Snatching body fat scales and making AI a "buddy", the first batch of netizens rushed to A-Fu for weight loss

What does it mean to lose 100 million catties of weight?

Let's do a simple "calorie calculation". According to the medically recommended safe weight - loss rate (1 - 2 catties per week), if a person works alone, it would take more than 1 million years to lose all the weight.

However, if we distribute this goal among the entire population of the country and add the support of a professional health AI to "guide the weight - loss", this almost impossible goal becomes achievable.

Against the backdrop of the "Weight Management Year" initiative jointly launched by 16 departments including the National Health Commission, on June 25th, the AI health application "Afu" announced the official launch of the "Scientifically Lose 100 Million Catties" health campaign, which includes three core actions: a body fat scale that can be obtained for just one cent, an upgrade of Afu's AI interpretation function to customize diet and exercise plans for users, and an upcoming weight - loss challenge.

If we calculate based on Afu's current user base of 100 million, each person only needs to lose 1 catty on average to achieve the small goal of "100 million catties".

Weight - loss used to be a solitary struggle: people felt pain spending money on courses, practiced blindly without guidance, and gave up after just two weeks. But now, Afu brings tools and companionship to every ordinary person, and directly says, "You're not alone; netizens across the country are charging forward together." The enthusiasm of netizens to participate has been continuously ignited by fellow travelers across the internet.

The first batch of netizens flocked to Afu for weight - loss and quickly snapped up the body fat scales. Data from the Ant Afu flagship store shows that within 8 hours of the launch of this AI body fat scale, the number of claims exceeded 100,000 units. Behind the rapidly increasing numbers, more and more netizens are participating in scientific weight - loss with low barriers.

Ordinary people don't have to be anxious about weight - loss anymore

What ordinary people lack on their weight - loss journey is not determination, but scientific methods and suitable tools.

Let's first talk about the misunderstandings in weight - loss. Many people only focus on "eating less or not eating at all" and rely on strict fasting to quickly lose weight. In fact, true scientific weight - loss emphasizes "not not eating, but eating right". It takes into account the calorie deficit, protein, dietary fiber, and basal metabolism, and combines with reasonable exercise to lose fat and build muscle. Blindly following fragmented weight - loss strategies can easily lead to a dead end of harming the body through dieting and regaining weight.

Now let's talk about tools. Fitness apps charge monthly fees, slimming injections cost at least a few hundred yuan per month, and professional personal trainers charge by the hour. These configurations, which have long been available to the middle class in first - and second - tier cities, are actually difficult for most ordinary people to afford in the long run.

Afu's approach this time is straightforward and precisely targets these two pain points. In terms of tools, Afu has joined hands with its "hardware circle of friends" and reduced the price of the body fat scale through subsidies. The body fat scale, which originally had a market price of 99 yuan, can now be purchased for just one cent plus a 9.9 - yuan express delivery fee. This not only prevents opportunistic users but also gets the body fat scale into the hands of those who really need to lose weight. The reason is simple: only when ordinary people have access to real and comprehensive body data such as body fat percentage and muscle percentage and know where their problems lie can their weight - loss be considered "scientific".

At the same time, Afu has also upgraded its AI function and become an "AI weight - loss partner". After binding the body fat scale to the Afu App, users can not only view 18 health indicators such as weight, body fat percentage, visceral fat, and muscle mass in the "My Health" function on the home page but also receive personalized data analysis, diet, and exercise suggestions based on their own data, including how to match each meal, how long to exercise each day, and what types of exercise to do.

In the past, after users purchased a body fat scale, the monitoring and professional interpretation were relatively separate, resulting in the long - term idleness of the device data, and the scale gradually became a useless item. In this event, Afu directly puts an "AI weight - loss partner available 24/7" in the user's mobile phone, forming a service closed - loop of "health record - analysis and interpretation - health action".

This method is like transforming the middle - class weight - loss configuration of "body fat scale + professional weight - loss coach and nutritionist" from a luxury item into a daily necessity that everyone can afford through health AI and large - scale body fat scale supply.

A fitness enthusiast shared his real experience of using Afu for weight - loss. He is 177 cm tall and weighs 190 catties, with a BMI close to 30. Previously, he also tried to consult general AI models for weight - loss advice, and most of the answers pointed out that his BMI was too high, indicating obesity, and he needed to lose weight immediately. The netizen said, "Afu can capture the characteristic of my 'high muscle content' in my body, and the advice is more in line with my actual situation." Afu told him that a high BMI doesn't necessarily mean obesity; it's better to also consider waist circumference, body fat, and medical examination indicators. Instead of just focusing on losing weight, it's more important to lose fat while preserving muscle.

