Noom is a mobile health app that helps people to lose weight, by encouraging daily behavioural changes for long-term weight loss. Here’s a Noom diet review , basically everything you need to know about Noom.
Noom is not a new app, it has been around since 2008, then it was just a simple fitness and calorie tracker. However by 2016, the app had added a psychology and behavioral change component, even added user support groups and personal coaches to help people in their weight loss journey.
Right now, Noom boasts of a team of behavioral health experts who have researched diabetes prevention and management, oncology, hypertension and other diseases in order to design a curriculum that gets to the root of weight loss struggles.
The aim is to help users focus on their mindset first before they focus on meals. It is the company’s belief that, “once you determine the things you’re ready to work on, your mindset will help you form new neural connections over time to change your habits.”
In recent times, Nooms has redefined a means of losing weight. Losing weight the Noom’s way entails examining eating behaviors, managing emotions related to eating, practicing accountability and making lifestyle changes that can influence weight loss.
Noom Diet Review
Noom recommends foods to its subscribers based on the information they provide.
For example; Users are advised to go for a lime pie over a regular pie, like the cheesecake pie. And, just because they’re an orange food like chocolate, salami, or churros, doesn’t mean they’re off limits. However, one has to take caution; they can balance the orange foods with lots of greens, like vegetables, whole grains, and fruits.
A lot of Noomers say that when they started filling up on “green” foods instead, they feel less of a pull towards choosing the calorie-dense meals they used to go for. They even enjoyed green foods more.
Sometimes, traditional diets don’t work long-term because depriving yourself isn’t a sustainable approach to eating (or life).
What About Dietary Restrictions?
If a user is following a specific diet already; like vegan or low-carb diets, lactose or gluten-free; it can be incorporated into the Noom weight loss journey. One can choose any foods they like, as long as they stay within the calorie range. The Noom coaches are also there to help with meal plans, grocery lists, and a host of other resources to help you in your journey.
Even though they are very difficult diets, just know that every diet is doable.
Noom Sample Menu
Here’s what a typical Noom Sample menu look like:
| Breakfast | Toast with mashed avocado, sliced tomato and poached eggs Veggie omelette with low-fat cheese and a slice of toast Low-fat Greek yoghourt with oats and berries Overnight oats made with oats, plant milk, chia seeds and banana English muffins with nut butter and apple slices |
| Lunch | Grilled chicken in a pita with yogurt dressing, peppers, spinach, and mushrooms Tuna mixed with hummus, crackers and a big side salad Roasted eggplant in a wrap with hummus, chickpeas, olives and feta cheese Salad with grated carrots, lentils, and topped with, chicken, shrimp or tofu Rice bowl with okra, grilled or sauteed shrimp, and beansprouts |
| Dinner | Cod cooked with peppers, tomatoes and onions with rice and a side salad Salmon filet with olive oil, lemon wedges and fresh dill, garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli Grilled chicken, roasted tomatoes and cauliflower, steamed greens and feta cheese Pork or beef tenderloin with roasted sweet potato wedges and green beans Ground turkey burgers with chickpea pasta and sautéed chard |
Noom believes that food weight, not calories, determines how full you feel. So, they use a color-coded food system that prioritizes food by its caloric density (CD). The more water in a food, the lower its CD.
They believe that eating foods with low CD makes you fuller faster, with fewer calories. Take a look at what food falls into this category:
- Green Foods like Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are low calorie dense foods, they are higher in water content with the highest concentration of nutrients.
- Yellow foods like Lean meats, legumes and low-fat dairy foods should be eaten in moderation. Mostly because they have more calories and less nutrients than green foods.
- Red Foods like Red meats, processed foods, full-fat cheese are the most calorie-dense foods with the least amount of healthy nutrients.
The Noom diet plan does not totally abhor “red” foods, it simply encourages you to be mindful of how many you eat. Every time you log a food, Noom classifies it according to a color, which allows you to know the areas of your diet that need improvement.
How Does Dieting With Noom Work?
Take a quiz for a personalised plan.
First, you take a 10-minute online quiz in the program, you are asked typical questions about your height, weight, gender, age and why you want to lose weight. Noom also asks how active you are, how often you eat, about your eating habits, they’ll also like to know if you’re at risk for certain health issues like diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis, depression, and any other disease you might be passing through.
You will also get questions like, “Have any life events led to weight gain in the last few years?” and, “Are you uncertain about hitting your weight loss goals?” pop up to assess habits and behaviours. They also get to ask how quick you want your weight loss journey to be.
The second step is to Pay the subscription , then download the app to your smartphone and create a log-in.
Here’s what Noom’s subscription plans looks like:
- Monthly auto-renewing plan at $70 USD
- 2 month auto-renewing plan at $129 USD
- 3 month auto-renewing plan at $159 USD
- 4 month auto-renewing plan at $169 USD
- 5 month auto-renewing plan at $174 USD
- 6 month auto-renewing plan at $179 USD
- 7 month auto-renewing plan at $184 USD
- 8 month auto-renewing plan at $189 USD
- 9 month auto-renewing plan at $195 USD
- 10 month auto-renewing plan at $199 USD
- 11 month auto-renewing plan at $205 USD
- Annual auto-renewing plan at $209 USD
The Noom app is available on IOS (12.4 or later updates) and Android (version 6 or later updates) smartphones. You can also use it on iPad and Android tablets, but the functionality will be limited on these devices, because tablets don’t typically come with motion sensors (Noom has a step counter). When you have installed the app, you’ll be asked to sign in using the email address you used to join the program.
