What is Noom And How Is It Innovating Weight Management?
With 77.9% of users experiencing weight loss on Noom through long term behaviour change, it’s no wonder why the app has over 45 MILLION users and counting!
In a world saturated with diet culture, the search for a sustainable, effective, and healthy approach to weight loss often feels overwhelming.
But there is one app that is transforming the way you think about food and your health and has over 45 million users all over the world.
This little app is called Noom and it promises to you finally achieve your weight loss goals without giving up the foods you love.
In this article, we’ll explore whether this app, backed by cognitive behavioral therapy and registered dietitian insights, can truly deliver on its promise to shift your mindset and improve your relationship with food for good. And if you’re looking for a Noom diet review, we’ve got that too!
Let’s dive in and see what Noom is, how it works, the science behind it and if it could be the right fit for helping you reach your wellness goals.
What is Noom?
Noom is a mobile app and health platform designed to help you achieve weight loss and improve overall wellness through behavior change.
It uses a psychology-based approach to encourage healthy habits, focusing on factors like diet, exercise, and mental well-being.
The app provides personalized coaching, meal tracking, exercise recommendations, and educational content aimed at fostering sustainable lifestyle changes.
Noom categorizes foods into three color-coded categories—green, yellow, and red—based on their caloric density, helping you make more informed food choices.
It also offers features like a virtual coach, support groups, and interactive challenges to keep you engaged and motivated on your health journey.
Noom is a subscription-based service, and it’s designed to be a more holistic and long-term approach to weight management compared to traditional dieting methods.
So, while Noom’s healthy weight program typically lasts 16 weeks, you can still use the app as a handy tool to maintain your results.
How Does Noom Work?
Noom works by combining psychology, behavior change, and personalized coaching to help you achieve sustainable weight loss and healthier habits.
After you complete the initial questionnaire, you are assigned a personalized plan with a daily calorie budget (the calories you need to function each day).
Noom is grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles, focusing on understanding and changing the thought patterns and behaviors that drive your eating habits.
The app provides daily lessons that educate you on topics like mindful eating, emotional triggers, and how to develop healthier habits.
You are paired with a personal coach who offers guidance, support, and promotes accountability. The coach helps set realistic goals, provides motivation, and offers personalized advice based on your progress and challenges.
Noom allows you to log your meals, track your physical activity, and monitor your progress over time.
The app uses a color-coded system to categorize foods guiding you to make healthier choices without losing the foods you love from your life.
As a Noom user, you have access to a support group called the Noom Circle, where you can connect with others on similar journeys, share experiences, and offer encouragement, fostering a sense of accountability and belonging.
The app tracks various metrics, including weight, steps, and other health indicators, to help you see your progress over time. This tracking helps keep you motivated and informed about your journey.
What can you eat on Noom?
You can eat anything on Noom, no foods are completely off-limits but the app helps you identify nutrient-deficient yet calorie-dense foods allowing you to enjoy them in moderation.
The color-coded system is designed to guide you towards making healthier choices by focusing on foods that have fewer calories and higher nutritional value, helping you achieve their weight loss goal more quickly and effectively.
For example, on a Noom diet plan you can eat bread, rice, chocolate, wine, alcohol, eggs, potatoes, fruit, and nut butter such as peanut butter as long as you stay within your daily calorie goal.
What are Green Foods?
Green foods are the least calorie-dense and the most nutrient-rich. They are high in water content, fiber, and essential nutrients, making them the healthiest choices.
The Noom app encourages you to eat plenty of green foods as they are filling but low in calories.
The green food group includes leafy greens (like spinach and kale), fruits (like apples, oranges, and berries), non-starchy vegetables (like cucumbers, tomatoes, and broccoli), and whole grains (like quinoa and brown rice).
What are Orange Foods?
Orange foods are more calorie-dense than green foods but still provide important nutrients.
These foods should be eaten in moderation as they have more calories per serving but still offer significant health benefits.
The orange food group includes Lean proteins (like chicken breast and fish), low-fat dairy products (like yogurt and cheese), starchy vegetables (like sweet potatoes and corn), and legumes (like beans and lentils).
What are Red Foods?
Red foods have high caloric-density and low nutritional value.
They tend to be high in fats, sugars, or refined carbohydrates, and should be eaten sparingly. These foods are more likely to lead to weight gain if consumed in large amounts.
The red food group includes processed snacks (like chips and cookies), fatty meats (like bacon and sausages), full-fat dairy products (like butter and cream), and sweets (like candy and ice cream).
What Makes Noom Different?
What makes the Noom Weight Loss Program different is its comprehensive health approach that goes beyond traditional dieting by addressing both emotional and social eating.
Noom uses a food-tracking database with over a million food items and thousands of recipes to help you make better choices.
Unlike other programs, Noom’s behavior change strategy is rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral science, ensuring that you develop healthier habits for the long term.
But the secret to Noom’s approach across all of their apps lies in their focus on better understanding human psychology to empower you to develop healthier eating patterns for the long term.
Are there different types of Noom?
