Another step on my Indie Dev journey
Or, why I built a GLP-1 tracking app
Turns out that time moves on, and it’s time to start talking about my next foray into the app world. Introducing Within Reach - a GLP-1 tracking app designed to help people better understand their weight loss journey, and track their progress, medications, symptoms and patterns over time!
The public launch is currently planned for early 2026. It’s available on the App Store now - give it a look!
My own journey
I’ve been tracking my weight for over a decade now, and have experienced how beneficial carefully considered apps, built by Indie Developers can be on the journey — I’ve even had the pleasure of getting to know some of the creative people behind the apps that have helped me.
I’ve been able to lose significant weight in the past through exercise and calorie tracking — it really does work. But over the past few years, I’ve had nagging injuries pile up, and the primary form of exercise I used to rely on — cycling — was no longer possible due to a back injury. I’ve always been pretty active, and never shied away from exercise, but other forms just didn’t cut it, and fell away over time. I love hiking, but I’ve always been slow. I’ve never been able to run, and while I used to love swimming, doing laps has always been nearly impossible for me. Over time, the weight came back, like it does for many.
In late 2024, I learned something that finally added context. As a child, I had a surgery to correct a sunken chest, and as a result, my rib cage and sternum are effectively fixed in place. My chest doesn’t expand the way most people’s do during exercise, and it turns out that my lung capacity is significantly lower than average.
It turns out that this is why I’ve never been able to run or swim, and why even though I love the adventure of cycling and hiking, I’ve always gone at my own slow pace — I quite literally couldn’t breath. (I’ve convinced myself that it’s also why I don’t float, but sadly, the doc couldn’t confirm that. He did say that if I could find about a thousand others who’ve had the same surgery, though, that it could make for an interesting study, so you know… let me know!)
Modern medicine, and finally progress
I’ve been on a GLP-1 medication for about a year now, and it’s been genuinely life-changing. I’m pretty sure my current weight is lower than it was when I graduated from college. But it hasn’t been effortless, and that’s when I realized that having a partner and coach on the journey could really pay off.
Med management
Many GLP-1 meds are taken on an unusual schedule, and need to be refrigerated — they’re simply not top of mind. I can’t tell you how many times I realized a day or two late that I had missed a dose, and had to mentally reconstruct when the next one should happen.
Because these medications build up over time, staying reasonably consistent matters. I needed a reminder system that would work for me.
Within Reach includes a daily timeline to let me know each morning what’s ahead, as well as several layers of reminders to keep me on schedule with my meds. Since adding this to my life, I haven’t missed a dose 🤞.
Side effects
The side effects are real, and for some people, they can be nasty, especially as your dosage is ramped up over the first few months. For me, they’ve been pretty manageable, but there have been a few… rough weeks.
Over time, I learned that ignoring the signals that my body was sending — especially around food — tended to end poorly. Tracking the days that I feel a bit off, and remembering that the next day, have helped me avoid some… rough weeks.
Movement and activity
For me, it turns out that dropping the weight didn’t magically resolve my joint pain and nagging injuries — I’ve found that consistent movement has still been critical to keep things well oiled.
Each morning when I log my weight, I have the opportunity to plan my movement for the day. This intentionality and the reminders that go with it has gone a long way to making sure I do something almost every day.
Progress tracking
Of course, tracking the progress on your weight loss journey is a big part of motivation, and is in many ways, the actual point. Within Reach makes it simple to capture your data every week, every day, or whatever you prefer. Or you can continue to use your smart scale, or whatever app you already love.
Cool - what else?
Health data is about as private as it gets, which is why we only store data on your device in HealthKit, and in your personal iCloud - it never touches our servers.
And of course, it has to be a good platform citizen, right? Of course it does! Because of this, I’ve included some beautiful Widgets to keep your data top of mind, and deep Shortcut support. This means you can access your data however you want!
Great! So now what?
As I mentioned, Within Reach is currently hosting a limited beta! Release is currently scheduled for early 2026, and pre-orders will be opened as soon as I figure out how to do that 🤪.
UPDATE: Within Reach is now available on the App Store!
At launch, the app is completely free for early supporters! I have a lot of things I’d love to add to the app, but I want to hear from you. Are you on a similar journey? Do you want to start on a similar journey, but are having trouble navigating insurance requirements? What have been the things you’ve most needed help with? Let me know, and I’ll see you along the way!