What is Noom: Top 10 Things to Know Before You Try Noom

After enjoying the yumminess of Easter weekend a little too much it was time to face the truth about my weight and how it was affecting me.

I’d seen the social media ads and had been wondering what is Noom?

I was curious how Noom works but I had a hard time finding out a lot of information.  I signed up feeling unsure. But I’m so glad I did!

If you are like me, someone who researches before you buy, I’ve put together this list for you of the top ten things to know before you try Noom.

• You need a scale
• You will find your real Why
• You get a Goal Coach
• Noom is about changing habits
• Changing habits takes time
• Food prep makes a difference
• You will be assigned a group
• Your calories will count
• You will track your meals in the Noom app
• Walking counts too

RELATED POST : Are You Wondering If the Noom Diet Plan is for You? includes my thoughts about doing Noom as a mom and wife. 

Should You Try Noom? 

We all have our whys, right? Why do I let the scale keep creeping up? Why can’t I stick with a diet? Why can’t I make time for the gym? Why did I just eat that last slice of pizza when I’m already full?

For me, the weight I’d been calling baby weight wasn’t. Six months after my preschooler was born I weighed less than I did after her 4^th Easter weekend.

On top of that I work from home with easy access to all her lunch box snacks. All. Day. Long.

Conference call running into lunch time? I’d pop a handful or three of goldfish to tied me over.  Stressful afternoon call? That snack pack of Oreos was the perfect distraction.

After a weekend of too many chocolates Easter eggs I decided I should try Noom.

I figured worst case I would learn a few new things during their trial.

Best case I would lose a pound or 2.

What I found was a program unlike anything else I’d tried.

If you are looking for an overnight weigh loss plan that’s not Noom. 

But if you are looking for program that is gong to teach you how to change your habits, hold you accountability and give you real tools for long term success that IS Noom.

Try Noom’s Trial Today! 

10 Things to Know Before You Try Noom

This isn’t a typical Noom review, it’s the top ten things I wish I had known before I stated Noom. Don’t let fear of the unknown be your excuse!

1. You Need a Scale

I’m not sure why, but they aren’t clear in the lead up about how often you will weigh yourself.

And if you are like me, you are likely to sign up for a weight loss plan on a Sunday evening. Because every Monday is a fresh start, right?

Make sure you order a scale now.

It doesn’t have to be anything fancy.  I bought a scale very similar to this Scales for Digital Weight – 4 High Precision Sensors Body Weight Scale with Step On & Auto Calibrated & Auto ON/OFF Technology, Wide Sturdy Tempered Glass, Round in the same price point.

Go ahead, order it now and have one less to-do on your list.

2. You will find your real Why

Weight gain is frustrating and weight loss is hard. But WHY today are you finally ready to make a change?

What was the reason that brought you to sign up for Noom?

Noom is going to ask you. And Noom is going to help you uncover your real answer.

3. You get a Goal Coach

Knowing your why and keeping it front and center is HARD. Making small changes to lose weight is hard. Finding which foods meet all of your wants and needs is hard.

And Noom knows that. That’s why they give you a Goal Coach.

You aren’t expected to change your habits alone.

One important note: your Goal Coach won’t tell you what to eat. She’s going to make you figure that our yourself. But trust me, you’ll thank her for that when the pounds start coming off.

Try Noom’s Trail Today!

4. Noom is about changing Habits

While it’s easy to call a Noom a diet it’s actually a habit changing program. You will spend time every day interacting on the app.

Normally I would have fought a little harder at some of the early lessons, but I recently listened to the book Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear.

The framework described in Atomic Habits and the framework for the lessons in Noom are very similar.  And I love that.

While the framework of habit change is similar, Noom digs deep into why you make the food choices you do and provides guidance and accountability to help you change those habits.

If you are thinking about signing up for Noom download Atomic Habits too. It’s a great companion to Noom.

5. Changing habits takes time

This part is important. Plan to spend about 10-15 minutes a day reading the Noom app and participating in the lessons.

These lessons are worth it even if you think you know everything there is to know about dieting. Give it a real chance to help you let go of old habits and create new ones.

6. Like any diet food prep makes a difference

Set yourself up for success and have fruit, veggies and lean meats on hand when you start.

