Bakersfield Mom Credits an AI Coach App After a 195/130 Blood Pressure Scare

Cody Grammer’s blood pressure reading was 195/130 mmHg, and a doctor told her, “I’m very scared for you,” according to a Woman’s World feature published on Yahoo and AOL. The Bakersfield, California, mom says that moment started a change she managed largely from her phone.¹

She reports losing 100 pounds and bringing her blood pressure down to 120/80. Those figures come from her own account in that one article, which gives a smaller number, 80 pounds, in a photo caption. The feature also doesn’t say whether medication or follow-up care with her doctors played a part.¹

A reading of 195/130 is very high and needs medical care, so this isn’t a story about an app treating high blood pressure. It is a story about one person finding daily habits she could afford and keep.

How the app fit into her routine

An ER doctor recommended Simple: AI Weight Loss Coach, a phone app with an AI coach named Avo.¹ Cost mattered. “There was no way I could afford stuff like a trainer or a nutritionist,” she said in the feature.¹

She photographed her meals so the app could estimate calories and macronutrients (the protein, carbohydrates and fat in food). She also tried intermittent fasting, eating only between 10 AM and 4 PM. “Tracking my food was a big eye-opener,” she said.¹

Avo answered her meal questions, suggested tweaks with less saturated fat and salt, taught her to meditate and drink water when cravings hit, and guided her through wall Pilates. A second character, a companion called Blinky, sent motivational reminders.¹

Pizza and burgers gave way to Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, tuna, salmon and ground turkey. She says she lost 10 pounds in the first two weeks.¹

A note on “free”

The feature’s headline calls the tool free, but the article itself says Simple has a limited free version alongside a paid premium subscription.¹ Simple’s website says the free version includes real-time answers from Coach Avo, Nutrition Scores and habit trackers, while premium adds daily personalized check-ins and an educational library.³

A third-party pricing guide says Blinky and the workout plans are premium-only, and that the free tier allows about two Avo replies and one photo scan a day.⁵ Since Grammer used Blinky and the Pilates workouts, she may have been on a paid plan. The Yahoo page also links to the app through a shopping link.¹

Simple says its roughly 800,000 subscribers have lost more than 18.1 million pounds, a figure that comes from the company itself.⁴

Habits readers can borrow

• Track what you eat. For Grammer, simply logging meals revealed more than she expected.¹
• Choose a plan you’ll actually stick with. “The variable that really matters when it comes to changing your weight is adherence,” Emory Healthcare radiologist J. David Prologo, MD, said in the feature. He suggests AI-powered wearables such as Fitbit, Apple Watch, Oura, Stelo or Whoop for real-time feedback.¹
• Give AI specific requests. The article’s prompt ideas include a meal from six ingredients, a couch-to-5K plan, “good, better, best” meal options, and “ELI5” (explain like I’m five) answers. One asks for a Costco grocery list under $120 with 40 grams of fiber and 100 grams of protein, which is more precise than most shopping lists.¹
• Keep your doctor in the loop. Obesity medicine physician Kia Mitchell, MD, advises against relying on AI for supplement advice, or for managing chronic conditions such as diabetes, without a doctor.¹

A separate observational study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine looked at a different AI-enabled app with game-like features. Users saw modestly larger blood pressure drops than similar people who didn’t use it, but the study did not show that such apps cure high blood pressure.⁶

For Grammer, the payoff is time with her kids, including boogie boarding in the ocean. “I’m over the moon about it!” she said.¹