Here are some quick answers to common questions...
What is Figwee?
Figwee is the first visual weight loss solution. Figwee uses photographs of real food to provide a quick and easy way for people to judge portion sizes and control their calories. In addition to the photographic Food Diary, Figwee includes a photographic Activity Log to calculate calories burned, and a Results Log to track overall progress.
How much does it cost?
Figwee is free for everyone.
Who created Figwee?
Figwee was created by John and Jeff Gobel, two brothers who have struggled with weight issues throughout their adult lives. With help from their business
partner and friend since high school, Michael Schober, and assistance and support from family, neighbors, and friends, the brothers
worked countless hours building the food and activity database, shopping for and preparing foods, snapping photographs, scouting for activity photos, creating graphics,
and writing the software.
John, Jeff, and Mike are the principals in G2Web Incorporated the company under which Figwee was created.
Why was Figwee created?
John and Jeff had both lost weight previously using a text-based online food diary, but making the daily entries was tedious. When they subsequently stopped tracking their food intake, both gained weight again. They started brainstorming ways to make tracking portions and calories easier, and a few twists and turns later, Figwee was born.
Where did the name come from?
It's made up. John Gobel: "Jeff and I had a list of names we were trying out on people. What sealed it for 'Figwee' was, over lunch with our mother, Sheila, she said 'I don't know about the other names, but Figwee is terrible.' It was the only name on the list she had remembered."
How does Figwee work?
Users track what they eat in an online Food Diary. You search for what you ate visually: type a few letters, and Figwee returns photographs of matching foods. When you see what you ate, you click on it and it is added to the food diary. Click on the food photo in the diary, and a dialog is displayed that allows you to adjust the portion. Move a slider through a sequence of photos corresponding to measured portions, when you see what you ate, click OK. The calorie and nutrition information in the food diary is updated automatically; even the icon photo in the food diary itself is changed to reflect the chosen portion. Users work completely visually, and don't have to think about ounces, grams, cups, tablespoons, etc.
The Activity Log also uses photographs, where users draw from hundreds of daily activities and exercises that feature representative photos to make tracking daily caloric expenditure easier and more fun.
When did Figwee come into existence?
Figwee was officially available for everyone January 21, 2008, Martin Luther King Day day. This was after more than a year of intense development, and several weeks of beta test.
Where is Figwee located?
John, Jeff, G2Web, and the Figwee web servers, are all in Las Vegas, Nevada.
How many photographs do you have?
Figwee uses over 30,000 food photographs, with more being added constantly. It also has several hundred activity and results log photos.
The food photos were taken in a studio set up in John's garage. John: "We raided every aisle of several grocery and boutique food stores trying to cover the variety of foods people eat. We also hit most of the major fast food chains with ridiculously large and diverse orders. It is difficult to comprehend the amount of shopping, preparation, cooking, presentation, and clean up that went into this project; and it continues to this day."
How do you intend to make money?
Figwee's growth will ultimately be supported through advertisements, sponsorships and donations.