A mother of seven from Kent has lost 13lbs and dropped up to two dress sizes in six months by making small changes to her daily routine, without giving up her favourite foods. Laurien Perkins says the Simple weight loss app helped her become more aware of her eating habits, drink more water, and find time for exercise around family life, baking, and house renovations.
How the app works
Instead of following a restrictive diet, Laurien used Simple to log her meals, snacks, drinks, and intermittent fasting schedule. Users complete a questionnaire, and the app builds a personalised plan with tools such as meal logging by text, voice, or photo, an intermittent fasting tracker, a NutriScanner to explain nutritional content, and exercise routines including yoga, pilates, HIIT, walking, and Tai Chi.
Laurien said: "I wanted a manageable way to get back on track after I had a baby and I wanted it to be seamless to my everyday life - that is what it's become. Being a busy mum, I think it's difficult to sit down and find time for yourself to eat, so I just would snack throughout the day."
Results after six months
She added: "I didn't have to give anything up. I have found that eating throughout my fasting window has just been great for me and I've not changed what I eat. But I do find that it changes you in a really good way - it makes you eat better without even realising."
After six months, Laurien said the results were clear. "I have lost 13lbs, which to me is just amazing. It wasn't necessarily something I had to do, but it was something that I really wanted to do for myself and it's just helped me in so many ways. My clothing has dropped between one to two sizes, and it's without even having to put any effort in. Everything just fits so much nicer - that's just that nice feeling of actually fitting your clothes, not your clothes fitting you."
AI coach and extra exercise
Laurien uses the app daily to track food and water intake, while its AI coach, Avo, suggests recipes and meal ideas. She said: "I think Avo's amazing, it's so helpful - with recipes and things. It'll give you some different ideas of meals and I find that really helpful."
She has also added more walking and gentler workouts, including wall Pilates and chair yoga. "I would say most of my workouts or exercise are walking based, but it helps me to get up and out to finish my steps for the day. Me and my family love to be outdoors, so it's helpful for that because if I see that I haven't reached my steps for the day, then I will to say to the children, 'Should we get up and go for a walk?'"
Energy and sleep improvements
Beyond weight loss, Laurien reported better energy and sleep. "I will find my energy levels are so much better than before. I just don't feel bogged down, I always feel just energetic and ready. I sleep a lot better, too," she said.
Reflecting on her journey, she added: "It's helped me have a nicer relationship with food and a healthier relationship with food. It's helped my children with that, too. It's given me more energy, it's made me realise that dieting doesn't need to be strict, it can be flexible and it can just fit into your life, not your life fit into it."