Of course, having tools alone is not enough. Regarding another big problem in weight - loss - "losing interest quickly", Ant Afu said that it will organize a health challenge to make it more interesting for users to stick to weight - loss through an incentive mechanism.

Although the specific rules of the challenge are still being solicited from the whole internet, turning serious weight management into a fun game for the whole nation to participate in and using the group atmosphere to eliminate boredom is itself a key step in lowering the threshold for weight - loss. In the Afu discussion area, many people are starting to suggest rewards for achieving the small goal of 100 million catties. "I suggest creating a school map so that I can see who in my class is holding us back", "How about automatically converting the weight - loss grams into Ant Forest energy", "If you lose one catty of meat, will you get half a catty of shrimp as a reward? Consider it", "Is it not difficult to apply for the Guinness World Record for this 100 - million - catty project?"

With affordable hardware, free AI guidance, and a national weight - loss PK, Afu may really be able to fill the service gap on the scientific weight - loss journey of ordinary people through the combination of these three elements.

By involving body fat scales, Afu has found the right way to use health AI

The popularity of Afu's "Scientifically Lose 100 Million Catties" activity has hit the real weight - loss needs of ordinary people. From an industry perspective, this is also a key step for medical and health - related AI products to move from low - frequency medical scenarios to high - frequency daily health management.

Since the independent Afu App was launched more than a year ago, the total number of users has exceeded 100 million. However, many users still regard it as an online medical AI tool, and the high - frequency usage scenarios are concentrated on passive medical needs such as AI disease consultation and appointment booking. In fact, as the entry point for Ant's in - depth exploration of the AI + health field, Ant hopes that Afu can achieve much more than this.

Zhang Junjie, the vice - president of Ant Group and the president of Ant Health Business Group, has repeatedly said that Afu is positioned as an "AI health friend", with the goal of users "turning to Afu for all health - related matters".

Actively managing weight is exactly a daily health necessity that can cover all age groups and has the potential to extend AI health services to scenarios such as daily meals and daily exercise. This can not only further enhance user stickiness but also explore a feasible path for medical and health - related AI to integrate into the daily lives of the general public.

At the end of 2024, a field survey conducted by the Catherine Tucker team from the MIT Sloan School of Management stated that generative AI "has real value in weight management". The survey was divided into a control group and an AI intervention group. The results showed that the subjects who used generative AI to obtain real - time and personalized diet suggestions had significantly greater decreases in weight and BMI compared to the control group that did not use AI. In addition, from the user profile, those with the most obvious weight - loss effects and the greatest benefits were often people with lower education levels and a lack of basic nutritional knowledge.

This is exactly in line with Afu's current user group. Data provided by Ant Afu shows that among the 100 million users, more than half are from third - tier cities, counties, and townships. These areas lack professional nutritionists and fitness coaches, and the general public has difficulty obtaining systematic and professional fat - loss knowledge and is easily misled by online "folk remedies".

From a professional medical perspective, although weight - loss surgeries and GLP - 1 weight - loss drugs can produce results more quickly, their high costs make it difficult to cover hundreds of millions of overweight people, and they all have certain side effects, which are not suitable for national promotion. In contrast, AI - based health weight - loss services can be replicated on a large scale and have a relatively higher cost - effectiveness in public health.

To some extent, what AI does is actually "effectively change health through low - cost intervention".

Of course, AI is not omnipotent. The research of the Catherine Tucker team also found that AI still has limitations in "building a sense of community and interpersonal support". After all, weight - loss is not only a physiological challenge but also a psychological battle. The automatically generated incentive messages are inevitably repetitive and stereotyped. If users experience frustration during the plateau period or a loss of motivation, AI may not be able to provide the understanding and support that can only be established between people.

However, the smart thing about Afu is that it tries to combine tools, knowledge, and atmosphere together through the combination of "rock - bottom - priced body fat scales + AI weight - loss guidance + national challenge", increasing the probability of making "national scientific weight - loss" a success.

The real value of Afu's "Scientifically Lose 100 Million Catties" activity may not be the number itself, but rather to provide every ordinary person with a "toolbox" for scientific weight management. This year is the final year of the "Weight Management Year" initiative, but the journey of national health management has just begun.

Afu is ready. How many catties are you going to lose?