I began Noom on March 3, 2019 weighing 190 pounds (I am 5’10”). I reached my goal weight of 160 pounds on August 8, 2019, five months after I started on Noom.
I’ve decided to work my way down to 150 pounds over the next three months, slowly.
How does it work?
The program takes you through a series of lessons every day, focused on aspects of health that are informed by research (as a researcher myself, I love this). It teaches you that calories have quality, and to focus on foods that fill you up that are higher in quality (i.e., healthier). So, it’s not enough just to track your calories—you also need to recognize that not all calories are created equal.
Behold, the research concepts!
There are also lessons on eating habits and how to recognize and avoid them. For example, have you ever sat down with a bag of potato chips in front of the TV, and suddenly the bag is half gone? That’s “fog eating.” Noom would argue it’s better not to eat while watching TV, and to be mindful about what you’re eating instead.
Users need to log in to the app every day to complete lessons, so you need to be willing to spend some time doing that.
Cost?
The first time I signed up for a trial with Noom, I was shocked at the price. I was thinking of it as an app rather than a membership. I finally joined for real when they sent me a discount coupon, which brought the cost down to $90 for a four-month subscription. I hadn’t reached my goal by the end of my subscription, so when it automatically re-upped for another four months, I let it go. I need to remember to cancel before November.
What does my typical day look like?
I never used to eat breakfast, but now I eat breakfast every day. Even if I’m not very hungry… because I know I’ll be starving by 10am, and then will be more likely to grab a donut at the coffee shop across the way.
Breakfast is typically one of the following along with coffee (1 milk, 1 sugar):
- Half an avocado on whole wheat toast with a bit of olive oil.
- 1 tablespoon of peanut butter on whole wheat toast with a banana
- A fried or scrambled egg on a slice of whole wheat toast with 1 teaspoon butter
My typical lunch on a work day is:
- Cubed grilled chicken and a half of a cucumber, cubed, with Frank’s hot sauce and 1T lite Bleu Cheese dressing.
- Turkey sandwich on whole wheat toast with a slice of cheese, sliced tomato, and mustard (If I don’t have cheese, I use mayo). Grapes or baby carrots on the side.
- If I go to the cafeteria for lunch, I get a big salad with a cup of soup (brothy is better than creamy) and some fresh fruit.
Dinner:
- I try to save my calories every day for dinner to have some leeway. Todd’s a great cook, and one of my favorite things he makes is baked cod. He typically makes a veggie and a starch, so it’s very satisfying. But portions are key!
- Whole wheat spaghetti tossed with grilled chicken, capers, fresh basil, and a little olive oil.
- Fried rice: leftover brown rice with a handful of peas, a scrambled egg, and some green onion.
- Even when Todd makes a HUGE tray of macaroni and cheese for the kids, I have a small bowl and fill up on other stuff (chicken, veggies, etc.)
Dessert:
- Enlighten and Yasso bars are yummy. We like having dark chocolate chips in the house, which are only around 70 calories per serving. Strawberries with lite Cool Whip.
- Instead of beer or wine, I drink more LaCroix and Bubbly. Truly and White Claws are great lower calorie substitutes for beer/wine as well.
I could’ve done a better job today with fruits, vegetables (but that’s pretty typical for me on the weekends), but here was my day today (goal, 1200 calories):
Things I love about it:
Nothing is off limits. It’s not about depriving yourself, it’s about balance and reasonable portion sizes. This means measuring and weighing portions at first to learn what portions should look like.
The only thing I’ve given up completely is artificial sweetener. I finally kicked my Diet Pepsi habit!
I have found that eating fried or sweet foods less regularly means I crave them less regularly. I’ve also found substitutes for unhealthy foods and drink that made it easy to change my habits.
(To wit, I was at a party with cake this summer and DIDN’T EVEN WANT ANY.)
You get support and accountability come in the form of an individual coach, and a group coach. It helped to have someone checking in, and the group chats helped me see that I was facing some of the same struggles as others (particularly weight loss plateaus).
Noom helped me break my bad habits, particularly with regard to unhealthy food and alcohol. It helped me remember that I actually LIKE healthy food, but had fallen into a pattern of convenience and bad food. I forgot how much I love cucumbers, tomatoes, quinoa, grilled chicken, and other good stuff.
Noom encouraged me to get more exercise, but weren’t overly pushy about going to the gym. Instead, they supported me to just… move more. I started parking farther away from my office, with a goal to hit around 6,000 steps every day.
If I had been better about working more rigorous exercise into my routine, I’m sure I would’ve hit my goal weight sooner.
Things I didn’t like about it:
They don’t stick the ending. When I hit my goal weight after five months, I was really hoping for a big “WOO HOO! Now here’s how to maintain that weight.” But that didn’t happen. The lessons started to become repetitive, and it feels like they are trying to keep me on as a subscriber for as long as possible.
They didn’t explain this well, but apparently if you cancel your membership you can still use the food and activity tracker for free. The lessons and coaching go away, however, which is fine for me… I don’t feel like I need them anymore.
So that’s my summary! So far I feel like my habits have been changed and I’ll be able to keep going long term.
