Why Ayuno exists.

A few years ago I weighed about 300 pounds. My doctor used the words pre-diabetic, and my blood pressure was high enough that we talked about medication. None of it was a surprise. I had known for a long time that something needed to change. I just did not have a way in that felt honest.

Starting small, and honestly

I did not overhaul my life overnight. I started leaning into a keto-style, one-meal-a-day rhythm — long stretches of just water, a single real meal, and daily movement I could actually sustain. Fasting gave the day a shape. Instead of a running tally of everything I ate, I had one clear window and a lot of hours that were simply off the clock.

That framing mattered more than any single meal. It moved the question from what am I not allowed to have to when do I eat. It was quieter. There was less to argue with myself about.

Fasting worked for me because it was simple. One window. A glass of water. A walk. Nothing to track obsessively, nothing to feel ashamed of.

Seventy-five pounds in five months

Over about five months I lost 75 pounds. My blood pressure came down. The pre-diabetic markers moved in the right direction. I am not a doctor, and I would never tell you this is the path for everyone — bodies and histories differ, and mine is just one. But the change was real, and it held because the routine was something I could keep doing.

The apps got in the way

The whole time, the tools I tried felt at odds with what fasting had given me. They were loud. Ads between me and my own timer. Streak pressure and push notifications dressed up as motivation. Diet-culture shame baked into the copy. Interfaces that treated a calm practice like a competition.

I wanted the opposite. A single clear timer. A private place to note how a fast actually felt. Honest trends instead of judgment. Support for the longer, extended fasts I was doing, not just the basic presets. Something that respected the quiet the practice had given me.

So I built Ayuno

Ayuno is the app I wished I had at 300 pounds. It is calm on purpose. No ads, no noise, no shame. Extended and custom fasts for people going beyond 16:8. A real journal. Insights that inform without pressuring. Coaching that adapts to your history instead of repeating the same generic tips.

It carries the same disclaimer I would give a friend: this is a tool and an education, not medical advice. Talk with a professional before you start, especially if you have a health condition or take medication. But if fasting is something you want to do with structure and without the noise, I built Ayuno to be a good, honest companion for it.

— Brandon Duncan