Noom

NOOM has been the only life altering program that has worked for weight loss for me. A diet is temporary... I've always gained the weight back because I go back to eating "normally". NOOM has shown me how to look at food differently. I've discovered new foods that are healthy and delicious. We (as a team) are changing my eating habits. As a bonus, the "psych tips" have helped me to look at my activities in a different light. I have increased activity, become more organized, taken a hard look at the things that really matter to me. My coach is encouraging not judgmental. Slips are not the end of the world... this is a new outlook on life. MY doctor suggested NOOM. I was skeptical but tried it. Sooooo glad I did!!!! Thank you, NOOMOLOGISTS!!!

I think this app will finally help me change my eating habits for the long term. The everyday support with educational and encouraging information make a big difference.

This is a great program no matter what level of health you are at. Who knew that you could have a relationship with good and that has been a game changer. Nice to have one on one and group settings. Even small goals to make you feel like you are doing something and keep you motivated

Pros:
- Original concept: first time I see a program based on the psychology behind healthy weight loss - very cool!
- Backed by research: the Noom team obviously does their homework and are up to date on the latest scientific research on health, nutrition and psychology - though they cite the source of their articles I would like to see links to said articles so I can read them myself. This said, it's nice that they "digest" (pun intended) the scientific information for us and present it in a light-hearted way;
- I learned new things: that hormones drive appetite and our ability to lose weight. That it's ok to have my cappuccino every day. That exercise only contributes a small part to weight loss (though it's good for many other reasons and does help us make healthier food choices). That social contexts influence our eating behaviors, etc.
- Easy to use app: I can tell a lot of work has been put in the app interface to make it simple, fast and straightforward to use. It uses graphics which are helpful reminders. It's also obvious they are sensitive to diversity and inclusion in the imagery they use.
- Models: the before and after real life models with real photos are very encouraging.
Cons:
- No weight loss, just awareness: in 5 weeks I have lost about 2-4lbs on this program
-> so far I call it an awareness program (not a weight-loss program), change how program is marketed.
- Red/yellow/green list: it's counter-intuitive what the calorie-dense list is. A cappuccino/day is on the green list but chicken is on the yellow one? When I asked my personal coach for the lists she sent me links to web pages that were like images and difficult to print. I had to go find the lists on Pinterest to print them out and post them on my fridge. I see others asked for them as well.
-> share the lists upfront.
- Contradictions: the calories in some recipes contradict calorie count from other recipes for similar lists of ingredients.
-> it's great that recipes list calories but they should be more thorough about double-checking them since calories are an important aspect of this program.
- Personal coach: barely there and once she appears in the week it's only to ask me questions about what I could do better for myself - which I already know. I expected her to look through my log and point out some things that I don't realize I'm doing wrong
-> empower coaches to be more involved in my log, point out what I'm doing wrong and challenge me more, otherwise I'm just my own coach (I'll even sign a waiver stating that if she tells me to avoid my daily cappuccino tomorrow and I'm frustrated I won't blame her!)
- Groups: when I end a module and am encouraged to share my next task with the group, I often feel like we're out of sync. I'm supposed to state my next strategy for applying the psycho-tips while other people's entries are about something completely different like their exercise (I sometimes wonder if some of them are fake profiles). Also the group coach's posts are completely lost in the ocean of group comments. People don't even do what she suggests and when they post something all she does is "like" the comment. No true, in depth, feedback. This creates a lack of synergy in the group and we don't really communicate amongst ourselves. So the power of numbers is dissolved.
-> start a new group page every day with the group coach's post first
-> have group coach model interactions, tips and encouragements, be real and make meaningful coach suggestions
-> alert me when someone comments on a post I made so I know to go read it.
- Hap-hazard: since the beginning the tone in the app was: "We at Noom.. we..." and a couple of weeks ago the texts were all in the first person: "I want your to consider ..." AND had a lot of typos. It's as if the team hadn't reviewed the intern's first pass on those modules! Quite unprofessional and made a dent in their credibility.
-> consistency builds trust.
- Becoming more time-consuming: modules are longer and longer (5-6 dots at bottom of page indicating 5-6 pages for each module) so they take more time to read. The 30 minutes I would spend exercising when I get up in the morning are now spent reading the daily modules.
-> limit modules to 4 pages please

