it means this particular signal needs watching and corrective action.
The response is structured: Zone 2 sessions anchored at the VT1 threshold to rebuild aerobic base, short HIIT intervals past VT2 to challenge the ceiling, and a third graded exercise test planned to measure whether the decline reverses. A Garmin Venu now provides day-to-day training-load tracking. The next test will show whether the intervention worked.
Two graded exercise tests describe one person's measured change. They do not establish that fasting caused the decline, and other factors — training habits, hydration, and normal test variation — may also contribute. Read this alongside the medical disclaimer.
Case study · Two DXA scans
Between June 12 and September 21, 2026, scale weight remained 180.0 lb while DEXA measured 5.3 lb less fat mass and 6.3 lb more lean mass. Lean mass includes muscle, organs and body fluids, so the increase should not be interpreted as muscle gain alone.
Fat mass
−5.3 lb
53.3 to 48.0 lb
Lean mass
+6.3 lb
117.8 to 124.1 lb
Scale weight
0.0 lb
180.0 lb at both scans
Values below are transcribed from the two Fitnescity DEXA reports.
| Metric | June 12 | September 21 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total weight | 180.0 lb | 180.0 lb | No change |
| Body fat | 29.9% | 26.8% | −3.1 points |
| Fat mass | 53.3 lb | 48.0 lb | −5.3 lb |
| Lean mass | 117.8 lb | 124.1 lb | +6.3 lb |
| Lean mass percentage | 66.2% | 69.4% | +3.2 points |
| Body-fat percentile | 45th | 23rd | 22 places lower |
| Bone mineral density | 1.393 g/cm² | 1.391 g/cm² | −0.002 g/cm² |
| Z-score | +1.9 | +1.9 | No change |
| BMI | 29.0 | 29.0 | No change |
Body fat fell 3.1 percentage points and the age-matched body-fat percentile moved from 45th to 23rd. Over roughly three months, the scans therefore document body recomposition that scale weight and BMI alone did not show.
Bone mineral density changed from 1.393 to 1.391 g/cm², while the Z-score remained +1.9, approximately the 95th percentile in the report's reference population. BMI remained 29.0.
These two scans describe one person's measured change. They do not establish that fasting alone caused it, and small differences can also reflect hydration and normal measurement variation.
Case study · Indirect calorimetry
Indirect calorimetry on a VO2 Master analyser quantifies oxygen consumption at rest to compute actual Resting Metabolic Rate — bypassing the generalised Mifflin-St Jeor and Harris-Benedict equations. The June 12, 2026 assessment below anchors caloric programming for the rest of the protocol.
Resting energy expenditure
Measured RMR
1,598 kcal/day
Metabolism score
+30%
vs. statistical average for age, weight, height, sex
Maintenance target
1,918 kcal
Daily intake to hold 180 lb before added exercise
A faster-than-average resting burn provides a useful buffer for energy balance during fasting blocks and refeeding windows.
Resting metabolism plus baseline movement gives the precise calorie floor before training is added.
Resting energy (RMR)
1,598kcal/day
Vital organ function, breathing, cellular repair
Active energy
320kcal/day
Baseline daily movement (sedentary)
Total daily expenditure
1,918kcal/day
Maintenance at 180 lb before exercise
Captured alongside the metabolic test as reference points for tracking adaptation to fasting, training, and recovery.
Resting heart rate
56bpm
Ideal range · strong aerobic conditioning
Heart rate variability
48.6ms
Autonomic recovery baseline for stress & fasting
Metabolism score
+30%
Faster than statistical average for age/sex/size
Comprehensive metabolic panel
Quest Diagnostics CMP + CBC. Five-year baseline (November 2021 onward) shown as yearly trend lines; the year-of-fast quarterly draws will plot with full precision as they come in.
Latest draw
May 8, 2026
32 of 32 in range · Fasting
Source: Quest Diagnostics · Historical trend lines reflect approximate yearly values from 2022–2025; the 2026 reading is exact.
4 more quarterly updates over the year ahead.
The charts above are only useful if you know what they represent and how the readings were taken. Here is each one in plain language, along with its measurement cadence.
