A sibling project to ZebraUp — pacing and movement for bodies with EDS, PEM and dysautonomia. Built by the same developer, but it's a separate app, with its own focus.
Traditional fitness apps assume linear progression, streaks, and pushing past your limits — something that can actively harm bodies with chronic, cyclical conditions. ZebraPace flips that logic: it draws on the philosophy of Atomic Habits (the 1% rule) and actively celebrates rest, maintenance, and listening to your body, instead of pushing it.
ZebraPace is not a medical device and does not diagnose or treat anything. It is not a substitute for your doctor, physical therapist, kinesiologist, or other care providers — keep making those decisions with them, not instead of them. The app shows this same disclaimer on first launch.
A visual representation of your daily energy capacity (based on Spoon Theory), derived from last night's sleep. It's informational only: it never changes your step goal or caution line, which stay deliberately steady regardless of any single day's signal.
The app calculates your 7-day rolling average for steps/activity and sets a gentle 1% growth goal. If you exceed your average by more than 10%, it triggers a Dysautonomia/PEM Precaution alert — reminding you to hydrate, take electrolytes, and plan for a rest day.
Sleep is the primary driver of recovery for dysautonomia and connective tissue repair. The app tracks it as its own dedicated log — duration, quality, and heart rate range — visible alongside your daily pacing, not blended into it.
Using Hampton's Hybrid Calisthenics methodology, the app tracks exercise comfort rather than just reps. You're only encouraged to move up a progression tier after completing the previous one comfortably for 3 consecutive sessions.
Rest is framed biologically as the time when fibroblasts repair micro-tears in connective tissue. Taking a rest day doesn't break a streak — it counts as a successful health intervention.
Log custom activities with "Added External Weight" (e.g. carrying a heavy bag or a child) to account for the true mechanical load on your joints.
Also included: hydration tracking (water, tea, coffee, protein shakes, electrolytes) kept separate from other metrics; weight, height and body fat percentage in their own dedicated section, never blended with physical or mental symptom logging; injuries and structural events; intraday check-ins; Apple Health-sourced METs; a doctor-visit PDF report; and Face ID/Touch ID app lock.
ZebraPace is a native Flutter app, for iOS and web, backed by a local drift/SQLite database — your health data stays on your device by default. An optional, opt-in cloud sync (Supabase-based, for multi-device use) is in progress: nothing leaves your device unless you explicitly sign in under Settings → Cloud Sync.
The project started as a Python/Streamlit prototype
(app.py, kept in the repository for history, no
longer maintained) and was fully rewritten as a Flutter app.
They're two independent apps, with no data shared between them. ZebraUp focuses on symptom, medication and clinical-report tracking for rare and complex conditions in general. ZebraPace focuses specifically on pacing, movement and activity for bodies prone to post-exertional malaise (PEM). Both are built by the same person, from the same patient experience, but each stands on its own — you don't need one to get value from the other.
ZebraPace is a personal project, built by one zebra for other zebras, and offered freely. It's under active development — the full source, with its history and structure, is available on GitHub. If it's useful to you and you'd like to help keep it going, you can support it on Ko-fi, completely optional, no pressure.