Lockdown aside, it’s been a good week so far.
I got my first jab, received some great news that I’ll share soon, and after 5 loooooonnnggg years, the Alfred subscription service was finally launched!
In my last blog, I wrote about what a challenge building Alfred has been, and why I believe he needs to exist, as I almost single handedly put my weight-loss down to having a greater self-awareness of my eating habits. Which I get from tracking what I eat.
But in this blog, I’ll explain how Alfred works and what he’s all about.
The Challenge
People may think Alfred is just a weight-loss app, and at first, so did I.
But it’s actually a ‘have more energy’ app, which from my experience is the best benefit that comes from sustainably losing some weight.
Based on the answers you give during sign up, Alfred will set you a personalised goal that will help you lose weight AND have all the energy you need to feel good and have a productive day.
Users daily challenge is to fill their fuel gauge up to their goal by tracking how much energy they eat.
Alfred is NOT about starving yourself or crash dieting to lose weight quickly, and I’ve made that painful mistake many times before.
Alfred’s about making small changes that you can stick to for life, as I could lose weight quickly, only to burn out and put it all back on again (and some).
New users are encouraged to just eat normally, but observe their eating patterns and food choices, before making any changes.
Sounds easy, but doing so is harder than it sounds, as our impatient streak can often get the better of us.
Tell us what you ate
If you’ve tried to track your food in the past, you know it can be a pain in the arse and something that only athletes and people trying to achieve extreme results (like body builders) do.
Searching food databases, figuring out portions, counting macros… it does sound a bit much.
But with Alfred, you just tell us what you ate and we do the rest.
Simply send a photo (or text) describing your meal to Alfred, he’ll then calculate how much energy was eaten, and return your results before your next meal.
We do all this manually with either myself or one of our Nutrition students from the University of Canberra, searching for the meal’s nutritional information and estimating portion sizes. Kind of like Accountants for your energy! lol
Alfred then remembers what you like to eat, to save you from repeatedly sending the same picture (or text) over and over again.
Basically he just gets easier to use the more you use him.
Please note: To respect your privacy, all meals sent to Alfred are anonymous.
Support
Making change is hard, but what’s made it easier for me is to do it with the support of mates. A friend once told me that "We all need a cheerleader from time to time", and thanks to me old mate Boof for being mine.
At the end of each day, Boof and I send our fuel gauges to each other as a way of keeping ourselves accountable, and it’s helped us to stay on track during lockdown.
Some days we do great, and others (for what ever reason) we don’t. But we’re both Dad’s, so making sure we have enough energy to be patient with our kids and good husbands, all while trying to do good work is vital for us.
And as the old saying goes:
“If you want to go fast… go alone. If you want to go far… go together.”
To share your fuel gauge with a friend, simply tap it to bring up your sharing options.
And if you don’t have anyone to send it too, share it with me (ben@alfredapp.com.au or via any Messaging app) as nothing gets me going more then seeing people trying to positive changes.
Price
An Alfred subscription will cost $4.99 per month (cancel anytime), and while Alfred has been free, we believe that a small monthly subscription is the best way forward, so we can keep making energy tracking easy, and do so without ads. I hate ads.
If your a current user and haven't made up your mind if you want to go paid, don't worry, as you'll receive a free 2-week trial when you subscribe. Also any new user will get a 2-week free trial when they sign up, to see if Alfred is right for them.
All that being said, we don't want money to be a barrier for anyone wanting to improve their health. So if you feel you can’t afford a subscription, please email me at ben@alfredapp.com.au and we’ll give you a free 6 month subscription, no questions asked.
Thanks for reading if you got this far, and if you’re an Alfred user… Happy Tracking!