More than 18 million people use the app, including stay at home mum Jennifer who lost just under 3 stone in only four months
Losing weight can take a heavy toll on wellbeing as not only is your body adjusting to physical change but checking the scale and looking at diet can take a toll on mental health. An increasing number of people are turning to a health coaching app, which ditches calorie counting and food restrictions for a gentler approach.
The Simple app uses AI to give personalised nutrition and offers suggestions for lifestyle changes. Features that helped see mum of two Jennifer lose 2.8 stone (17.7kg) in an impressive four months. She said: “After one of our trips last year, we came back home and started going through some photos and I realised just how much I had let myself go.
“I was absolutely horrified, to say the least. I did have a doctors appointment coming up. I got on the scale for the first time in a long time and realised I was weighing 205lbs, which… jaw to floor, I was mortified. I am only five foot one, so you can imagine.”
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It was this visit to the doctors that gave Jennifer the wake-up call. She continued: “My doctor went ahead and put on my chart that I was now considered morbidly obese, which scared me to death. You hear those words… the word morbid is very, very scary and having other comorbidities coming with that is very, very scary as well. I just decided I’ve got to do something.”
“I have tried different kinds of workouts, different routines, different diets, and I don’t stick to them. I was very sceptical from my past experiences and I also had an injury to my left knee. The first couple of days were so hard – I’m a stay-at-home mom, the kids are at home and want to snack all day. I would do the same. I was an emotional eater – if I was depressed, or anxious, I would immediately go to that.”
However, while scrolling through social media, she came across an advert for Simple speaking about the benefits of intermittent fasting. So she gave it a go, as she says: “With the app it made everything so simple. I check in in the morning, there’s reminders all the time, I can find out when my next fast is, when I should be eating, you get tips on a daily basis, different things that you can swap out.
“One of my absolute favourite parts of the app is they have an integrated AI software where you can just ask questions. If you go to a restaurant, it takes out all your guessing work.”
Jennifer credits the app with losing the 2.8 stone weight – which helped her move out of the morbidly obese category. She said: “This app has been absolutely life changing for me. It just made everything so simple, I can actually do things I love to do…like a long walk with my kid.” And Simple is now offering a unique discount code for shoppers – cutting the price from £29.99 to £17.99 a month.
Pasting in REACH60 at the checkout will give you the 60% saving on the 28-day tailored exercise plan, and includes tracking tools and individually curated suggestions on intermittent fasting and healthy eating suggestions.
The app has its own AI coach called Avo which curates recipe ideas for users, a tool another user Chris put down to his huge 20kg weight loss. As he said he ‘loved the recipes’, while these aren’t delivery boxes like Gousto or Hello Fresh it includes exact quantities for users to make fresh meals at home.
Matt was another user who lost a significant amount of weight using Simple, which he said has been ‘a game-changer’ in his life. Now 25.8kg (57lbs) lighter he said the app ‘helped him become consistent’ with lifestyle changes.
Couple Sherill and Mark, who have been married for 40 years, tackled their weight loss hand-in-hand and together lost 53kg (117lbs) each. While Shaubhik lost just over 15kg.
The app has a 4.7-star average rating on Trustpilot, and a 58% five-star rating, including rave review from users who say it’s one of the ‘best fasting apps’ they’ve tried. As one shopper said: “I’ve tried multiple fasting apps, but this one truly stands out.
“Since using this app, I’ve noticed better energy levels, improved focus, and even weight loss. The educational content is also a great bonus, helping me understand the science behind fasting.”
While another person called it the ‘best decision they ever made’ as they said: ” I finally have healthy relationship with food, I’ve lost 15 pounds in my first mount using simple app ,and it was surprisingly easy!”
Another user said that they ‘loved the coach tracker’ however they did find the app hard to use: “I like the coach feature in this and the food logging by scanning or speaking but I find it confusing on how to use it. I feel it would be better to just have a calendar day click on that and have that all there.”
A fourth shopper called it ‘the best app’ as they said: “So helpful, easy to be ablen to scan meals to show ingredients. I have never stuck to anything so long before, has now become a way of life.”
Real simple users are featured who have been compensated for their honest testimonials. Results may vary. You can read The Mirror’s review of the Simple app here.
There are a few other apps out there, including Hevy, which lets you track workouts – it’s free with in-app purchases. For food tracking, the basic version of MyFitnessPal is also free, though has features locked behind a paywall.
However, if you want to use the AI assistant Avo plus other features, you can try Simple here, with 60% off when you use code REACH60.
