What began as late nights and early mornings in dorm rooms and one-bedroom apartments over the span of two years ultimately turned University of New Hampshire (UNH) senior computer science major Ryan Lefebvre’s dream into reality. Lefebvre created LogSmarter™, an artificial intelligence (AI) nutrition coach app that uses machine learning to help people reach and sustain their health goals. 

The idea for LogSmarter™ was formed in December 2019 when Lefebvre was recovering from a back injury caused by lifting.  

“Due to the injury, I was unable to train effectively for five months and lost nearly 30 lbs, including a significant amount of muscle,” said Lefebvre. “The injury was caused by poor training methodologies that led to overtraining and due to a lack of proper nutrition, my loss in muscle over that time period was exacerbated. I wanted to gain my muscle back as fast as possible and decided to take an evidence-based approach with my nutrition and training. I began curating my sources of health and fitness information based on credibility rather than popularity. Slowly but surely, I implemented evidence-based practices and progressed faster than ever before.”  

Lefebvre was tracking his training and nutrition data but struggled to find a program that met all his needs. Through his experience he came up with the idea for LogSmarter™ and began development at the end of his sophomore year.  

An “alpha version” of LogSmarter™ has been live since August 2019 and is actively being used by over 1700 customers globally.  

After downloading the app, the user inputs their demographic information and what goal they are working towards – gaining muscle or losing fat. After that, the app’s proprietary machine learning algorithm will generate a goal calorie intake that fits specific individual needs. As the user progresses towards their goal, their metabolism will change. Based on daily records of the user’s calorie intake and body weight, LogSmarter™’s algorithm will update the user’s goal calorie intake appropriately to make sure they are optimizing their nutrition. The algorithm also provides feedback to make sure the user is following the latest evidence-based nutrition recommendations.  

LogSmarter™’s mission is to simplify getting fit by optimizing people’s nutrition and allowing them to reach their goals while saving time, effort and money. 

“LogSmarter™ is superior to existing solutions because it provides our customers with both simplicity and autonomy, powered by innovative research-backed tracking methodologies and customized recommendations utilizing machine learning techniques,” said Lefebvre. “Our intuitive user interface creates personalized tracking systems for our customers with valuable insights on their data within seconds.” 

Lefebvre started this project on his own but realized he could not keep up with doing all the work on his own. He now has a team of four other people working alongside him to help in the expansion of the company.  

LogSmarter™ is available on iOS and as a web app. It can be found on the website’s homepage where there are also links to the company’s socials and apps. LogSmarter™ offers a 21-day free trial to customers and after the trial period expires it is $8.99/month. The team is in the developing stages of an Android app. 

Looking forward, Lefebvre and the LogSmarter™ team are working on a suite of web services and they plan to launch a SaaS product that would allow other companies to user their algorithm in their apps.  

“For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn towards technology and I am passionate about developing software that people want to use,” said Lefebvre.  

Photo courtesy of LogSmarter™.