I let Gemini track my meals and workouts; it's a surprisingly brilliant health coach

Published Jul 20, 2026, 7:00 AM EDT Jade Bryan is a Feature Author at Android Police with over a decade of tech reviews and news reporting experience, stretching back to the Symbian era and the early days of Android. He covers the breadth of the mobile industry, specializing in operating system deep-dives, app testing, and hardware analysis. In his spare time, you can find him tinkering with his Android devices and wearables, seeking ways tech can improve daily life. He also enjoys playing MMORPGs, traveling, or feeding stray cats and dogs. I’ve been rocking the Google Fitbit Air for a few weeks now. So far, I have nothing but positive things to say about this screen-less tracker. While I have a few minor complaints, those gripes are almost entirely directed at the new Google Health app. The free tier is incredibly basic. I absolutely despise that I can’t easily customize my meal logging, and creating custom exercises feels completely wonky. I started hunting for a better wellness app alternative, but I quickly stumbled across a solution right under my nose: Gemini. I asked myself why not utilize Google’s chatbot as my own personal health and fitness coach? I’ve been putting it through its paces for a week now. And so far, it has been a genuinely useful coach for serving up insights, even if it isn’t quite as proactive as I’d like. I didn’t plan on keeping a food and exercise diary But Fitbit Air changed that for me Even though I’ve been tracking my health and fitness with a smartwatch for years, meal and workout logging never felt practical. That’s mainly because I’m far from a wellness fanatic. I don’t feel the need to count every single calorie I consume and burn in a given day. Still, I completely understand those who genuinely need to keep tabs on the small details of their health. But as a casual user, keeping a diary for everything feels time-consuming and arduous. It’s especially frustrating with apps that require me to guess the exact weight or portion size of my meals. I’ve always wanted these health apps to automate everything right out of the gate. While that sort of works for exercises, it’s not quite possible with food just yet. I still need to go through the motions of manually logging every meal I eat or the steps I take over a period of time. That all started to change when I picked up the Fitbit Air. Sure, it’s a screen-less tracker that’s supposed to make tracking simpler and completely distraction-free. Instead, I wound up obsessively logging everything and checking my stats on the app. It’s the complete opposite of what I originally had in mind before getting the Fitbit Air. However, as much as I wanted to get everything properly recorded, Google Health’s logging system was incredibly frustrating. Quiz 8 Questions · Test Your KnowledgeGemini and Android appsTrivia challenge Think you know how Google's AI assistant connects with your favorite Android apps? Put your knowledge to the test. GeminiAndroidAI FeaturesIntegrationGoogle Apps Begin What is the name of the feature that allows Gemini to take actions inside third-party Android apps on your behalf? AApp ActionsBGemini ExtensionsCGemini OverlaysDAssistant Routines Correct! Gemini Extensions allow the AI to reach into supported apps like Gmail, Google Maps, and YouTube to perform tasks and retrieve information. It's one of the most powerful aspects of Gemini's deep Android integration. Not quite. The correct answer is Gemini Extensions. Unlike the older App Actions system tied to Google Assistant, Extensions give Gemini the ability to interact with app content and take actions directly within supported applications. Continue Which of the following Android apps was NOT among the first wave of Google apps to receive a Gemini Extension at launch? AGmailBGoogle PhotosCGoogle CalendarDYouTube That's right! Google Calendar was not part of the initial Gemini Extensions rollout. Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Flights, and Google Hotels were among the first supported apps when Extensions launched. Actually, Google Calendar was the one left out of the first wave of Gemini Extensions. Gmail, Google Photos, and YouTube were all included at launch, making Calendar a notable absence for productivity users at the time. Continue On Android, Gemini can be set as the default assistant to replace which long-standing Google feature? AGoogle FeedBGoogle NowCGoogle AssistantDGoogle Lens Correct! Gemini is designed to replace Google Assistant as the default on-device AI assistant on Android. Users can switch between the two in settings, though Google has been gradually transitioning users toward Gemini as its primary assistant experience. The right answer is Google Assistant. Gemini is Google's next-generation AI assistant built to succeed Assistant on Android devices. Google has been migrating users away from the older Assistant toward Gemini across phones and tablets. Continue What is the name of the Gemini capability that lets it analyze content currently visible on your Android screen without you having to describe it? AScreen PeekBLive ViewCGemini LiveDGemini Overlay with screen context Correct! When you invoke Gemini on Android, it can use screen context to understand what's currently displayed — whether that's a webpage, a conversation, or an app — and respond intelligently without you needing to copy and paste anything. Not quite. The feature is called Gemini's screen context awareness, accessed through the Gemini Overlay. When summoned on Android, Gemini can read what's on screen and help you take action on it directly, which is a major upgrade over traditional assistant interactions. Continue Which subscription tier unlocks access to Gemini Advanced on Android, powered by Google's most capable AI model? AGoogle One PremiumBGoogle One AI PremiumCGoogle Workspace BusinessDPixel Pass Spot on! Google One AI Premium is the subscription plan that grants access to Gemini Advanced on Android and other platforms. It includes the more powerful Gemini Ultra model tier and bundles 2TB of Google One storage along with access across Google's apps. The correct answer is Google One AI Premium. This plan specifically unlocks Gemini Advanced, giving users access to Google's most capable Gemini model. It replaced earlier plans and bundles cloud storage with AI-enhanced features across Android and the web. Continue How can Gemini assist users within the Gmail Android app specifically? ABy automatically deleting spam before it reaches your inboxBBy summarizing