Noom
Recently I have been seeing more and more ads for Noom, an online weight loss service. While I have figured out what I need to do to lose/maintain some weight, I was having some difficulty sticking to it. I was interested in Noom because it claims to have integrated behavioral science and accountability to it's model, and I thought perhaps this would help me stick with it, so I signed up for the free trial.
I was initially a little turned off by the dietary plan, as it is basically just tired old calorie counting, which I find tedious and ineffective over the long haul. I was hoping I could use the method I have found effective for me (lower carb/intermittant fasting) and just use Noom for the behavioral/accountability component, but the system didn't really work that way, so I did my best to eat in the way I know is good for me while trying to stay within Noom's dietary parameters.
Noom works by giving you an allotment you can 'spend' on food for the day. You log your eating and foods are given a red (limit strictly,) yellow (eat in moderation) or green (eat to your heart's content) designation.
They have you read a few articles each day about behavior modification. I found these to be fairly helpful and the time commitment was minimal.
You also have a coach with whom you communicate via text on their app. After two weeks, they hook you up with a group for increased accountability.
However, I didn't last that long with Noom, and here's why:
1. I am convinced the 'coach' is not a real human being. She had a name and a photo, but she was not answering my questions or responding in a timely manner. It resulted in frustrating, frankly bizarre interactions. I would ask a question or respond to 'her' question, and she would eventually text back something totally unrelated. I think it's a system by which they generate automated responses based on key words or phrases. My suspicions were confirmed when I said I wanted to unsubscribe and I was immediately referred to an article detailing the process. It was the only time my 'coach' responded to me so promptly.
2. As I mentioned, the eating plan did not allow for any type of variation of diet, and the red, yellow, green classification was wildly inconsistent. I can't remember many specific examples, but it was something like if you typed in 'oatmeal,' dry uncooked would be a green food, but oatmeal cooked in water would come up yellow. So the color system was very arbitrary and unreliable.
3. Noom prided itself on being evidence-based, but I only found that to be so on the behavior modification side and not on the diet side. (I won't say more because I don't want the thread shut down.)
One thing I appreciated about Noom is that they acknowledged exercise as being minimally effective in weight loss and emphasized the importance of the food side. Other than that, Noom struck me as a total rip off. Yes, I can see it might work for someone to have that level of feedback/accountability, but I was REALLY annoyed that they bill themselves as offering one-on-one coaching, but the coach is clearly not a real human being. It strikes me as being very deceptive and I felt ridiculous once I realized I was really communicating with a bot of some kind.
Noom is not cheap--IIRC, it was something like $49 a month. If you threaten to quit, they will offer it to you at a discount, but still--it's a lot if all you are getting is a calorie tracking app and a few articles. I was willing to consider it because the coach aspect is unique. But if the coach is not a real person or even helpful, I fail to see the value of it.
So, that's my 2 cents on Noom. I've just returned from a vacation and I am feeling very refreshed, so I'm back to the method I know works for me and I think I will have better success.
Again, I'm not trying to get into specifics on diet. I don't want the thread shut down, but I thought some of you might find my experience helpful.
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