The next thing is that you get to meet your coaches, commit to lessons and get a personalized calorie budget. You will be asked to complete 10 mini-lessons in psychology and behavioral change in 16 weeks. You have to decide as soon as possible if you want to spend a minimum of five minutes to a maximum of 16 minutes daily on the lessons. Two days into the program, you’ll be connected with a goal coach who will personally reach out about twice a week to check in and ask about your progress and send motivational messages to keep you going.
As you move further into the program, you’ll be assigned a group coach and a peer group. The group coach is responsible for moderating the peer group chat, posts weight loss tips to help the group, and sometimes responds to individual posts. The goal coach and the group coach are trained in everything Noom, and hold either a bachelor’s or associate’s degree, additionally they have 2,000 hours of wellness experience.
The app restricts your calories based on your information(the one you provided earlier). For some obese and pre-diabetic people, Noom can recommend a diabetes prevention program. Noom is the first mobile health program to be recognized by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for delivering an evidence-based type 2 diabetes prevention program.
Your personalized plan assigns a daily calorie budget (the minimum calories you need to function each day) and requires you to record your meals and physical activity daily. You also decide if you want to commit two to 10 minutes a day to read short articles on positive thinking, mindful eating and stress relief.
On top of all of this, Noom has a step counter, so as long as your phone is on you all day, you’ll know just how many total steps you took. The app encourages you to log daily blood pressure readings, blood glucose levels and water intake.
The Noom plan is designed to last 16 weeks, but you’re encouraged to buy up to twelve months at a time for weight loss and maintenance. To meet my goal of a 12-pound weight loss, my calorie budget was 1,250 calories a day for 16 weeks. When I logged my foods, the app let me know how many calories I had left in each food category (see below) for the day. There was no admonishment when I went over my calorie budget, only encouraging messages to continue the plan and lessons to help me examine what triggered my bad food day (or week).
How Much Does Noom Cost?
Noom subscription costs up to $59 a month, however there’s a free trial for one week. Each plan on the app is individualized, the recommended duration of the program is based on the amount of weight you want to lose. However, the more months you sign up for Noom, the deeper the monthly discount.
Pros and Cons of Using Noom
Pros of Noom
- There are daily affirmations sent to users from time to time to help them feel more pumped up, and continue with their weight loss journey. This makes Noom much more than a weight loss tool.
- Noom encourages accountability, not only for what users put in their mouth, but also the thoughts behind your choices.
- Also Certified health coaches check in weekly to encourage subscribers on their weight loss journey, and celebrate their progress.
- The app also connects users to other Noomers, they get to share tips and tricks for weight loss, and a reminder to stay hydrated. There is also group chat in the app, users can meet one or two people they can exchange information with to make up a Noom squad.
- Noom helps you stay committed to your weight loss journey; they also provide knowledge and awareness, as well as other tools to help their weight loss journey.
Cons of Noom
- Expensive: Although there are free trials and discounts, the monthly cost might be above the budget of what people are willing to spend on a weight loss program.
- It requires a lot of commitment
- No specific meal plan and no prepared food delivery options
That’s a very comprehensive Noom diet review. Using Noom for your weight loss journey has proven to be very effective, you should give them a try.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Noom Come With Recipes?
This is One of Noom’s premium features, they have a recipe database sourced directly from Rodale , Inc., which is a publisher of health websites. Including Prevention, Women’s Health and Men’s Health, among others. The company has a database of over 1,100 recipes conveniently divided into breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack categories.
Most Noom users start with a four-month subscription plan, billed at once, that comes out to about $42.25 a month. Buying more months up front can provide a small discount.
Is Noom Legit?
Noom is a legitimate company, it enjoys a 3.9 rating out of 5 on Consumer Affairs and a rating of 4.3 out of 5 on TrustPilot.
Can I Connect Noom to Apple Watch?
Yes, follow these steps to do so. First, connect to your Apple Watch via Noom’s app on your iPhone. Then enable Fitness Tracking on your phone and change your privacy settings so that Noom can access data from your phone’s Health app.
Can you eat anything on Noom?
Yes, Noom users can eat anything they want, but they have to keep an eye on balancing out treats (like pie or salami) with more nutritious foods like vegetables, fruits and whole grains, according to the company.
Is Alcohol Allowed on Noom?
No food or drink is off limits on Noom, one can drink alcohol, logging it like they would any other food eaten during the day.
What is a NoomCoin?
A NoomCoin is a token created by Noom. It is given out for behavior that may help with weight loss in the future, such as logging all your foods in a day, logging weight and completing all lessons. Although actual weight loss depends on personal factors, Noom users lose one pound for every five NoomCoins they earn, according to the company.
