For those looking to reach their weight loss goals and maintain a healthy lifestyle, the Noom app is an invaluable tool.
I have guided countless people in their weight loss journeys during my ten years as a fitness instructor. The Noom app has helped many of those clients stay on track by measuring macronutrient intake and offering personalized diet coaching.
In this Noom review, you’ll find all the details about what makes this program good and whether there are any drawbacks so you can decide if the subscription fee is worth paying.
What Is the Noom Diet?
Noom diet is a weight loss application that allows people to easily keep track of what they eat, find ideas to improve their diet and break bad habits, based on 1st hand experience.
According to research, using this smartphone app successfully helps the majority of app users lose weight by tracking their diet and weight on a continuous basis [1].
Looking at the app Noom feature list, it’s not just the calorie counting and meal ideas that stood out the most. The company also offers a personal coaching service with a dietitian.
The Noom Diet Plan emphasizes the inclusion of green foods and yellow foods in a balanced and healthy eating approach, promoting healthy habits and supporting a healthy body weight.
Over time, Noom's psychology-based weight loss approach has evolved to include features such as water intake monitoring, goal setting, mood enhancement, self-care, and even breathing exercises.
Additionally, the program now offers a more personalized and collaborative one-on-one coaching experience to guide you through your journey. Also, you may now track your weight loss improvements in just five minutes every day.
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How Does Noom Work?
How Noom works is pretty simple. Here's a short overview.
First, download the app for free either on the App Store or Google Play. You will need to register for a free account when you first launch it.
During the sign-up process, you’ll be asked a few simple questions about your goals, current weight, age, etc. This is needed to get your profile set up so that the app can make more tailored recommendations.
On the main screen, you can then easily see your daily calorie intake, meal logs, and step tracker (if linked to a Noom pedometer).
Through my own experience, you can also manually add any training you did, or connect to activity tracking services.
Related Article: What Apps Does Noom Sync With?
By signing up for the subscription, you gain unlimited access to the features, support group, and communication with your personal health coach, which can help you navigate your Noom journey and stay on track with your goals, based on 1st hand experience.
What We Liked About Noom
1. Behavior Change Approach
Achieving long-term sustainable goal weight loss is all about creating healthier eating habits [2]. And this is something that Noom users seem to understand, especially when you review their blog posts and the way the weight loss app is designed.
Your Noom diet journey includes helping you identify, understand, and monitor the calorie content of your meals.
Understanding that each food contains a specific number of calories and how this affects your overall health may change your habits and enable you to make healthier meal choices [3].
Also, having a specialized coach advise you on healthy weight loss meals will keep you motivated and optimistic about your overall improvement.
2. Food Database
According to Noom, their database has grown to over 3.7 million options. I don’t think I could list out a thousand different foods one could eat, so it looks like they should have every possible edible product available.
Different foods are color-coded in green, yellow and red, with green foods having the lowest calorie count, red foods the most, and yellow foods fall somewhere in between.
A lot of users say that this functionality alone is helping them reduce their calorie intake enough to start losing some bodyweight. As long as you go for green foods and yellow foods, your weight loss goals are achievable.
You can see the full Noom food list here.
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3. Programs
Within the app, you can choose from two different programs:
1. Healthy Weight Program
In this program, the main focus is to help you lose weight by reducing your calorie intake, eat more green foods and dense foods, and avoid the red ones. You’re assigned a daily calorie budget, and you have to stay below it.
With a subscription to Noom's Healthy Weight Program, they will send you daily articles about healthy green foods and exercise habits and regular challenges to get you into a mindset of changing your lifestyle for your weight loss goals.
2. Diabetes Prevention Program
In this program, the focus is less on calories and more on carbohydrates. This doesn’t mean you can simply ignore the counter, but if you suffer from diabetes, then tracking and maintaining your blood glucose levels through limited carbs throughout the day will be a lot more important.
4. Individualized Coaching
By signing up for the subscription, you will have a personal health coach analyze your current habits and diet, identify any nutritional deficiencies, and keep you updated on your progress toward your weight loss goal.
All coaches have to go through training provided by “Noomiversity.” This might sound like just some clever marketing, but there are very stringent criteria to qualify for the program.