I signed up on a Sunday night and didn’t have any idea what to expect until I opened the app that first Monday morning.

I quickly realized I was going to waste my first week if I didn’t grocery shop fast.

One of my personal dieting mantras is weight loss starts with what you put in your shopping cart. But I was nervous about setting foot in the grocery store and filling my shopping card with the wrong foods.

Shipt to the rescue!

In about 15 minute I had fruits, veggies, frozen brown rice, sweet potatoes and chicken (I know I know… chicken breast…but remember you will have a why….) loaded in my online shopping cart.

By using a grocery delivery service you don’t have to be tempted at the grocery store any more.

It’s completely worth the sign up fee to have greater control over what goes in your shopping cart.

If you don’t have a Shipt account yet sign up now and get your grocery delivered in as little as one hour. Don’t let the grocery store get in the way of your weight loss goals anymore!

7. You will be assigned a group

Based on you answer to the questions during the on-boarding phase you will be matched with an accountability group.

If you are in introvert don’t let this freak you out.

You don’t have to participate you can just follow along.

What struck me the most about the group is how alike our interests and struggles are.  The fancy algorithm Noom uses to create the groups is pretty good!

Reading the comments in the Noom  group is like listening to the dialogue in my own mind.

8. Your calories will count

Let’s be honest, as much as Noom is about changing habits, it’s still a diet.

And to be transparent I have tried WW.

More than once.

But one of the reasons I flunked out of WW’s Freestyle program is because there is no limit on your calorie intake.

Have you tried it? The free foods list gave me too many ways to consume too many “good” calories.

Noom limits your calories and then divides them into three buckets (bucket is my word not theirs.) The red bucket is the good stuff like wine, chips and ice cream.

They encourage you to limit how many of your calories are red bucket foods without taking them off the list completely.

They are going to teach you how to enjoy food with out binge eating. Really!

This habit change will take everyone a different amount of time to adapt to but the lessons they provide are totally learnable.

At the end of week three, I only ate one bite of Publix birthday cake at a kid’s birthday party. And I was totally okay with it. Crazy, right?

Try Noom’s Trial Today!

9. Your will need to track your meals in the Noom app

Y’all I have NEVER been a calorie counter.  Never ever ever!

And I’ve always cringed at the idea of tracking what I eat. Even when I had gestational diabetes I struggled with tracking my meals. It wasn’t pretty.

But technology is different now and the app is really good. They make it much less painful then I had build it up in my mind to be.

Most of the foods I eat are in the app. Even my daughter’s apple cinnamon cheerios (Red food alert) and my Trader Joe’s favorites too.

This program is about habit change and one thing Noom does very well is accountability.

You tell the app what time to check in with you during the day if you haven’t logged your meals and it reminds you. I know it sounds so simple, but it really works!

10. Walking counts too

Noom doesn’t ask you to become an extreme athlete or do crazy exercise videos but they do give you a bonus for moving your body.

Noom syncs with pedometer on your phone (or another device of you choosing) and you get bonus calories depending on your number of steps and exercise that day.

It’s a formula not a one step = another bite situation, but it’s enough to encourage you to get moving when you are exhausted on Friday morning so you can enjoy some ice cream that evening.

Conclusion

Making the decision to the lose weight isn’t easy.

But what if, instead, you could make the decision to change the habits that cause you to gain weight to start with?

Because that’s what happens with Noom.

I hope my top ten things to know about Noom has helped you. I know I would have loved a list like this before I started! I kept wondering what is Noom?

As for my story, I’m amazed daily at their ability to read my mind and guide me to not only drop pounds but keep them off.  It’s taken a few weeks of daily weigh ins, coaching from my Goal Coach and meal tracking but the pounds are coming off AND my habits are changing.

The goldfish on the kitchen counter have been replaced by apples and oranges. 

I prep veggies for me too while packing my daughter’s lunch box. The Oreos are still in the pantry but I’m no longer turn to them in the fog of a stressful moment.

And my greatest achievement, in addition to fitting into my summer clothes, the weekends no longer undo the work I’ve put in during the week.  I cheer every Monday morning that the number on the scale hasn’t gone up.

Now that you know what Noom is, are you ready to give Noom a try? Click the Learn more button below to start your trial today!

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