Noom

Noom is a mobile-based wellness program that uses psychology to encourage long-term healthy eating habits. Through the Noom app, you get:

• Personalized, one-on-one coaching from a health expert and a support group with other Noom users for motivation and support
• A progress tracker to log meals and water intake, record your exercise sessions, input your blood pressure and glucose and track your weight loss progress
• An in-app pedometer
• Access to courses that walks you through lessons, like the psychology of weight loss and food fundamentals using interactive articles, games and quizzes

The program is backed by 40 peer-reviewed scientific articles and a team of behavioral health experts with doctorates and master’s degrees in psychology, neuroscientists and statisticians.

Noom works by motivating you to change your behavior through psychology lessons. To start, you complete a quiz that takes about 10 minutes to determine your individualized weight loss plan. The quiz asks you to answer questions about your goals, health, current habits, behaviors and more.

After you take the quiz, you make your initial payment and download the app to start the program.

Noom programs

Noom has two programs: the Healthy Weight Program and the Diabetes Management Program.

• The Healthy Weight Program consists of four stages over 16 weeks: learning, practicing, advanced learning and mastery. Participants receive easy-to-follow tasks and track their progress through the app. Users also benefit from feedback and encouragement from their personal support coach and peers.
• The Diabetes Management Program offers similar support but focuses on the carbohydrate content of the foods you consume. The diabetes program is recognized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which requires programs to meet certain criteria to qualify. These criteria include program participation, curriculum review and other success metrics.

Noom example

For a woman in her 20s wanting to lose 35 pounds, Noom calculated a daily calorie goal of 1,320 over six months. This is with a weight loss speed of 7 out of Noom’s 9-point scale.

The daily calorie goal is based on your age, starting weight, goal weight and preferred weight loss speed. Noom doesn’t scold you if you don’t meet your goals — it provides motivating messages encouraging you to continue logging and doing lessons instead.

The Noom diet plan doesn’t have food exclusions or banned foods. Instead, foods are assigned a color — green, yellow or red — that acts as a portion guide and not an indicator of “good” or “bad” food.

• Noom green foods: Green foods are the least calorie-dense and have the highest number of nutrients. Most green foods are vegetables and whole grains, such as spinach, apples, sweet potatoes and brown rice. Noom users can eat green foods in larger quantities.
• Noom yellow foods: Yellow foods have less healthy nutrients than green foods but can be enjoyed in moderate proportions. Many yellow foods are starches, lean meats and dairy products, including eggs, salmon and black beans.
• Noom orange foods: Orange foods are the highest in calories and have the least healthy nutrients. Most orange foods are red meats and dessert dishes, like bacon, popcorn, almonds and ice cream. Orange foods aren’t totally off-limits but should be eaten mindfully.

When you log your meals or snacks into the Noom app, it automatically sorts the food into one of the three colors so you can monitor the number of calories you’re eating from each group and visually see where to make improvements.

Noom costs $60 per month for the monthly auto-renewing plan. However, the more months you commit to, the better the deal — see the auto-renewing subscription pricing below.

• Monthly plan: $70
• Two-month plan: $129
• Three-month plan: $159
• Four-month plan: $169
• Five-month plan: $174
• Six-month plan: $179
• Seven-month plan: $184
• Eight-month plan: $189
• Nine-month plan: $195
• 10-month plan: $199
• 11-month plan: $205
• Annual plan: $209

Since Noom plans are individualized, the total cost of your plan will vary based on the recommended time it takes to reach your goal weight.

Noom is worth it if you want to lose weight through learning healthy habits and psychological methods. A reviewer from Georgia said, “This has been one of the best experiences I’ve had losing weight, learning about my body and mind and maintaining motivation. Compared to other programs, the focus is on LEARNING!”

However, Noom might not be for you if you don’t want to log every detail of your meal. A reviewer from Nebraska said, “While the lessons are great and give me a lot to work on, the coaching and food logging leave a lot to be desired.”

Overall, Noom gives users the motivation and support they need to change their habits for the better.