Applicants must have an associate’s degree or higher, as well as health-related certifications (e.g., nursing, registered dietitian or nutritionist, paramedic). It does look like they are very strict on who they want on the team.
5. Group Support
Another feature that is advertised a lot is the group chat support community. While having a dietitian available for all types of questions is great, a lot of people find that being able to reach out to others that might have the same problems is another great way to find support and advice [4].
It’s also an option that many customers use to hold each other accountable. You can share your goals with other people and post updates as you achieve milestones. In many cases, reporting about your successes will motivate others to keep moving towards their own goals as well.
6. Fitness Tracker Syncing
Within the settings area of the app, you can connect the Noom app to other activity tracking services.
Noom will count the steps you take if you have a Noom pedometer, but more advanced devices like Fitbit can monitor a lot more types of activities.
Based on the customer service page, all you need to do is link your activity tracker through the settings area in Noom, and it will download the data on a regular basis.
As a result, you have all your energy in and energy out all in one place to see whether your net is actually negative. Watch more in this video below.
How Much Does Noom Cost?
Noom subscription costs vary depending on the program you choose.
The weight loss program with professional diet advice costs $59.99 per month.
There are options available where you can save money by choosing a 2-month subscription for $99 and a 12-month subscription for $199.
In my opinion, the 12-month subscription is worth it because, in addition to saving a significant amount of money, you will have the opportunity to test the product thoroughly and determine if it meets your needs.
Weight Loss Program Alternatives
The Noom Diet Plan aims to help individuals achieve their weight loss goals by promoting healthier habits, such as counting calories and focusing on foods with lower calorie density, which can lead to fewer calories consumed and improved weight loss success, while addressing and changing unhealthy eating habits.
Over the years, my fitness clients and I have discussed many weight-loss programs, and three names consistently come up; Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, and Weight Watchers. Let’s look at how Noom compares to these other weight-loss programs.
Nutrisystem
Nutrisystem began over 50 years ago and is a four-week plan that offers pre-made meals to aid weight loss. Users can repeat the four weeks as many times as they wish.
The idea of this program centers around six smaller, calorie-controlled meals per day to help curb hunger, reduce snacking and promote weight loss.
The program is expensive, with a daily cost of $10-$17, depending on your chosen option. Additionally, my clients who participated in Nutrisystem liked some add-on options, like protein shakes and side dishes but acknowledged that the program price makes it a short-term weight-loss option. Noom offers a better free trial period of 14 days, whereas Nutrisystem’s is seven days.
First-time users can request a refund if they are unsatisfied. Also, Nutrisystem offers options for individuals with specific dietary needs like diabetes management and vegetarian.
All-in-all, Nutrisystem is a good choice for users who like the idea of pre-made meals to jump-start their weight loss journey.
Jenny Craig
Jenny Craig is another weight loss program that centers around pre-made meals and weekly virtual or in-person meetings with a consultant.
The program offers three tiers of meal service ranging from a cost of $14-$30 per day:
- Simple: Seven breakfasts and lunches per week with free shipping for ordering two weeks or more worth of meals
- Essential: Seven breakfasts, lunches, and dinners per week plus free shipping
- Max Up Weight Loss Plan: Seven breakfasts, lunches, dinners, protein bars, and seven snacks or desserts per week, including free shipping
Add-ons like protein shakes are available for an additional cost. My clients who participate in Jenny Craig give the food a mediocre rating because of its sodium content and price.
Jenny Craig comes in pricier than Noom because of the meals; Noom ends up having a substantial discount if you pre-pay for six or twelve months.
The program's design is a short-term solution to weight loss, with users moving to a maintenance plan when they reach their goal weight and begin transitioning to healthy food and meal prep independently.
Weight Watchers
Where Noom is relatively new, Weight Watchers (WW) is another decades-old popular weight loss program. Though the program has evolved over the years, its central focus, using the PersonalPoints system, remains the same.
In this program, each food and drink has a point value, and no food or drink is off-limits, which appealed to many of my clients. They found the point system encouraged them to pick lower-point nutritious food options.
A PersonalPoints survey about preferences, habits, and lifestyle allows for a more personalized plan.