I love NOOM, but the tech aspect is making me bananas. My goal specialist, Kirsten W. is probably the ONE reason right now I'm staying with NOOM 'cause she's fantastic and definitely not a bot. I was upfront and told her what I needed and she's great). For some reason, NOOM is having trouble syncing with my Garmin Vivofit. The sync worked for a few days after I joined and then stopped. I've contacted tech support numerous times and had to disconnect, connect, sign in, configure, etc. etc. First time I contacted, we got it working again and it worked for another day or so then stopped (the tech support was truly sweet and kind...very nice). I'm still waiting for a response to my most recent email and it's going on five days. Sigh...considering calories are added based on steps, it would be great to have this resolved...I could use the extra 100 or more calories! LOL. There's a psychological component for me to seeing the steps recorded on NOOM...and every day I see "0." To log food, you click on the meal you want to record, and then you have to click "done," which takes you to a screen you have to "close." Then, to record another meal, you have to go back to "log your meals," and then choose the next meal, so there's a lot of clicking...it would be nice to be able to record the next meal w/o having to go back out and then in again, With the group chat, there's no "topic" area, so all posts from forever are listed and you have to scroll, scroll, scroll. If you click on someone's post, you can write a reply, but if more than one person has posted (to the reply) you can't reply to THEIR comment...your comment is just posted in that thread. It would be GREAT to me if NOOM worked a bit more on the tech aspect and I'd LOVE to see the chat capability on my MacBook/PC. There's SO much they could do to improve this program and I reallllllly hope they do...NOOM would be completely fabulous with that improvement. With that being said....I will say that NOOM has TONS of good things. I ordered the activity plan (extra $$), but after filling out the survey I was impressed how quickly they refunded that $$ due to me not being able to move more than 10 min. w/ pain. Not so impressed with the specialized food plan...seemed more like a cut and paste type of thing I could have gotten free off the internet. The articles ROCK. My goal specialist ROCKS. I've LOST slowly but steadily and I'm LEARNING A TON. The concept of the Behavior Chain is EXCELLENT. The price was FABULOUS. Did I say I'm LEARNING A TON? :D.

I cancelled my Noom account back in January after their free trial.

Isent them an email in February ,2019 to stop my subscription once I saw they withdrew $129.

I changed my debit card in February.

Noom just withdrew another $129....I did not authorize it.

I signed up for the free trial. after a couple days I deleted the app because it was useless and never gave it a second thought until I woke up this morning with a $159 CND charge in my account with 0 warning that my trial had ended or that I needed to manually cancel the trial before getting charged.

I got charged $149.00 that I don’t have without so much as a email letting me know that my free trial was about to expire like most apps and businesses do! I truly thought that today was the last day of free trial and had full intent to cancel today. Because I Know I didn’t have those funds. But here I am taking time out of my day to file a complaint!

I am following a plan that makes sense and learning how to make changes that are realistic. The pace is good and the encouragement is greatly appreciated. This is the best program I have ever done. It works!

Great app, great program, great user experience.
A few improvements: the messaging and group thread widgets are basic. Lots of room for improvement
Tracking water consumption is pretty difficult.

Great way to hold myself accountable! Love my support group and coach. Recommend this anyone looking for a healthier life style

I love the program. It is teaching me to eat healthy and to be mindful of my food selection. I am taking the "road less traveled" when walking like stairs and hills. Feel good!

I find Noom to be an effective tool for me. Not only does it offer the ability to log your food and weight, but it also provides daily reminders, tasks, recipes, information (lots of great mini articles) about how to work towards a healthier lifestyle. The app itself is really user friendly and easy to navigate. It syncs to other activity apps (I have mine linked to my Fitbit and Fitbit Aria for my weight), which makes daily tracking easier. Additionally, the personal and group coaching provides an extra level of support (and to be honest, accountability- this is unique in comparison to other health apps that I've tried before). And yes, there's a fee that is attached, but that's the price you pay for individualization and coaching, if you need that extra support to stay motivated and on track (and hopefully if you're making lifestyle changes, you won't need this app forever). If you're like me and you are good at tracking your own behavior (hello token economy and behavior charts!), need a little motivation to keep going and want something that is based in science, this might be the tool for you.

I am very happy with Noom and all the information they give you every day - it's like a little lesson to help with the "why" of weight loss and habit formation etc, instead of just a list of things to eat or not eat. I like the science of all their psych tricks and tips - it's all been very helpful. 5 weeks on the plan and I've lost 8.8 pounds, but more importantly I feel great and my attitude is better. I think this is finally the plan that will help me actually keep the weight off permanently once I reach my goal - it's that good of a plan.

I love this program! It's tailor-made for me with science-based facts. It's so educational and makes life easy. The coaches are always with you and don't make you feel guilty if you've had a bad day. Love it!

Love the daily psych tricks, encouragement and even the pop quizzes. I’ve been trying to lose weight for 20 years. Noom is the best and most effective plan I’ve done. It makes weight loss enjoyable.

I have lost 9 pounds since joining. On my own, I've not lost weight. I like the Psych tricks every day. I like the thorough food logging calorie counter. I'm not sure I've gotten very much from the group except to see that I'm not alone. It's fun to see what everyone else has done for exercise.
The only reason I didn't give the program 5 stars isn't anything about the program itself. It's because I'm used to getting a notification before charging the $ after a free trial. I'm sure it's in the fine print but it felt a bit sketchy and I was not as trusting about the program. I like to have control of my money and that's part of being on board and feeling part of a team.
Except for that, I feel that this program is really good because it deals with the psychology of habits and sets me up for weight loss longevity. I surely do appreciate the daily education and accountability.
It's a very good program. Just read the fine print.

I like the quizzes because it keeps me engaged on the stuff I learned. I have a hard time keeping up daily, less lessons each day or the same amount of lessons every other day.
I’d like more support from my coach. I know if I ask they will respond, but at beginning like first 2 months they can check in 2-3 times a week.

I really love the accountability. It helps me stay on track and keep my goals.

The Noom program doesn't live up to its promises. There is no useful support. The coach doesn't follow up. It seems very amateur with constant references to "nerds." Weight graph has malfunctioned, step counter often inaccurate and alleged "studies" aren't backed up with information indicating them to be anything more than unscientific claims.
I'll be quitting the program and not missing anything.