In the mobile age, we have heard a lot about shopping apps, photo sharing apps or food apps. We have also covered dating apps extensively on Vulcan Post. What we don’t often hear about is a habits coaching app.
Fulfilled, a Singapore based company, has recently launched its app to the public: it claims to the first service that is 100% committed to habits coaching, combining the convenience of a mobile app with the guidance that only a dedicated personal coach can provide.
With the Fulfilled app, users can sign up with Fulfilled habits coaching program and have a dedicated coach help you form your diet habits. To date, Fulfilled has over 50 paying customers whom are using Fulfilled to help them achieve their habits. The team believe that when it comes to getting and staying in shape, diet is not the most important thing, but guidance and support is.
As a Fulfilled user, once you sign up with the app, a dedicated coach will be assigned to you and stick with you for as long as you achieve your habits and goals you set out to achieve. Results can come as fast as a couple of weeks. Creator of Fulfilled Yong Zhen Hoe told Vulcan Post that they have had users who lost 20 pounds in a couple of months.
“You can literally see their faces become radiant.”
Although there are some users who are more results driven, the Fulfilled team make sure that they focus more on health and sustainability rather than drastic results. For example, one can go on a ketosis (zero carbs) or lemonade (only lemonade) diet for these 2 weeks and lose a lot of (water) weight. However, Fulfilled’s coach does not recommend that route because for the majority of people, the weight bounces right back after and makes it harder to lose it afterwards. Random extreme diets can also harm your physiology.
Been there, done that
So why did Yong started Fulfilled with his cofounder Dionis Chiua? Yong shared that he has had many friends who were just flat out unhappy about the way they were looking and feeling. What the friends did to resolve that was jump from diet to diet or workout to workout. The end results are rather typical – they would either not see results, or rebound shortly after they could not keep up with the diet.
In the end, they ended up blaming their own self-control and believing that it was pointless and impossible.
Yong realised was needed was a proper structure his friends could rely on. He shared his idea with Dionis, whom eventually came onboard to help get Fulfilled started.
Having been through the process themselves, both Yong and Dionis agreed that the number one thing stopping their progress was actually due to the fact that they have a lot of misconceptions about how getting in shape should be like. Secondly, most of them did not have the right social support or people to hold them accountable. Thirdly, they were overtly affected by most of the marketing around them, with everyone pimping their own version of fitness as opposed to helping people understand nutritional basics.
“That was why we were motivated to start Fulfilled- to help users cut through all the noise and hype, guiding them towards understanding both their own bodies and give them a pillar of support as they embark on this journey,” Yong told Vulcan Post.
Google Ventures Kevin Rose thinks Social Coaching is going to be huge
Is the idea worth pursuing? Both Yong and Dionis is betting big on it, especially when everything is increasingly moving to mobile and people are willing to spend money on health. Of course, if you don’t want to take their words for it, you can take Google Ventures’ Kevin Rose’s words.
Google Ventures is the venture capital investment arm of Google Inc. that makes financially driven investments in technology companies. As a partner at Google Ventures, Kevin Rose keeps a lookout for investment opportunities in the next big thing. Prior to joining Google Ventures, Kevin Rose was the cofounder at news aggregator Digg.
Kevin recently tweeted that expert nutrition coaching made affordable is a space that is going to be huge:
So if you are looking to kick off the new year with a habit, do check out Fulfilled, and the team promises to stick with you until you achieve your goals.
Also read: FlashWants is an app to broadcast your wants; might just be your next addiction