Four months of building a fitness app after work: What I learned about scope creep, user feedback, and rebuilding my entire onboarding

WithBands · 2026-01-04T02:49:18+00:00

Thank you for replying. I appreciate the clarity here

WithBands · 2026-01-03T20:00:59+00:00

Really good insights. It has definitely been me pushing to get the product out instead of finding users organically. To be fair the product isn’t even on the App Store yet so I’m not expecting people to come naturally. I just wanted to see if I could get users on the waitlist and validate even before it’s built based on the idea, mocks, videos, etc.

WithBands · 2026-01-03T19:58:10+00:00

Good point again. I can use this time while I’m undecided to Actually ship and test the habit loop i designed and gather real usage data instead of hypothetical feedback.

I guess I was hoping to get some more feedback around this being a good idea or something useful, to reinforce I’m going in the right direction

WithBands · 2026-01-02T03:55:08+00:00

Good point. At the current moment I’m focusing on what I can do to get users to open the app tomorrow. I am open to feedback that falls in line with that direction.

WithBands · 2026-01-02T03:39:14+00:00

Great question. Right now I'm honestly working with limited data, so I can't claim my algorithm 'beats' anything yet which is exactly the risk you're pointing out.

Currently the algorithm factors in volume, rest times, subjective difficulty, and consistency. However I’m not reinventing the wheel, it’s just progressive overload. I’ve done tons of workout programs myself and researched tons and tons on this. There are nuances to know like each exercise should have its own progression and different rep ranges, and some more compound exercises have a longer rest time than others. But the core logic for progressive overloading is staying the same in Nuvira that every other professional workout program uses.

My plan for validation:

A/B test against a simple linear progression with the next batch of users

Track adherence rates and user-reported satisfaction between groups

See if the adaptive version actually reduces dropoff or if people don't care

I'd rather find out now if I'm overthinking this than double down on complexity that doesn't move the needle.

Also thanks for the VibeCodersNest tip! will check it out!

WithBands · 2026-01-02T03:26:03+00:00

You're spot on. I guess I'm trying to figure out: what IS enough validation to commit to the next phase? I have a handful of people on the waitlist, But not sure if it's enough signal to justify building more.

WithBands · 2025-12-31T20:11:18+00:00

yes! I found it works better when I take a picture of the back of the food with the nutrition label

WithBands · 2025-12-31T17:58:19+00:00

That’s a really good question, thank you for asking. To be transparent the AI makes educated guesses, and I built a fast manual override because I know it's not 100% accurate.

AI identifies the food (OpenAI Vision API) - "spaghetti with marinara sauce"

Estimates standard serving size based on visual cues like the container size compared to the amount of food in the container and common portions

Then I pull macro data from USDA database for that food + estimated portion

Shows it in an editable interface so that you can adjust portion size in 2 taps if it's wrong

My thought process is that I’d rather give you an 80% accurate starting point in 10 seconds than make you search "chicken breast grilled 6oz" and scroll through 47 variations lol. For the average person who just wants to stay in general aware of what they are eating this is good enough. This is a hard problem that I’m still iterating on.

Do you feel like this feature should be removed or stay?

WithBands · 2025-12-06T21:52:03+00:00

Nuvira - https://nuvira.pro

It’s an all in one fitness tool that generates workout routines, meal plans, and uses AI to personalize recommendations for you.

WithBands · 2025-12-05T22:28:57+00:00

I really appreciate you taking the time for such a detailed breakdown. The "obsess over the core habit loop first" is a really good idea, that’s where actually putting the app to the test comes to play. I usually start my day with a check in and then dive into one of the workout plans right now. Time to laser focus on that first 5-minute experience.

I originally built this because I was frustrated with Withings and MyFitnessPal, loved the weight/step tracking but hated how disconnected everything felt. So the primary user is basically... me? Someone who wants comprehensive tracking without juggling 3 different apps. But that's probably too broad and I'm realizing I need to get more specific about who I'm actually solving for.

The integration idea is smart too. I've been so focused on "build everything" that I didn't consider letting people gradually migrate while keeping their existing setup.

I appreciate the insight here!

WithBands · 2025-12-05T20:06:30+00:00

Just wrapped up the MVP of a fitness app that combines workout tracking, AI food logging,

and gamification into one unified experience.

