Health disclosure
Steady is a fasting timer and a coach for the hard hours. It is not a medical device and it is not a substitute for your doctor. It cannot measure anything about your body, it does not diagnose or treat any condition, and nothing it says is medical advice.
The two rules
- If you feel unwell during a fast, stop and eat. Always. No window is worth it.
- If you take medication or manage a health condition, talk to your doctor before you start fasting.
Talk to a doctor before fasting if any of these apply
This is not a complete list, and Steady does not check it. It is here because these are the situations where a long fast is most often a question for a clinician rather than an app.
- You take medication for diabetes or blood sugar, or any medication whose timing depends on meals.
- You are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive.
- You have, or have had, an eating disorder.
- You have a heart, kidney or liver condition, or low blood pressure.
- You are under 18, or over 70.
- You are recovering from illness or surgery.
What the coach will and will not do
The coach talks about hours, patterns and what you have told it. It is instructed never to interpret symptoms, explain medication, name a condition or describe what is happening inside your body — because it cannot know. If you tell it you feel unwell, its whole answer is to stop and eat, and to speak to a doctor if it does not settle.
Separately from the coach, Steady has a fixed set of rules that run on your phone before anything is sent. If a message or a check-in describes certain physical symptoms, those rules interrupt the conversation and tell you to end the fast. They are not medical judgement; they are a floor, written so the app never encourages someone through something it should not.
What the stages describe
The stage names on the timer — "The switch", "The good part" and the rest — are general descriptions of what typically happens over a fasting window. They are not readings taken from you. Steady measures nothing.
Autophagy and true nutritional ketosis need roughly 24 hours or more. Steady tops out at 20, so it does not reach them — and we would rather say so than inflate the numbers like most fasting apps do.
If you are in crisis
Low mood is part of why many people use Steady, and some hours are worse than others. If you are thinking about harming yourself, this is more important than any fast. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at any time. Elsewhere, your local emergency number will connect you.