Noom Diet Plan Review

What is Noom?

If you’re one of the millions of people who just keeps falling off the weight loss wagon, the Noom diet plan can help you break the cycle once and for all.

The Noom programs are based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a type of therapy used by clinical psychologists to help patients change the thinking that leads to destructive behaviors. With Noom, this translates to changing the way users think about food and weight loss—so they can make permanent lifestyle changes that lead to sustainable results.

Their popular 16-week Healthy Weight Program includes a customized curriculum created by psychologists, doctors and researchers. It’s delivered through the app in bite-sized, daily “courses,” which educate users on healthy eating and exercise habits, plus help them cultivate the skills they need to navigate their social environment, improve their sleep and manage their stress.

Unlike other diet plans that take a one-size-fits all approach to weight loss, Noom factors in your age, gender, lifestyle, work, relationships, unique challenges and specific goals in order to create a customized app experience just for you. The interface is packed with helpful expert tips and articles tailored to you, plus a large library of healthy recipes, challenges, quizzes and more. Members use the app to log their food intake, activity and weight, and to connect with their health coach (1:1 coach is not included in the base package).

With a holistic approach based in psychology and a best-in-class app experience that’s a lot like having a dedicated team of weight loss experts and cheerleaders in your pocket, Noom delivers a winning weight loss formula that provides users with the tools they need to finally get off the hamster wheel and get healthy—for good.

How Does Noom Work?

Noom is not a meal delivery diet plan—don’t expect to open your door to a box of diet meals or weight loss shakes. But what you can expect is a psychology-based approach to weight loss that delivers sustainable results.

The Healthy Weight Program is designed to help users identify and change the thoughts, habits and behaviors preventing them from achieving lasting weight loss success. The program consists of a 16-week customized curriculum that’s divided into mini daily lessons and delivered through the app. Every day, users are served up tasks, often in the form of reading educational short articles about healthy weight loss, nutrition, physical activity and other wellness topics. The content of these articles is personalized—new Noom users answer a series of questions about their age, gender, weight, lifestyle, etc., and the app uses an algorithm to determine the most relevant content for that user. The app also includes short, punchy quizzes and challenges to help reinforce the concepts covered in the articles.

Noom empowers users to hold themselves accountable by encouraging them to log their food intake, activity, water and weight every day.

And while the Healthy Weight Program is described as a 16-week program, for those who want to continue to use Noom beyond that timeframe, there are two primary options:

1. You continue paying for the full version, and continue getting customized content, plus access to all the features you’ve come to love.
2. You end your subscription, and continue utilizing the app’s free tracking functionality without all the support and personalized content.

Either way, continuing to use Noom in some capacity after you’ve achieved your goal weight or ended your subscription can be insurance that you’ll maintain your weight loss success—studies suggest that people who regularly track their weight and intake are more likely to maintain their weight loss.

Noom Weight Loss: How Much Can You Expect?

Unlike fad diets that promise instant gratification via way-too-fast weight loss, Noom is realistic about the results you can expect. According to their website, people who use Noom and adopt a healthy lifestyle can expect to lose one to two pounds per week. This is the amount deemed safe and sustainable by credible organizations like the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). As with any diet, though, weight loss results will vary from person to person: According to a study in the British Medical Journal, 64 percent of Noom users lost more than five percent of their weight. Obviously, a five percent weight loss on a 250-pound person is more than on a 150-pound person, so your results may look different than your friend’s or spouse’s.

No matter how much you lose, the good news is that you’re likely to keep it off—in a 2016 study of more than 35,000 Noom members published in the journal Nature Research, 78 percent sustained their weight loss over nine months. That’s probably thanks to the fact that Noom is more of a lifestyle change than a temporary diet plan.

And here’s the incredible part: If you go through your full Noom program and don’t lose weight, you can get your money back, trial fees included, with no questions asked.

Noom Cost: Plans & Pricing

Noom frequently offers free trials, which generally range from seven to 14 days. Once the free trial is up, your card will automatically be charged the amount that corresponds to the auto-renewal plan you selected.

Program prices vary depending on the duration of your subscription. The longer you commit, the less you’ll pay on average, per month. The least expensive option is the annual auto-recurring plan, which averages about $16 per month. Bonus: If you happen to convince a friend to join as well, they’ll receive a 20 percent discount, and you’ll get a $20 Amazon credit.