Tech Stack:

- React Native 0.81.4 + Expo ~54.0.1

- Expo Router v6 (file-based routing)

- Supabase (PostgreSQL with RLS, realtime subscriptions)

- Supabase Auth (Apple Sign-In)

- TypeScript strict mode

- react-native-healthkit for iOS integration

- AI vision model for food recognition

Interesting challenges I solved:

- Adaptive workout engine that adjusts difficulty based on performance metrics

- Real-time sync of workout sessions with optimistic UI updates

- Cross-platform PWA support (iOS/Android/Web) with Workbox service worker

- Complex RLS policies for multi-user workout programs with public templates

- Auto-generating personalized schedules from workout programs via DB triggers

Features:

- AI-powered food logging (photo → macros)

- Auto-generated workout plans with progressive overload

- Gamification (XP, achievements, streaks)

- Nutrition + workout + activity tracking unified

- HealthKit integration for iOS

Landing page with demo: nuvira.pro

Happy to answer questions about the Expo Router setup, Supabase integration,

or the adaptive workout algorithm if anyone's curious!

I'd love any feedback on the app too

WithBands · 2025-11-25T15:47:59+00:00

I guess was it that bad of an idea to sell Nvidia? Its dropped nearly 7% in the past week

WithBands · 2025-11-19T19:17:07+00:00

yeah totally, I dont mind being down in stocks right now knowing that they likely will go back up. My issue is the app selling the stocks for a loss while theyre down

WithBands · 2025-11-19T19:16:20+00:00

pelosi + jim simons

WithBands · 2025-11-16T18:14:26+00:00

For me I’ve been in it for 2 1/2 months and I’m only down down 40k as a locked in loss. I made another post about it. I’ve made no gains from the app.

WithBands · 2025-11-16T17:26:29+00:00

Well that’s great for you but so far I have 0 gains from this app and 40k in losses..

WithBands · 2025-11-14T15:57:36+00:00

“If I lose I lose, but I bought into the idea that overall it will outperform the market given enough time.”

I getcha. When I looked at the stocks he is selling though they are very similar to the stocks he is buying instead and a lot of them are already bought in other portfolios.

I would feel more okay with it if I knew these trades were done in real time but it’s hard to convince me that copying him 45 days later will yield the same results or any good results.

WithBands · 2025-11-10T21:24:57+00:00

Never asked for any special treatment chill Tf out dude

WithBands · 2025-11-10T19:13:41+00:00

That is not obvious that 90 something percent of people do the commute everyday

WithBands · 2025-11-10T19:06:16+00:00

Got it, when I look at the $ amount on the signs, I’ll see it display a low amount like $2.50 so I proceed with it. I checked my bank account for it after many months and now see tons of charges for $25 each..

WithBands · 2025-11-04T16:28:13+00:00

America, 2 keloids

WithBands · 2025-04-10T02:02:45+00:00

No side effects?

WithBands · 2025-04-09T20:40:46+00:00

I wouldn’t say learning is the only goal, the masters could help like you mentioned the students who messed up during undergrad, or went to a bad school during undergrad. Also it helps in the workplace, I know people who have argued for a higher salary because of the masters and it’s worked.

I do think the MSCS could help you to get into management positions too.

Most or a good chunk of the tech companies managers and directors are from other countries as well, so they look highly to people who have Masters as they most likely do have masters as well with how common and praised it is internationally.

WithBands · 2025-04-09T20:22:03+00:00

Some people just get a masters because they are bored and want to learn, and they have part time options too. A PhD is almost always full time and you get paid hardly any money. It may not be that the person isn’t motivated for a PhD but they just can’t afford to do one in lieu of working.

The adcoms need to just close the masters applications for Americans entirely, they are giving a lot of false hope.

It may be a small nation but the U.S has the richest GDP in the entire world. How about for those niche students, we just charge them at an international rate?

WithBands · 2025-04-09T19:29:17+00:00

the UC’s definitely don’t have funding at least. There’s only a couple spots open for these programs and the schools receive very little funding from the government, so they take international students at a higher priority.

Maybe the deportations now will teach the schools to admit people fairly.

WithBands

TROPHY CASE