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Nov 17

What a Nutritionist Really Thinks About the Noom Diet – msnNOW

Diet Comments Off on What a Nutritionist Really Thinks About the Noom Diet – msnNOW

Noom - Getty Images Noom is subscription-based weight-loss app that focuses on establishing on healthier habits for the long term. But is it worth it? Like any other diet plan, Noom still has its pros and cons. Here's what you should know before you download it.

It's no secret that fad diet plans tend to backfire. Establishing new healthy habits is what leads to lasting change and well-being for life. Enter Noom, the weight-loss app and personalized meal-planning service that became one of the most Googled diets in 2019. While it's definitely trendy, Noom is all about making long-term changes to achieve your weight-loss goals.

But is it worth it? Like any other diet plan, Noom still has its pros and cons. Here's what you should know before you download it.

Targeted at millennials, Noom is a health app designed by behavioral psychologists, nutritionists, and personal trainers to help you lose weight for the long run. It focuses on making tangible, sustainable lifestyle shifts rather than encouraging more extreme styles of eating (e.g., cutting out specific food groups or nutrients). The app, which Noom says has helped over 1.5 million people lose weight, allows you to:

Since it was developed by psych docs, the ideology behind the coaching and content is designed to "'break your self-sabotaging behaviors and develop balanced relationships with food and yourself that last," Noom states. They also claim that people who use the Noom app and adapt a healthy lifestyle lose an average of 18 pounds in just 16 weeks.

The Noom app itself is free to download or you can start the process on their website. You'll first be taken through a detailed quiz that has three parts; first, you'll go through the demographic profile section that asks for your height and weight, as well as what your health goals are and if you have a goal weight in mind. After answering some preliminary lifestyle questions and information about your current health status or conditions, you input your email address and a program plan is revealed estimating how much time it will take you to lose the desired amount of weight.

The second part of the quiz looks at habits and behaviors, and allows you to pick a focus for your plan on nutrition, physical activity, or building good habits. Finally, the activity and nutrition portion includes basic questions about your current health practices as well as behavior change questions. After this step, to claim your personalized plan Noom requires a credit card.

Noom is currently offering a 7-day trial option for as little as $0.50 on their website given the current global health crisis, but after that your card will be charged to continue. Program pricing starts out at $59/month, but the price goes down as you commit to longer periods of time. The cheapest price you can get Noom for is on their annual auto-recurring plan which costs $199 (averages to just over $16 a month). And if you refer a friend, they'll get a 20% discount and you'll receive a $20 Amazon credit as well.

The best thing about the Noom app is that it encourages eating real, whole foods and recommends more nutrient-dense meals and snacks as often as possible. An algorithm breaks down your personalized energy needs and how many calories to eat from protein, fat, and carbs. You can adjust your calorie budget if you think it's too high or too low, though the minimum calorie budget Noom allows for females is 1,200 and 1,400 for males. And the app is realistic in helping you set long-term goals and gradually lose weight without resorting to fad diets and restrictive eating patterns that aren't sustainable.

To help you follow those guidelines, the app asks you to log what you eat, an evidence-based method that helps you stay in touch with how much youre eating and what types of foods you gravitate towards. According to recent research from Duke University, those who may be overweight or obese and choose to track their daily meals using a smartphone app actually were able to lose a significant amount of weight. This research, published in the journal JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth in early 2019, suggests that those who regularly input their meals into tracking apps were able to lose more weight than those who were simply trying to watch their diet. And more than 77% of Noom users reported losing weight after using the app for nine months, according to 2016 Scientific Reports study that looked at data from more than 35,000 people.

When tracking food, you'll search the database of more than 150,000 foods or scan the barcode on packaged items when you're food shopping, to get feedback and keep yourself on track. There's also a recipe database categorized into breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. The app rewards you for eating wholesome, nutrient-dense foods through its color-coded system. Their green, yellow, and red based system is not something new and is a common method used with other health programs. Noom claims that the color-coded system is based on caloric density and not denoting good or bad foods.

The individualized coaching is also essential, since it provides a veritable cheerleading team through your phone who can help you stay engaged with the platform. Each day, you receive a personalized list of steps to check off designed to reach your established goals. The feedback draws on psychology, nutrition, and exercise physiology. An assigned coach (that goes through a Noomiversity course approved by the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaches, but not necessarily a registered dietitian or certified trainer), can offer advice between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. Mini health articles are also available on the app to provide inspiration and keep you on track.

If you have hypertension or diabetes, you can also log blood pressure and blood sugar manually or by syncing app-friendly devices, which is key for anyone looking to track their progress or share their data with a physician or family member. But what makes Noom really stand out is that it encourages community. Groups of goal-setters can offer support and chat real-time a great model for anyone who feels encouraged by interpersonal communication and camaraderie (er, everyone, right?!). And for what it's worth, the reviews on the app are mostly favorable.

The $59 per month minimum is pretty pricey, and one of the primary complaints online is whether or not the app is "worth it." In comparison, WW (formerly Weight Watchers) has three tiers of programs; their top-tier program offers personal coaching and digital capabilities and costs $1.61/day (or just under $50 per month). Other health apps (like MyFitnessPal) provide similar food tracking capabilities designed for healthier habit formation free of charge. In fact, the same Duke University research focused on free apps for people to track their progress, showing there might not be a difference in results whether or not you pay for the service. Plus, Noom is only available through an app on your smartphone which is frustrating if you want to browse on your computer or tablet, especially for the money you are paying.

Another major downside: the aforementioned hours of operation. While its not exactly practical to make the provided coaches available 24/7, its often outside the work day dining out, traveling, and at night that many of the nutrition questions or dieting pitfalls come up. If you want after-hours support, the app can assign a goal specialist at an additional charge, but the cost may make it limiting.

And if you need more structure like a specifically curated meal plan, Noom may not be ideal for you. While Noom provides you with metrics and recipes for guidance, it doesn't curate a customized meal plan. This does provide flexibility with making your own daily menu and coming up with meals throughout the week, but some individuals work better with a more structured approach so it all depends on your personal preference. And of course before starting any new weight loss of physical activity program you should always consult your physician.

Since Noom does encourage habit formation and there are some real, substantial benefits to the behavior-change-for-life systems used to help guide you, it might be worth starting with the trial period.

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That said, your success on Noom will ultimately depend on how consistently you follow the program, utilize their coaches, and engage with their daily content. But if for any reason you feel as though the the apps content or coaching platforms trigger feelings of shame or unworthiness, its time to consciously unsubscribe. Using apps for accountability may be helpful for some people, though it doesn't guarantee it will universally work for everyone especially since achieving better health and weight loss is highly dependent on your personal taste and health goals. Knowing what works for you versus what seemingly works for everyone else can be tricky to navigate on a platform youre paying for. Better health and weight loss requires you to be in the drivers seat about the changes you make to reach your goals within the framework of your own personal boundaries, be it emotional, physical, or psychological. Remember that, and youre already on the right path to better health for life.

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What a Nutritionist Really Thinks About the Noom Diet - msnNOW

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