You have three options when subscribing to the program, which is available on their website and through an app with pricing starting at around $20/month:
- Digital: Basic access, including limited access to live support
- Digital 360: Includes Basic tier plus access to online coaches and events like cooking demos, workouts, and nutrition classes
- Unlimited Workshops plus Digital: Includes Digital 360 tier plus unlimited access to virtual or in-person coaching and in-person workshops
Also, you might want to check our list of bodybuilding apps.
What We Didn't Like
Like any other weight loss program, the Noom diet app for lost weight still has its pros and cons.
Some of the customer reviews say that syncing with other fitness trackers can have some delays.
In most cases, it will update within about 5 minutes, but according to Noom, there are some services that have delays of up to an hour. Apparently, this is imposed by other services and not something Noom can influence. Despite this, you will have a full picture of your activity by the end of your day.
Also, downloading the app from Apple store won't make all the useful add-ons available to you.
And in some reviews, consulting your coach only once a week is seen as an inconvenience, as well as the fact that group conversations don't start till week three of your weight loss journey.
Another pro is that Noom addresses social eating and allows you to do things like plan ahead for events—like a party, holiday, or vacation. This is also something I address with clients that fosters true long-term behavioral change.
- Cynthia Sass, Registered Dietitian
Let's find out what the customers have to say about Noom
"I lost 2 pounds in two weeks of using Noom, and I noticed my stomach was a little flatter and my clothes were a touch looser. If I’d kept on using the app, I probably would have continued to lose weight. " -Lauren Bedosky on Smart Health
"I'm a few months into Noom, and I'm feeling better in general with some of the diet changes I've made, but the actual weight is extremely slow to come off. I know in my case, it's a mix of some health issues and still being stuck at home." - Katie on YouTube
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Noom Good for Losing Weight?
Yes, Noom diet is a good service for losing weight as well as making long-term lifestyle changes.
Whether you sign up for the Noom weight loss program or simply use it to keep a food log and find new ways of cooking healthier dinners, endless reviews point to the fact that it’s a great way to keep yourself accountable while developing healthy habits.
The Noom Diet Plan encourages the adoption of healthy eating habits by emphasizing the consumption of low-calorie dense foods rich in healthy nutrients, while also promoting food tracking and discouraging the intake of calorie-dense processed foods.
Is Noom Free?
Yes, the Noom app itself is free. However, the Noom meal plan and coaching services require a subscription.
The company does offer a 2-week trial period for only $1 where you don’t get billed the full amount if you cancel within 14 days. It’s an excellent way to test out the benefits before you commit. Read more about how this works here.
Is Noom Easy to Use?
What Does Noom Mean?
Noom is not an acronym or name but simply "moon" spelled backward, according to its president and co-founder Artem Petakov.
He mentioned that "the moon is calm, wise, and always there for the whole world", which means that the moon is always there to guide you in the right direction when you are lost. In this context, this weight loss program will help you lose weight. He also said that Noom works in many languages.
Noom: Worth for All Potential Pounds Lost
Noom offers a fresh perspective on weight loss, merging expert coaching with an extensive food database.
Its goal is sustainability over short-lived results. Despite a few drawbacks that we’ve noticed, I can say that this app is a positive force for your diet.
Use it to enhance your workout and break bad diet habits while learning about meal combinations to improve your performance.
Our #1 Recommended Health App
Noom
- Personalized calorie breakdown based on a several lifestyle questions
- In-app 1-to-1 health coaching during business hours
- Track the foods you eat by searching a database or scanning barcodes
- Get the BEST PRICE until the end of September
- Limited integration with wearable fitness trackers
About The Author
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Thanks for this Noom diet plan review and I’ll use this to decide whether I’ll get a subscription in the future.
This was a very thorough overview of my favorite mobile app. I actually used the program for 8 weeks and counting. I am totally really liking it so far compared to the previous ones I have tried before. For one, I am not really a fan of diets. I find them restricting. Ang with this, I thought this was great as it focused on lifestyle change.
Ok, I have to admit, I didn’t realize this mobile app was this totally legit. I still don’t know anybody that uses it but hopefully many people will start using it. I’m thankful for your detailed breakdown of this app, Isaac.
