Saw Phil Gaimon pitching it the other day and went to check it out - concept looks interesting but at $50/month it’s pretty steep. I like the idea of something that’s more “coaching” than just tracking apps like MyFitnessPal, but not sure if it’s really worth that cost. Thoughts?
Whoop = subscription service that tells you to sleep more
Noom = subscription service that tells you to eat more healthy foods
Jumping on the oo-lifestyle-subscription bandwagon I proudly introduce…
Poop = subscription service that reminds you to empty your bowel
Sorry, couldn’t resist. Saw Phil’s video and had a quick look at their website. Seems like it helps people to loose weight. I’m just not sure if it’s on their body or in their wallet. I’m all in for meal plans & healthy eating but struggle to identify what value noom adds to that. Not saying it’s bad - but personally I give it a pass.
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I’ve been using Noon for the past week. Disclaimer for you - if you ask to cancel your trial (at least in my case) the price was lowered to $20.
I’m not sure how well noom fits into a athletes life, if I can call myself that. It limited me at 1600 calories a day as a 165lb 5’6 male. I walk 10-15k steps regularly and ride at least 5 hours a week. It doesn’t add any more calories from walking but you can enter your bike rides and it. It seems like it does not add the full calorie amount of my rides to the allowance which is difficult/confusing. I know I cannot eat back everything I burn but I assume my lifestyle should be more than 1600.
Other than the food logging. The daily articles and psychological “training” really help me. They also give you a accountability coach that’s a real person. I have a history of anorexia and a poor relationship with food. I haven’t lost any weight in these days (I’m blaming my birthday and not using noom for a few days) but for once in my life I do not feel bad about it. Noom feels like an encouraging friend and I’ll continue to use it for now.
Hope this adds to the topic
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That’s really helpful - thanks for the comments. I gave Noom a try - but had a very similar experience with the calorie counts, I’m 6’4" , 190 lbs and the initial calorie count was something like 1600 as well (even on just the “middle” pace for losing weight), and then I think it put in about 50% of the workout burn into my calorie budget. Seems like it might be a great option for a non-athlete, but I can’t imagine eating that way while trying to train as well.
That’s one thing I didn’t try out - the accountability coach. At this price ($50 or so per month at the high end I think) that seems like it could be really valuable. I’ve looked at online nutrition coaching, and it seems pretty expensive, minimum $100 or so even just for basic discussions (not tailored meal plans). Is the accountability coach helpful in your journey to eating more appropriately - or just more of a sounding board for your thoughts? Would be great to hear more on your experience there.
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I asked her about the problem I had with exercise not adding enough calories to my day. she suggested I add in my steps as a workout or double the calories listed as burned from my bike rides. If I “double” the calories in Noom it will add the total actual amount to my allowance. I’m trying that now and I was surprised she worked with me and understood my problem.
I completed an article today and she “high fived” me and asked what I thought about it.
I can talk with them here and there about but Its not like having a online chat support there all the time ready to go. There are just small things that make you feel good. After weighing myself 3 days in a row I’ll get another message of encouragement, if I am not opening the app, logging meals, you’ll hear from them again. Things like that.
EDIT:: And $50 is a rough amount to pay. It makes me feel like mental health is a luxury for the rich. $20 is way easier to stomach.
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I have a friend who is not an athlete who used it for weight loss, from her experience Noom worked better than myfitnesspal as the “coaching” gave her an accountability that helped to keep on track.
I can’t comment on the service, but 1600 calories seems very low with or without the person being an athlete at the stats mentioned.
fwiw, at 6ft and 70kg (154lbs), that’d be a 500 calorie daily deficit for me. Not including exercise, and that’s with me having reduced my TDEE multiplier a couple of notches with lower NEAT being 100% remote.
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So I have been on Noom for 8-9 weeks. A little background I am 55 years old and 5’7" and was 237#s. I had been around 210-215the last several years. When I weighed myself and saw 237 it kind a scared me with my age and all. Weight was going up despite 5 months of consistent mid base training. I had been considering Noom after seeing it on YouTube. I had success with LoseIt 5 years ago and got down to 190#s but was kind of hungry all the time. So I am down 30#s in the 8+ weeks. More importantly I feel as if I have more control over my eating habits. Hard for me to say but I grew up with some food scarcity and learned to just eat what I saw at times. I can not recommend Noom more enthusiastically. At the 2# a week plan I have I will hit my goal in July. It’s well supported with nutrition research and psychological research that pertain to nutrition, food choices, eating behaviors…Some apply to me and some do not. But learning and understanding has been very helpful. I am able to complete my workouts here on trainer road. Interesting tidbit- on loseit you get to add all the exercise calories to your daily goal. With noom you get 50% of the exercise calories added to your daily goal. I have had plateaus that have lasted a week but just kept at it. It is a humongous relief for me to have something that works and is easy to use. My goal is 165#s. I remember how I could climb at 180#s. I have this great memory of going up hill and having to lean and bank into switchbacks I was going so fast. This was on Tunnel Road in Berkeley if anyone knows it. It is a common training route for that area. Anyway that is my long winded 2 cents.
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I’ve almost finished the lesson plans for Noom and have had a coach throughout. Where I find Noom the most helpful is using mindfulness and behavioral science to identify what my triggers are for binge eating, acknowledging the urge and then making better decisions.
The coach has been helpful with applying the lessons to every day life and at times encouragement and empathy. I’ve certainly learned some great things about myself along the way.
Generally, I think TR users aren’t the target market for Noom. It’s meant for people that have a lot of weight to lose and/or have an unhealthy relationship with food. As others have said things like adding only 50% calories burned back into the calorie budget are good examples of this.
I would recommend Noom still but mostly for people that are at least 10-15 lbs from their goal weight or aren’t athletes.
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I used it and mostly enjoyed it. I was about 180lb (5’6") at the beginning of September, and set a goal weight of 145lb. I’m 150lb now, and have dropped the subscription as I’ve done most of their lessons, and have a much better handle on nutrition. I really enjoy
the mental approach to why we eat and feel hungry. Eating mindfully is a huge help with fighting overeating for me. As far as the 50% calorie return on workouts, I feel this is for non athletes using gym equipment which grossly overestimate calories burned. As far as cost, they played mental games when I was signing up like pay what you think the trial is worth, and stop the trial and subscribe for more money off. I ended paying $160 for 5 month plan.
I’ve been using Noom for a few months now and it’s actually been the most helpful tool for losing weight I’ve used in a long time. I’m finding the calorie density tracker to be the most useful part of it, and having the red/yellow/green to show what you should eat less of and what you can eat more of. There were a few things I considered to be very healthy and enjoyed eating, but are also super calorie dense (nut butters and such) so it helps with moderation.
I don’t find a lot of the mindfulness aspect to be particularly useful, but it’s maybe been a helpful prod every once in a while.
As far as cost goes, their pricing structure seems to be essentially a game of chicken. I did the free trial and had a “holy crap, that’s expensive!” response when the trial ended (the initial offer was 5 months at like $37/month). I cancelled my way through several other offers, and eventually got down to $20/month recurring, which I’ve been sticking with. That said, the part I find useful is the calorie density tracking, so if anyone knows a cheaper app that’s focused on that, I’m all ears.
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