Noom Food List & Nutrition

Noom is not a diet—in fact, the experts at Noom would probably say there’s a reason “diet” is a four letter word. Rather, it’s a healthy approach to eating that’s based on sound nutrition science.

Instead of labelling foods “good” or “bad,” Noom utilizes a unique color-coding system to classify foods based on their calories-by-volume. This approach is based on data that suggests that a food’s volume, rather than its calories, determines its impact on satiety. Noom uses the comparison of grapes and raisins to solidify this point: Studies suggest you will feel the same level of fullness with one cup of grapes and one cup of raisins. Yet, due to the difference in their water content, one cup of grapes is just 62 calories while a cup of raisins is a whopping 500.

So while no foods are off limits, members are encouraged to eat a diet primarily comprised of water-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, cooked grains and lean meats, poultry, fish and beans. These foods provide a small amount of calories in a relatively large quantity—a foolproof formula for feeling full and satisfied. Noom’s take on foods that provide a large amount of calories in a small volume, like chocolate and alcohol? They’re not off limits, but are best enjoyed sparingly, and users should be extra mindful of their portion sizes.

To help members employ these principles seamlessly, every food in the Noom database is assigned one of three colors:

• Noom Green Foods: The green foods are the least calorie-dense, and have the highest concentration of healthy nutrients. These water-rich foods should make up the bulk of one’s diet, and include foods like vegetables, fruits, non-fat dairy, egg whites and whole grains.
• Noom Yellow Foods: The yellow foods have a mid-level caloric density, and a medium amount of healthy nutrients, so these are encouraged in moderation. Some examples of yellow foods include lean meats, starches and low-fat cheeses.
• Noom Orange Foods: The orange foods are more calorie-dense (think chocolate, nuts and red meats). These foods are not off-limits but the experts at Noom suggest members enjoy them sparingly, pairing them with green foods to increase volume not calories, and be mindful of portion sizes.

Ordering & Delivery

At this time, Noom is only available on iOS and Android mobile devices. Specifically, you’ll need an Android or iOS smartphone running at least Android version 6 or an iOS 10.3.3 (an iPhone 5s), or better. It Is also recommended that you have at least 600mb of free space. Noom will run on tablets such as Android tablets and iPads but with limited functionality as these devices aren’t typically designed with motion sensors.
Kindle Fire tablets are not supported and there isn’t a desktop version of Noom yet.

While the Noom app is free to download, you won’t have access to your personalized curriculum, your dedicated health coach or any of the primary features without paying for a subscription. Subscribing is simple—you can visit their website, or give them a call. There are several subscription plans to choose from, and the longer your commitment, the less you’ll pay on average per month.
Keep an eye out for free introductory trials, which are a great way to get a taste of the program, and determine if it’s a good fit. Noom offers these free trials frequently, and typically they range from seven to 14 days. After that, you’ll automatically be charged the fee associated with the subscription plan you selected. You can cancel anytime, and there are never any penalties for ending your subscription.

How Does it Compare

When it comes to diet plans, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The best one is the one you will actually stick with. Here’s a look at how Noom compares to the competition—so you can choose the best weight loss program for you.

Why We Love It: The Bottom Line

By diving deep into the thoughts and behaviors preventing users from losing weight and keeping it off, Noom prevails where other diets fail. You won’t find any lists of “no-no” foods or forbidden food groups here. What you’ll find instead is a behavior change program with all the personalized education and resources you need to live healthy, lose weight and thrive in maintenance mode.

We love that members learn how to make smart decisions and hold themselves accountable—a skill that will help them keep the weight off long-term. The app is a great resource that’s packed with tips, articles, recipes, quizzes and challenges all tailored to each individual user. Plus, it’s got all the support users need to succeed thanks to virtual health coaches who keep the momentum going by offering guidance and encouragement every step of the way, and a huge community of users. It’s like having an entire team of experts and cheerleaders at your fingertips.

With all of this to offer and more, Noom is a foolproof solution for those who crave sustainable weight loss without all the restriction and deprivation.

About the Company

Once strictly an exercise- and calorie-tracking app, Noom has evolved since its conception in 2008 to become a comprehensive holistic health experience with a full team of health experts and clinical psychologists at the helm. Noom combines the power of artificial intelligence with behavioral psychology and individualized health coaching to help people adopt healthier habits that will last. The company is headquartered in New York City and has offices in Seoul and Tokyo.