I did sign up in this mobile app from October 2017 to March 2018. I had been successful on another program back before children, in the dark ages when you ate liver once a week. The last time I tried the other program I have been using, I gained. I’ve been borderline overweight since I had kids and was seeing my weight creep up. Not to mention my blood pressure as well is making me conscious. But when I started using this app, I am now at a weight I haven’t seen since I was 20-something in 1985. I learned so much as compared to my previous ones and found this to be a great app. I made a commitment and finally realized the diet isn’t going to hurt me if I cheat a little. I hope to read more from you, Isaac!
Thanks so much for posting about your thoughts in this app, Isaac. I have been intrigued by this app for a while after I found it out online. But definitely stubborn of trying it since it seems like all of the programs are aimed at 20-somethings and aren’t so effective for ‘women of a certain age’… Now having read your overview is the clincher- I’m totally going to download the app right now! Hope to update you soon Isaac
I am a woman 61 and I can’t tell you how happy and excited am am about joining Noom ,I signed up sept 23 2020 and I have lost 11 lbs in less then a month and it just has been much easier then I expected logging everything you eat is a game changer,my goal is 60 lbs And for the first time in years I know I can do it NOOM ROCKS.
I turned 61 this week and am at my highest weight ever. I have got to do something and I know my problem is more mental, laziness, bad habits, self-deprecating comments, etc. I do feel I need a coach to help me overcome the things that shut me down, discourage me, and pave the way for the trip down the rabbit hole. I think I will sign up for this app after I have been motivated by your words, dear Isaac. Please pray and cheer me on. Will keep you posted hopefully.
I am joining today. That’s final! So glad there are other ladies out there around my age. I turned 68 last Thursday and I need to lose quite a lot of weight for my age. I have lost it many many times before but in no time I realized I am not the weight I want to have again. Any plan you follow, strict regimens and the like, but as soon as you go off it or I go off and I gain it back agan. So I was looking for a non-diet lifestyle and I think this is the one I am looking for. Thanks for this.
I’m 62 and joined the mobile app a few months ago. A few months since I joined and I’m down few kilos. I’m also a part of another program and lost a chunk of my weight but always gained it back each time I stopped. I constantly struggle with cravings. Since joining this app, I haven’t had any cravings at all. Zero. I can’t believe it! It was really good for me to read this post from you Isaac Robertson because I was wondering how people are doing long term. I really feel this program is different for all the reasons mentioned.
I just turned 60 this year and really feel it’s time to take control of my bad eating habits as I am a senior citizen now. After having a divorce 2 years ago and ending a very very toxic domestic relationship 3 months ago, I have been stress eating and I have gained back all the weight I lost after my divorce due to stress and not eating. I’ve had enough of feeling bad. I just want to get back on track again with life. With all the healthy eating and all the good feeling about myself. My goal is not to only lose weight but to continue this healthy lifestyle with self-love by using this mobile app. I am glad I found this because of you Isaac. I can’t wait to be better again.
I am that woman “of a certain age” and I wondered the same thing… but I can tell you that IT DEFINITELY WORKS. I started a month ago before I retired, determined to stop that scale from it is slow and steady climb over the years and help me enjoy a healthy retirement. I was successful before with other programs that I have joined but when they changed the program, I went off the rails and never went back. I thought counting points was pretty easy – but maintaining a certain goal is SO MUCH EASIER and very straightforward as well. What is good about this is you don’t have to be on this app forever to keep the calculations going. This app is so much different than what you think. It really helps you change the habits that put you in a weight-gain frame of mind to begin with. I should reach my goal in 3 weeks but I intend to stick with this app as long as I can. It’s a wonderful program. Good luck on our journey. Thank you for introducing this to me, Isaac.
I have found it really helpful in managing stress and the psych tools on the app have been great. It’s not expensive with their discount offers.
I’m on the Noom trial. I actually enjoy logging my food. I have never done it before and has made me conscious about what I’m eating. I agree that 1200 calories a day aren’t enough. I currently consume around 1500 and try to walk 3 miles a day. I feel better after the first week and my waist is definitely slimmer.
I can honestly say that Noom is helping my relationship with food (I used to think of things as terrible or good, but now I just think of them as calorie-dense or not, and when they are, I just watch my portions instead of telling myself I can’t have it).
This app definitely helps with keeping track of foods and calories. I enjoyed the personalized coaching and accountability. Overall, a helpful weight-loss tool.