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Noom FAQ: What is Noom and How Does it Work?

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Today is Noom FAQ Day! “What is Noom?” “How does Noom Work?” and “Is Noom Worth it?”- I answer these questions, among others. I even created a video tutorial to give you a sneak peak at what the noom weight loss app looks like and how it actually works. I do not work for Noom, but I proudly share my referral partner link in my post, in hopes that my story and the information I provide will help others in their weight loss journey.

I've been using Noom for weight loss since September of 2017. :-O I can hardly believe I've been eating this way for so long now.

Since I've started using it and writing about Noom, tons of fans, friends and family have been asking me all kinds of questions about it.

I thought I'd put together anFAQ post with answers to all the questions I keep getting about Noom.

What is Noom? and How Does Noom Work?

Below, I'll answer the most common questions I get about Noom since I published my Noom Review and Noom Results post.

What is Noom? 

Noom Healthy Weight Program is an app-based weight loss program for iPhone and android smartphones. (Again, here is a full Noom review) It has some standard weight loss app features, like food logging, but really stands apart thanks to three key features.

The features that set it apart from other popular weight loss apps are:

  • color-coded food system
  • Coaches trained in nutrition AND goal setting
  • Most importantly: Short, easy to read lessons about habit change.

This last part- the habit change lessons, or behavior modification- is far and away the biggest difference from other programs.

Key Take Away: 

There is no pill, shake, supplement, fad diet, food delivery service or medical treatment that can help you tackle your emotional triggers and relationship with food.

Negative thinking, boredom eating, stress eating, social pressure, etc. It is all covered. This is where Noom stands alone. It is a psychology based program at its core. 

You can drink shakes or take pills to lose weight but unless you face the issues that caused you to gain weight in the first place, you can gain back your weight if you stop the shakes and pills. 

If this speaks to you I really hope you will invest in your emotional well being and physical health at the same time, and get started on Noom

How Does Noom Work?

Some people ask this questions and they want to know “How do you use Noom?” and others want to know “How Well Does Noom Work?”

If you're wondering How to Use Noom, it's pretty simple.

You take their custom plan quiz right here on the Noom website to get started, then add the app to your smartphone and sign in. After you sign up, you will be paired with a goal coach and a group coach. Each day you will log your food and read short snippets on the app to help you busy bad habits and develop better habits. (These are usually around the length of 2-3 scrolls of the smartphone screen. I read them while eating breakfast, waiting in line at the store, that kind of thing. Super quick.) You will also be prompted to weigh in some days. You can log any workouts or sync your Noom app with your fitness tracker too (more on this below).

I usually spend 5-10 minutes total on the app, spread throughout the day.

Once a week your goal coach will check in with you to talk about the previous week and set goals for the coming week. It's a quick, text message style conversation within the app- although the coach is available for additional questions and guidance as well. Their National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coaches are a mix of registered dietitians, nutritionists and other related coaches. They are there to guide you, NOT to prescribe every meal and snack.

Your group coach will be posting daily conversation topics for motivation and support- you can post in the group too to celebrate your wins, ask for support or discuss any struggles. Participate as little or as much as you like.

If you're wondering How Well Does Noom Coach Work? Check out my Noom Review and Results post, where I show you my weight log chart and go through every part of the app.

I made a Full Video Tutorial on my YouTube Channel called, “How Does Noom Work?” that walks through the app. Here is a shorter sneak peak:

Who Is Noom Good For?

Noom is great for anyone who:

  • Wants to tackle bad eating habits (stress eating, mindless eating, unbalanced diet, cravings, binge eating, social eating, etc)
  • Doesn't know what habits they need to change to lose weight
  • Wants an easy to use weight loss app
  • Wants to choose your own foods every day, with guidance, nothing off limits
  • Prefers online interaction to meeting in person
  • Wants a program that ends, without lifetime payments but you can sustain on your own
  • Is interested in Diabetes Prevention. (See if you are eligible for their Diabetes Prevention Program here.)

Noom would not be a good match for anyone who:

  • Does not want an app based weight loss program
  • Would like to attend meetings or appointments in person
  • Wants specific meal plans to follow for each day (This app would be a better bet for that)
  • Wants portion controlled food delivered to your home (Here are some great weight loss meal delivery services that pair great with Noom, though.)
  • Has a history with an eating disorder. Calorie counting and regular weigh-ins are part of the program, so just a heads up to discuss with your doctor if this will impact you.

How Do I Join Noom?

To join Noom, you start by taking their quiz, here on their website, to find your customized course. That walks you through the process to get started really easily.

Can I Sync Noom with Fitbit and Other Fitness Trackers?

