Weight loss: it’s a thought that crosses our minds, but the prospect of actually doing something about it can seem as daunting as scaling Mount Everest. We live in a world packed with the most tempting snacks, ranging from a hefty, juicy burger delivered straight to the front door to oversized packets of greasy crisps beckoning us from supermarket shelves. All of which means making healthy choices can be a real challenge.
However, take it from someone who recently shed 23lbs in just 11 weeks: it’s better to tackle it sooner rather than later. That’s where Simple, the weight loss app currently offering a 60 per cent discount with the code SIMPLEDEAL, comes into play.
This year saw me evicted from my dilapidated flat, moving back into my parents’ house, starting a new job, and purchasing my own home all within a few months. Coupled with this was the existential dread of turning 30, which only fuelled my comfort eating habits – so by the time August rolled around, I found myself 10kg (or 22lbs in old money) overweight. At 6ft 1, weighing 115kg is considered overweight, even if you have some muscle mass from regular gym sessions.
My T-shirts were straining at the belly, my jeans were so tight I feared for their structural integrity every time I sat down, and my cat had to exert a Herculean effort to perch on my stomach in bed at night. It was clear that things needed to change, so I finally enlisted the help of a personal trainer at my gym and embarked on a diet plan and workout schedule.
Laci Gilbert lost six stone with Simple
Laci Gilbert signed up for the Simple app in 2023 when she weighed 275lbs. She lost just over six stone – a total of 86lb.
“[I] no longer look or feel like the same person I was a little over a year ago. I am a completely different person inside and out. My health has improved, my physical appearance has improved, my self esteem has improved. My entire life has improved. There is not one negative thing I can say about this journey, so far I’ve lost 116lbs, I’d like to lose 15-20 more.”
Sharing her experience, she continued: “The most important thing that has happened on this journey, I have beaten the odds of generational obesity-related illnesses.”
It appears that seeking professional assistance does indeed yield results, as I managed to lose 23lbs (just over 10kg) in a span of 11 weeks – and the journey continues. This experience places me in a unique position to evaluate Simple fairly, having used its human equivalent for comparison.
Simple, typically priced at £29.99 but currently available for £17.99 or 60p-a-day, is an AI coaching app that leverages the power of their artificial intelligence, Avo, to assist with both diet and fitness, reports the Mirror. The app lives up to its name in terms of simplicity – you take a brief 10-minute quiz after downloading it, and it then provides suggestions for lifestyle modifications.
The app can also function as a food diary and offers daily workouts for those who need them. But does it deliver? I decided to test the app thoroughly to see if it could match the motivation provided by a human coach.
Intermittent fasting
Fasting isn’t suitable for everyone – if you have an eating disorder or underlying health conditions, please seek medical advice rather than relying on this method. However, in my view, for those of us who require a bit of help, it truly can be a magic solution.
Our bodies weren’t designed for continuous feasting for hours on end, and there are benefits beyond just weight loss. Following the guidance of my personal trainer, I adhere to a 16:8 fasting schedule. My fast breaks at 10.30am and resumes at 6.30pm.
This routine fits perfectly with my work schedule as I find it challenging to write without food and I always hit the gym before starting work. While it may sound daunting, fasting actually provides a significant energy boost in the morning that lasts until mid-afternoon when I have my main meal.
The Simple journey begins with a quiz that takes into account your lifestyle – your activity level, goals, and timeline for achieving them. Once you’re using the app, it asks for your preferred fasting schedule: 14 hours of fasting and 10 hours of eating; an equal split of 12 hours each; or the 16:8 schedule recommended by my personal trainer.
This recommendation from the AI coach immediately instilled confidence in me as it suggested the 16:8 ratio as the optimal one, while also providing alternatives for those who prefer a gradual approach. Discipline is a skill anyone can acquire, but to avoid burnout, you might want to take things slow.
It’s similar to entering a cold swimming pool: you can either dip in one toe at a time or dive right in.
