Why I built Aumai

For about ten years, I haven't felt good in my body. 170cm, bouncing between 80 and 85kg. Not huge by any standard, but I saw someone in the mirror I didn't like. I didn't feel right. Small health issues here and there, chronic fatigue, heavy snoring and some sleep apnea, a bunch of normal little problems, the kind you ignore until you can't.

I never really did sports. A few runs, sure, but never stuck with anything for a full year. And food was my weak spot. I genuinely thought I was doing the right things, I thought I was eating well, I cook everything myself, rarely eat out, not much fat. Despite all that, everything I tried failed. I'd cut calories, lose nothing, get frustrated, give up. And start over. For years.

Quitting smoking taught me something: failing doesn't mean starting from zero. Before I finally quit, I failed a hundred times. A thousand times. Each failure brought me closer to succeeding. Weight loss is the same. I failed a thousand times. But I knew I'd get there. The more I failed, the closer I got.

What helped was calling my friend Lea and asking her to coach me for a few euros a month. She gave me calorie targets and protein goals to hit, and told me to log everything. I tried MyFitnessPal, I hated the experience. So I thought, let me build my own tool, just to log things faster.

At first it was purely practical. Lea wanted a weekly summary of my macros and my gym sessions, and no app made that simple. So I built my own: food logging first, then fitness, then everything in one place. I wanted to be able to share my progress easily.

I didn't think I'd need an AI coach. I'd already built AI coaches for other companies, I know the tech, and since everything was already there, Aumai's coach started coming to life. I gave it tools, food logging, then fitness, then water. And while building it, I was living the same cycles as always. The doubt. The giving up. The "I'll never make it".

Every time I hit rock bottom, I talked to my AI coach. Knowing full well it was an AI, not a human, and every time, those conversations helped. Not to replace Lea, she's still my real coach and keeps guiding me, but this thing kept me on track. It counted my calories, tracked my sessions, and when I messed up, it said: it's fine, tomorrow you start fresh. I just had a companion, 24/7, telling me everything would be okay.

People started noticing. Not necessarily "you've lost weight", but "you're gaining muscle", "you look different". I was less winded going up stairs. Less tired. I felt better. And seeing what this tool did for me, I thought: what if I gave it a name and let everyone use it?

So here it is: Aumai. Born from my frustration with losing weight, my motivation to improve my health, and my excitement watching my goals come true. The journey isn't over for me, I'm writing this drinking my whey shake, but I saw myself this morning and I liked the image better, and I slept great again. One log at a time, I feel better.

I hope you get there too.