Have you used this product?
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about 2 years ago
They really do want you to succeed! Focused on creating new LIFESTYLES not just a workout/diet regimen. Great for anyone who wants a personal touch without necessarily the publicity of a gym.
over 2 years ago
Signed up for Noom in mid-March and I'm down 13 lbs (I also took 10 days off for vacation).
Here's the TLDR (too long, didn't read) Recap if you just want the short version: Noom is best suited for people who can be held accountable to an app and are willing to do the work but are motivated by small goal-setting. It's taught me a version of moderation that I feel like I can maintain. Highly recommend doing it with a buddy for extra accountability and recipe swapping.
The LONG one:
Noom is app-based, and works with a psychology-based approach combined with a group & coach accountability along with calorie tracking/food logging. Each day you log onto the app for 5 minutes of lessons that help you with tips & tricks for navigating healthier eating habits. Some of it is helpful, some might have you rolling your eyes.
The other big component of Noom is food logging. You could easily accomplish this on your own, but there's something about the whole package of logging your meals, plotting your weight, taking your lessons and having some accountability that helps the overall plan succeed. Logging your food is easy with barcode scanners and tech that makes it quicker.
Food is additionally broken down into color groups : green foods are like spinach where you can eat almost endless amounts, yellow foods you should eat in moderation (like most meat), and red foods should be limited (like nuts, oils & sweets). It's not exactly guidance that anyone who has been on a diet before hasn't heard many times, but seeing your daily food log color-coded can make it obvious where your pain points might have been. There's a slight gamification to the whole app, which if you're like me, can help make you want to "win." Even though some things haven't stuck completely (I always eat too many red foods), I found that overall I know where my healthy balance is, and if I want to see progress more quickly, I just tweak it so I'm eating fewer red foods and more green foods while sticking with my calorie goals.
The app also lets you log exercise and will sync with your phone step counter (or you can just manually log if you wear a fitness tracker). Meeting your step goal and logging exercise allows you to earn more calories for your day. I found that this motivated me to double my daily steps and start exercising more frequently.
I wasn't a fan of the groups (too many people to get to know them and too much chatter like, "last night I ate a bag of chips..." which was just a time suck). And my coach wasn't particularly helpful. But it seemed like others might have gotten more from it. It has a text accountability feature that sent me a text message when I didn't log food for 24 hours, which was a nice reminder.
The first couple of weeks were hard, like any diet. I was hungry, and logging and cooking and planning felt like drudgery. But it got so much easier. It taught me about portions and reminded me that sometimes frozen vegetables and bottled dressings are the difference between skipping eating a salad because it sounds like too much work. I've cut my meat intake dramatically. I've increased my water. And now I've found a healthy rhythm of knowing what 2.5 oz of chicken looks like, and how to make quick & easy meals that don't feel like deprivation. I have to say that having a buddy in the program helps not just for accountability but for sharing the foods & menus.
Overall, I'm genuinely a fan of the app. I probably won't renew after my 3 month subscription because I feel I've learned the lessons I need and will just continue with a free food logging app. It helped me succeed where I hadn't been able to before. I also feel like I can keep this up. When I took a 10 day vacation, I was worried that it would be hard to return to it, and it wasn't at all.
A funny bonus: my husband & my buddy's husband have both lost about 20 lbs just by proxy with almost zero effort while not sacrificing late night nachos and beer at the pool!
Here's the TLDR (too long, didn't read) Recap if you just want the short version: Noom is best suited for people who can be held accountable to an app and are willing to do the work but are motivated by small goal-setting. It's taught me a version of moderation that I feel like I can maintain. Highly recommend doing it with a buddy for extra accountability and recipe swapping.
The LONG one:
Noom is app-based, and works with a psychology-based approach combined with a group & coach accountability along with calorie tracking/food logging. Each day you log onto the app for 5 minutes of lessons that help you with tips & tricks for navigating healthier eating habits. Some of it is helpful, some might have you rolling your eyes.
The other big component of Noom is food logging. You could easily accomplish this on your own, but there's something about the whole package of logging your meals, plotting your weight, taking your lessons and having some accountability that helps the overall plan succeed. Logging your food is easy with barcode scanners and tech that makes it quicker.
Food is additionally broken down into color groups : green foods are like spinach where you can eat almost endless amounts, yellow foods you should eat in moderation (like most meat), and red foods should be limited (like nuts, oils & sweets). It's not exactly guidance that anyone who has been on a diet before hasn't heard many times, but seeing your daily food log color-coded can make it obvious where your pain points might have been. There's a slight gamification to the whole app, which if you're like me, can help make you want to "win." Even though some things haven't stuck completely (I always eat too many red foods), I found that overall I know where my healthy balance is, and if I want to see progress more quickly, I just tweak it so I'm eating fewer red foods and more green foods while sticking with my calorie goals.
The app also lets you log exercise and will sync with your phone step counter (or you can just manually log if you wear a fitness tracker). Meeting your step goal and logging exercise allows you to earn more calories for your day. I found that this motivated me to double my daily steps and start exercising more frequently.
I wasn't a fan of the groups (too many people to get to know them and too much chatter like, "last night I ate a bag of chips..." which was just a time suck). And my coach wasn't particularly helpful. But it seemed like others might have gotten more from it. It has a text accountability feature that sent me a text message when I didn't log food for 24 hours, which was a nice reminder.
The first couple of weeks were hard, like any diet. I was hungry, and logging and cooking and planning felt like drudgery. But it got so much easier. It taught me about portions and reminded me that sometimes frozen vegetables and bottled dressings are the difference between skipping eating a salad because it sounds like too much work. I've cut my meat intake dramatically. I've increased my water. And now I've found a healthy rhythm of knowing what 2.5 oz of chicken looks like, and how to make quick & easy meals that don't feel like deprivation. I have to say that having a buddy in the program helps not just for accountability but for sharing the foods & menus.
Overall, I'm genuinely a fan of the app. I probably won't renew after my 3 month subscription because I feel I've learned the lessons I need and will just continue with a free food logging app. It helped me succeed where I hadn't been able to before. I also feel like I can keep this up. When I took a 10 day vacation, I was worried that it would be hard to return to it, and it wasn't at all.
A funny bonus: my husband & my buddy's husband have both lost about 20 lbs just by proxy with almost zero effort while not sacrificing late night nachos and beer at the pool!