Weekly, most mornings
Weighed on the same scale, first thing, before drinking anything. Weight is the noisiest number on this page: a single fasting day can shed two or three pounds of water and glycogen and put most of it straight back on refeeding. That is why the chart matters more than any individual reading — the slope over months is fat, the sawtooth week to week is mostly hydration.
How this is measured →Weekly, seated, after five minutes' rest
Taken with an upper-arm cuff at roughly the same time of day. Fasting tends to lower blood pressure, partly through fluid and sodium loss, which is exactly why anyone on antihypertensive medication needs clinical supervision — the risk during a fast is going too low, not too high.
How this is measured →Periodic lab test
The maximum volume of oxygen the body can use per kilogram per minute during hard exercise. It is the best single measure of cardiorespiratory fitness and one of the strongest predictors of all-cause mortality in the literature. The question this project asks is whether a year of repeated fasting days erodes it, holds it, or improves it.
How this is measured →Periodic scan
A DEXA scan splits total weight into fat mass, lean mass, and bone. This is the honest check on the weight chart: losing weight is easy, losing weight while holding lean mass is the actual goal. Lean mass falling alongside fat mass would be the clearest sign the protocol is costing more than it returns.
How this is measured →Periodic blood draw (Quest Diagnostics)
Total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, the cholesterol-to-HDL ratio and non-HDL cholesterol, plus fasting glucose, HbA1c, BUN, creatinine and eGFR. The lipid group tracks cardiovascular risk, glucose and HbA1c track how the body handles sugar over days and months, and the kidney markers are the safety rail — prolonged fasting shifts fluid and protein turnover, so BUN, creatinine and eGFR are watched for drift.
How this is measured →Fasting days
Measured as acetone in parts per million on a breath device, not blood beta-hydroxybutyrate. As glycogen empties, the liver converts fat into ketone bodies, and a fraction leaves the body through the lungs as acetone — so a rising PPM reading is direct evidence of the switch from burning glucose to burning fat. Breath readings are cheaper and less precise than blood; treat them as a yes/no on ketosis and a rough sense of depth, not an exact figure.
How this is measured →Fasting days, periodic
Blood beta-hydroxybutyrate in millimoles per litre, measured with a finger-prick meter. This is the reference measurement for ketosis — it is what research uses and what the body is actually running on. It confirms or corrects the breath reading: the two track the same trend but are not interchangeable, and where they disagree the blood figure is the one to trust.
How this is measured →Ignore single points. Every measurement carries error — scales drift, cuffs sit slightly differently on the arm, breath devices vary between puffs, and lab assays have their own tolerances. A change only means something when it persists across several readings, or when a lab-measured value moves further than the test's own margin.
Watch the pairings, not the individual lines. Weight falling while DEXA lean mass holds steady is a good outcome; weight falling while lean mass falls with it is not. Blood pressure dropping alongside stable kidney markers reads differently from blood pressure dropping while creatinine climbs. Ketones only make sense next to the fasting schedule — a high reading on day three of eating would suggest a device problem, not a metabolic one.
If you want to work through the arithmetic behind fasting weight change on your own numbers, the fasting weight loss calculator separates the fat portion from the water portion, and the fasting articles index explains the underlying physiology behind each marker.
Hume Smart Scale
Body composition via bioimpedance
Every metric in this section comes from the Hume Smart Scale, which estimates body composition from bioimpedance: body fat, lean mass, fat distribution, muscle, bone, water and cell mass. It is a consumer device rather than clinical equipment, so the value is in the daily trend rather than any single reading.
Body fat
—%
Skeletal muscle
—kg
Lean mass
—%
Body water
—%
Body fat vs lean mass
Hume Smart Scale, % of body weight
Fat distribution
Subcutaneous fat mass and visceral fat index
Muscle and bone
Skeletal muscle mass, skeletal mass and bone mineral content
Body water and cell mass
Hydration and metabolically active tissue
The Hume Smart Scale readings come from bioimpedance — a small current passed through the body — which is sensitive to hydration, and fasting shifts hydration a lot. Expect body fat, water and cell mass to swing more on fasting days than the underlying tissue is actually changing. As with everything on this page, the direction of travel over weeks is the signal; any single morning is noise.