Yes, Noom offers different types of apps tailored to different aspects of health to help you foster a holistic approach to your well being. Let’s take a look at the different apps that Noom offers.
What is Noom Med?
Noom Med is a program designed to integrate evidence-based obesity medicine with Noom’s behavior change program according to Dr. Linda Anegawa, Noom’s Chief of Medicine to ensure medications are not relied upon indefinitely.
Noom Med involves clinicians reviewing detailed patient information, including lab results, to develop personalized care plans for those who feel like traditional diet and exercise recommendations aren’t working. When necessary, they prescribe medications, such as GLP-1s, Wegovy or Ozempic.
What is Noom Mood?
Noom Mood is a wellness program offered by Noom that focuses on mental well-being and stress management.
Unlike the Noom weight loss app, which is centered on physical health and psychology for weight management, Noom Mood helps you relieve stress by building healthier habits to manage your mental health.
What is Noom Vibe?
Noom Vibe is a free social app that combines community engagement with health improvement, addressing both physical and social well-being.
The app is the ability to earn a virtual currency called “Vibes,” by engaging in healthy activities tracked by the app, such as stepping, completing workouts, meditating, and building other healthy habits. You can accumulate Vibes and then redeem them for gift cards or donate them to charitable causes.
Does Noom work?
Yes, Noom can be effective for many people. A study published in Scientific Reports involving 35,921 participants found that 77.9% of users experienced weight loss while using the Noom coach app.
The study also highlighted that consistent logging of meals and regular weight tracking were key factors in both successful weight loss and preventing the “yo-yo” effect, where weight is regained after initial loss.
What else we love about Noom
How do you get started with Noom?
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to get started with Noom:
- Download the Noom app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
- Sign Up and create an account with your email address.
- Complete the initial questionnaire about your current weight, activity level and health history. This helps Noom tailor the program to your needs.
- Choose your weight loss goal and a timeline for achieving it.
- Choose a subscription plan that fits your needs.
- Get matched with a coach who will guide you through the program.
- Start logging your meals using the color-coded system provided by Noom.
- Engage with the daily lessons in the app and complete the activities.
- Join the community of other Noom users through group support and share your experiences.
- Track your progress by logging your weight, activity, and other metrics to monitor your progress over time.
Wondering how Noom has worked for others? Let’s take a look at what users have shared in their reviews and testimonials.
Looking for a Noom Review?
See why Noom has over more than 45 million users worldwide
“What can I say! They’ve got all the bases covered. The everyday learnings and psychology are priceless. I’m actually having a big aha! moment due to Noom.
I recommend Noom to everyone I know who’s trying to lose weight and have a healthier overall life.“—Janee L, USA ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Noom is an absolute blessing. This is the only app I’ve come into contact with that has thought of everything it takes to really succeed. The daily lessons they teach and the psychology part is why people can really succeed. We all know we need to exercise and eat healthy but for a lot of different reasons people have are hard time doing that so it’s not that easy and Noom gets to the core of our barriers to weight loss and shows us how to overcome them“—Roxanne, USA ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Noom is very easy to use and convenient making it easy to continue in it and through the process. The coach is great to have a human source of information and real contact! The AI is great to resolving technical issues but you still feel the REAL connection since they have a healthy mix with the human coach. The system is well thought out.“—Martin, USA ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Noom has given me the tools I needed to stop thinking of dieting and losing weight as a dreary, soul depriving experience. Instead, with the backing of science, psychology and a good routine, I’ve been able to lose weight and feel good about it.“—Margaret D, USA ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Lost all baby weight within 6 months. Back in my old clothes and feeling great! Still breastfeeding, eating really healthily and enjoying treats. An excellent weight loss app as it covers all bases: calorie awareness, preparing healthy snacks in advance, never letting yourself go hungry, being choosy with what you have for a treat, learning your weak spots, watching portion sizes… I owe it to Noom as tracking my weight and what I ate daily was very motivating.“—Lucy, USA ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“As a 54-year-old woman with cerebral palsy with physical limitations, what Noom has taught me is how to work with what I have instead of worrying about what I don’t. It has been a game changer. This app is definitely worth every penny. For me it means better health and prevention of a lot of future health problems. My doctor will definitely be happy at my next appointment. Thanks Noom!“—Catherine, Canada ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“At first I was skeptical. I thought the lessons were teaching me pretty obvious things but as the days have gone on I’m feeling much better and the lessons are forcing me to change my relationship with food. I have been eating more fruit and vegetables in the past week than I have in the past 4 months combined and as a result I have way more energy and my skin looks and feels better.”—Emma M, USA ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“I’ve tried many diets but this is something different. NOOM is designed to prepare you for a whole weight loss journey and equip you with lots of tricks to support you on the way. It’s been almost 2 months and I’ve lost almost 5 kilos now. On my way to healthier self.“—Ola M, UK ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Noom is really helping provide real time feedback on my eating habits so I can adjust to healthier habits, but still live in the real world. No food is forbidden, just planned! The accountability is helping me lose weight, and regulating my GI system, reduce bloating, and I feel great!“—Karen, USA⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