email threads and helping draft repliesCBy sorting emails into folders using machine learning labelsDBy reading emails aloud using text-to-speech Correct! Through its Gmail Extension and built-in features, Gemini can summarize long email threads, surface key information, and help you draft or refine replies — all without leaving the Gmail app on Android. The right answer is summarizing email threads and helping draft replies. Gemini's integration with Gmail is focused on boosting productivity — it can digest long conversations and assist with composing responses, making it a genuine writing and reading companion inside the app. Continue Which Android feature allows Gemini to be triggered by holding down the power button or using a squeeze gesture on supported Pixel phones? AActive EdgeBQuick TapCHold for AssistantDNow Playing That's right! On Android, holding the home button or power button (depending on the device) triggers the default assistant — a gesture formerly known as 'Hold for Assistant' — which now launches Gemini on devices where it has been set as the default. The correct answer is Hold for Assistant. This long-standing Android gesture, which involves pressing and holding the home or power button, now launches Gemini on devices where it's been configured as the default assistant, replacing the Google Assistant that previously responded to this input. Continue What is 'Gemini Live,' introduced as part of the Gemini Android experience? AA feature that streams Gemini responses as live captions on any videoBA real-time conversational mode that allows natural back-and-forth voice conversation with GeminiCA live news briefing generated by Gemini each morningDA co-watching feature that lets two users share a Gemini session Correct! Gemini Live is a real-time voice conversation mode that makes interacting with Gemini feel much more like a natural dialogue. Users can interrupt, redirect, and converse fluidly rather than issuing one-off commands, marking a significant leap in AI assistant interactivity on Android. The right answer is the real-time conversational voice mode. Gemini Live allows for fluid, back-and-forth spoken conversations with the AI, letting users interrupt and redirect the discussion naturally. It was introduced to make Gemini feel far less like a command-response tool and more like an actual conversation partner. See My Score Challenge CompleteYour Score / 8 Thanks for playing! Try Again Google Health was a mess Gemini totally saved my tracking The food diary, in particular, was a total headache to navigate, especially without the benefits of the premium plan. When I search for food in the Health app, it presents a rich list of options. These mostly cover everything from popular food brands to chain restaurants and cafés. However, the database leans heavily toward Western diets, which is far from ideal for my personal eating habits and what’s available and accessible on my end. Alternatively, there’s an option for custom logging. But that requires a lot of guesswork regarding serving sizes, and I have to fill out the nutrition facts manually. For a casual user, that’s just not practical. Instead, I decided to turn to Gemini on my Google Pixel 9 Pro XL for most of my food and exercise logging, which, to my surprise, proved to be productive. This effectively eliminates the laborious data entry, plus it gives me a breakdown of essential macronutrients. For instance, I can enter an estimated portion of rice, meat, or the number of eggs or slices of bread I ate. I can even specify the cooking method. Gemini then generates a solid estimate of the total weight and a full nutritional breakdown, including protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Moreover, using its multimodal capabilities, I can snap a photo of my meal and tell it how much of the bowl I consumed. Even better, it can identify and name dishes that I’m not even familiar with. Subsequently, it gives me a nutritional breakdown that I use when creating a custom food log in the Health app. I feel it’s significantly more accurate and efficient than dragging out a scale to weigh what I eat. Gemini doubles as a solid health coach assistant But I still wish it was more proactive Beyond calculating the macros of my meals, Gemini excels when I need insights about my diet and habits. I tried logging my food intake for five days straight, covering breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. It smartly provided an extensive nutritional breakdown for every single meal. This made the data far more insightful than just staring at the static figures inside Google Health. Moreover, I started experimenting with it by adding daily sleep scores and exercise routines to see what it would do with this data. Depending on how many days I record, I can ask Gemini to create a graph to visualize those health metrics. From there, I can ask for a general overview. It actually works, suggesting actionable insights, such as aligning my sleep score with my recommended daily protein intake. I can also export all this data to a single report file or customize the charts exactly how I want. It’s a level of flexibility that Google Health completely fails to offer. Create Scheduled actions in Gemini or Tasks so you are automatically notified when it's time to log your food and exercise. It’s not as proactive as Health Coach But it’s reliable However, Gemini isn’t a flawless alternative to Google Health’s premium coach feature. It also isn’t nearly proactive enough to alert you when you’re slacking or excessively consuming more carbohydrates than intended. However, it acts as a reliable health coach as long as I have to aid it by explicitly asking for what my wellness goals are. I also have to manually pull metrics like calories and heart rate levels from the Health app to feed the chatbot, which adds friction. Still, it’s exactly as useful as I need it to be, especially for a casual user. More importantly, it completely bypasses the need to fork over $10 a month for a subscription to unlock Google Health’s premium features. Gemini can hand me general insights based on my food and workout data, which is more than enough for most people. Even better, you don’t need to buy a fitness tracker or smartwatch if you only want a general overview of your wellness. Fitbit Air 8.5/10 Battery Life 7 days Health sensors Optical heart rate, 3-axis accelerometer, temperature sensor Dimensions 35 x 17 x 8.3mm (Module) Water Resistance 50 meters The Google Fitbit Air is a screen-free fitness tracker. It offers a lightweight build over smartwatches.