A women's health app to set goals and track your progress

How can a women's health app help you reach your goals?

Bemelio is a free app, a social network built around personal goals. In the women's health category, you can set a goal around your menstrual cycle, fertility and conception, PCOS or endometriosis, perimenopause or menopause. You pick a subcategory, the app suggests example goals, you give yours a title and you choose whether it is public or private.

The idea is simple: turn a vague intention, like wanting to understand your body better, into a clear goal you can come back to. You break it into steps, write down what you notice and watch your path take shape over the weeks.

Bemelio is not a medical device and it is not a form of care. It doesn't diagnose, treat or give medical advice. For any question about your health, a doctor, midwife or other health professional remains the right person to ask. Bemelio simply helps you stay organised and consistent with the goals you set for yourself.

• Five subcategories: cycle, fertility and conception, PCOS or endometriosis, perimenopause, menopause
• Public or private goals, your choice
• Steps you tick off as you go
• Updates in text, photo or video

How do you track your progress on a women's health goal?

Each goal can be broken into steps you tick off one by one. For a goal like keeping a symptom journal, your steps might be: choose a moment in the day, write a first entry, read back over the month. Small, concrete actions are easier to start than a big idea.

Updates are the heart of Bemelio. Whenever you move forward, you post an update in text, photo or video. Together, your updates tell the story of your goal from start to finish. On a private goal, they become a personal record you can look back on, for example to remember what you want to mention at your next appointment.

Depending on the subcategory, built-in tracking tools are available. The Streak tool, offered for menstrual cycle, PCOS or endometriosis and menopause goals, lets you tick each day you moved forward and watch your streak grow. Because these goals are sensitive, the app never suggests publishing your tracking data.

• Steps to turn a big goal into small actions
• Updates that tell your story over time
• A streak to see your regularity
• No prompt to publish on sensitive goals

Why move forward with others, and how much should you share?

Health goals can feel lonely. On Bemelio you can follow people, see their updates in your feed, react and comment. Circles bring together people heading in the same direction, which can make a topic like perimenopause feel a little less isolating. Private messaging lets you talk one to one when you'd rather not post.

You can also share a goal with one other person, who becomes its co-author. A partner preparing for conception with you, a sister, a close friend: you move forward together on the same goal, each adding your own updates.

You stay in control. Keep a goal private if it feels personal, or make it public if you'd like encouragement. If you want, an update can become a visual to share in a story, with a link to your Bemelio profile. That kind of sharing is something you choose to do yourself.

• Follow people and comment on their updates
• Join circles around the same direction
• Talk privately through messaging
• Invite one person as co-author of your goal

What method helps you stick with it?

Start small. Rather than aiming to fix your sleep in one go, pick one action you can repeat, like going to bed at the same time on weeknights. Break the goal into steps you can actually tick off this week, not this year. One goal at a time is often easier to hold than five.

Aim for regularity over intensity. A short daily note on how you feel can be easier to keep up than an occasional long entry. Choose a fixed moment for it, like after breakfast. If you miss a day, simply start again the next one. A broken streak is not a failure.

Measure what matters to you, in words rather than numbers on your body. Note your energy, your mood, the days symptoms showed up, the habits you kept. Every few weeks, read back through your updates and adjust your steps. If something worries you, bring it to a health professional.

• One goal at a time
• Steps small enough for this week
• A fixed moment each day for your note
• A regular look back at your updates
• Health questions go to a professional

Women's health goal ideas

Here are a few goals you can set in Bemelio, inspired by the examples the app suggests.

• Track my cycle to understand my body better
• Adapt my workouts to the phases of my cycle
• Identify my premenstrual symptoms
• Keep a symptom journal
• Keep track of my gynaecology appointments
• Log my hot flushes during menopause
• Improve the quality of my sleep
• Prepare calmly for perimenopause

Tools that support your women's health goals

Bemelio gives you a few simple tools to stay regular and see how far you've come.

Get started in 3 steps

1. 1

   Download the app

   Get Bemelio for free on the App Store or Google Play.

2. 2

   Create your goal

   Choose women's health, pick a subcategory, name your goal and decide whether it's public or private.

3. 3

   Post your first update

   Write a few words, or add a photo or video, about where you're starting from.