Fasting is one of the daily tasks on your homepage, making it easy to remember, and the app sends notifications of when to start and stop. The Explore tab offers a wealth of articles on the effects of intermittent fasting and tips for managing it until you’re in the swing of things – at which point, if my experience is anything to go by, you’ll barely notice it.
However, the experience could be enhanced if they cited their sources – science speaks loudest. With this being one of the main focuses of the app, I believe it accomplishes the task almost flawlessly. It shows you what to do, provides advice, and supports you throughout.
But the best part of the app is yet to come….
Food Tracking and Avo
I often find myself rolling my eyes at certain AI ‘enhancements,’ especially since many of them actually make things worse. But Avo genuinely shines in this app due to its simplicity.
Food tracking can be a chore – I use MyFitnessPal and the constant logging feels like homework after a few weeks. This is exacerbated by my struggle to focus on any task I find remotely dull.
However, Simple has streamlined the process by allowing you to take a photo of your meal to log it automatically. For breakfast, I tucked into a bowl of strawberries (80g) and a pot of Fage 5% Greek yoghurt (160g).
The app accurately identified the strawberries but mistook the yoghurt for cream. However, making corrections was straightforward on the next screen, and it even provided a nutrition score to help improve future meals (I scored ‘Good’, just one level below ‘Optimal’).
The app was spot-on in recognising that I was having a protein shake and correctly estimated the amount of liquid, all from a single photo of my full shaker – quite impressive indeed. But Avo has more features to offer, including a ‘meal enhancement’ function.
For lunch, I laid out my ingredients – duck breast, kale, halloumi, cucumber, and courgette – and asked Avo to ‘enhance’ the meal. After a brief 30-second ponder, the app came up with a seven-step recipe using the displayed ingredients.
It used the full sizes rather than my actual portions, so for more accuracy, I’d suggest following the instructions without the size measurements it includes. Nonetheless, its ability to recognise everything was remarkable and could be a real game-changer for those who find meal planning challenging.
If you’re not satisfied with your meal’s nutritional content, the app can also recommend groceries for your next shop and explain each item’s health benefits. With a bit of time and effort, you could create your own meal plan using this feature.
The app’s functionality is akin to that of a personal trainer, albeit with some differences. Personal trainers can adapt swiftly, taking into account moods and schedules, and they also have the advantage of knowing what food tastes like. However, for those whose nutritional knowledge begins and ends with ‘five a day’, the app serves as an excellent starting point.
For a food enthusiast like myself, Avo‘s ability to analyse a menu and select the best options is another standout feature. I tested it at American fast food restaurant Dirty Bones, a place where seeking a weight-loss friendly meal is akin to searching for copper in a goldmine – it’s simply not what the restaurant is known for.
With just one photo of the menu, the app filters the choices to present options most likely to align with your fitness goals, breaking it down by subheadings too. In the small plates section, it filtered out Mac N Cheese and suggested alternatives like Chicken Tenders and Popcorn Frickles.
Some common sense is required, as it selected the Mac Daddy Burger – which comes with the saturated fat-laden Mac N Cheese – among healthier burger options. But it certainly helps when faced with an overwhelming array of choices.
Is Simple worth it?
In a word, yes. The range of features offered by Simple are reminiscent of what you’d get with a personal trainer: someone to hold you accountable, provide meal plans and recipes, and offer advice and encouragement.
The app does have its limitations, being a robot, which makes it more suited to those who are just starting their fitness journey or don’t know where to begin. If you need more advanced help or your weight loss is stalling, that’s when you might want to consider hiring a personal trainer.
However, the food logging and recipe features alone make it worth the cost. Even though I plan on keeping my personal trainer into the New Year, Simple will add some variety to my routine. I can’t recommend this app enough.
If you’re looking for something different, I used Noom a few years ago and found it very user-friendly, although it doesn’t have all the extra features that Simple offers.