How I Explain My Weird Health Website to Dates
Been dating a bit. Nothing serious. Coffee, drinks. Denver scene.
"What do you do?" Software engineer. "What are you working on?"
"Built a BMI calculator website. For myself. Got annoyed with other apps."
Reactions vary:
Date 1: "Oh, like Weight Watchers?" No. Nothing like that. Date 2: "Trying to lose weight?" Sort of. More complicated. Date 3: "That's... specific." Yes. Yes it is. Date 4 (liked this one): "So it's like a diary with data?" Exactly. You get it.
Used to be embarrassed. Felt like revealing too much. "I have body image issues and I code" in one sentence.
Now I own it. Yeah, built a website to track weight. Like data. Don't trust companies with health info. Software engineer. This is what I do for fun.
Someone thinks that's weird? Probably not compatible anyway.
Website became decent conversation starter. Tech folks ask about stack (static HTML, localStorage, GitHub Pages). Health folks ask about approach (weekly weigh-ins, trend focus, no calorie counting). Normal folks ask why not just use an app.
Answer: "Because I can build it better. And don't want another company knowing my weight."
Ends conversation or starts longer one. Either way, learn something.
— Alex
P.S. Date 4 asked for URL. Gave it to her. She texted her BMI next day. Getting coffee again this week.
P.P.S. If you're reading this, hi. Didn't expect you to actually read the blog.
— Alex
Software Engineer, Denver. Just sharing what works for me.