Yes Noom syncs with Fitbits and other brands of fitness trackers. For a list of trackers and apps that sync with Noom, check out their Noom iOs Apps list and the Noom Android Apps list.

You can also add Noom on an Apple Watch.

To connect Noom with your Fitbit or other step trackers, you just have to go to you Noom app and follow this path:

Home-> Settings -> Apps & Devices -> Connect Additional Devices -> (scroll to find your app/device) -> Connect.

You will be prompted to login to that app and approve the connection.

To make sure Noom pulls your step count from your fitbit or other wearable, head back to your Noom App. Follow this path: Home-> Settings -> Apps & Devices -> Choose steps data source -> Now scroll to the one you want Noom to use for steps and toggle it on.

Problems syncing your Fitbit with Noom? Sometimes it take a few minutes to sync, or if your current Fitbit steps aren't showing up in your noom app, make sure you sync your Fitbit with the Fitbit app first, then re-open or refresh your Noom app. (After all, you connected Noom App with the Fitbit App, not directly to your fitbit!)

Some of my most frequently asked questions are all related:

What Foods Can I Have on Noom?

The Noom Diet plan does all the sorting as far as which foods are green yellow and red. But basically, no foods are off limits in Noom, and they favor nutrient dense foods.

But I'll tell you a secret that you might not see elsewhere. It is not about trying to only consume green noom foods.

It is about identifying the red noom foods that are worth it to you. You cut out the rest, and balance them with green and yellow foods. Check out my articles on Noom Red Foods and Noom Green Foods for more about how I incorporate them into my diet.

As I say often my first week on Noom, all my foods were coded as red foods. So no wonder I was one pound away from the heaviest I'd ever been. I had NO discernment between something I can have occasionally to something I can eat every day.

If you have “failed” at other diets because you just couldn't give up your favorite food, well it is time to figure out how to live WITH your favorite foods rather than deeming them forbidden fruit.

What is the Noom Diet Plan?

Your exact calorie count recommendations on Noom will vary based on your results from the quiz. Mine was 1200. As you log your food intake, the app tracks your calories for you, so you can focus on shifting to more of a balance of foods, as well as learning better habits.

Overall the Noom Diet Plan is to eat a mix of foods in the Red, Yellow and Green categories. You want to focus more on green and yellow coded foods than red foods but they are not off limits. Yellow and green foods are better for you because they have more healthy nutrients for the calories. For example, you want to eat 100 calories of strawberries (green food) or garbanzo beans (yellow food) more often than 100 calories of a candy bar (red food).

What are Noom Red, Yellow and Green Foods?

For an example of my daily meal plan, head to my post on What Foods Can You Eat on the Noom Diet Plan?

Basically, though, you can eat any food you want on the Noom Diet but the Noom Diet Plan consists of a color coded food system that helps you prioritize fruits, veggies and lean protein. The red, yellow, green system kind of conditions you to eat them more. It actually kind of feels like an incentive to me to give myself green foods.

Noom red foods are not off limits, in fact they make up a portion of your recommended calories every day. Wondering about alcohol? Check out my article about Drinking Alcohol on Noom.

The color code system of the Noom Diet Plan helped me with a weird, specific issue I've had over the years since becoming a mom. I had this odd habit of “saving” fruits and veggies for my kids and not “wasting” them on me. Yikes! Well the green light gives me permission, mental incentives and regular reminders that I need to eat those foods too.

The color system doesn't mean much to anyone who hasn't joined and gotten their customized plan, but if you are joining Noom and want some helpful printables to get started on the right foot, check out the Noom food lists that I made for myself and grab a set for yourself.

In my case, when I started I was eating 3 pieces of cheese for breakfast, more cheese for lunch and then rampage through the pantry to stress eat in the afternoon. Family dinner, then often wine and snacks in the evening. So yeah, turns out that is not very balanced.

Nowadays I eat a huge variety of foods but each week I will usually have a big mix of my favorite green and yellow foods available. Chicken, yogurt, salmon, garbanzo beans, cauliflower, whole grains, lean red meats, spinach, bananas (I make a lot of smoothies and fruit salads).

I have found that my “worthwhile” red foods…. the ones that I'm willing to eat healthy foods in order to fit one in… those are usually nut butters, red wine or still the occasional cheese. I used to eat chips, candy and ice cream any time I want. And maybe those will be the important ones to YOU. But I noticed they just were not worth it for me. But still I don't eat 5 pieces of cheese WITH my wine and peanut butter. I pick one and have a reasonable serving. THAT is the behavior modification working.

How do I cancel my Noom Account?

There will come a time when you no longer need Noom. This is by design- Noom is not meant to be used for the rest of your life. You use it to build lifelong healthy habits, then once they are habits, you can go right on living your healthy life. For example, I reached my first goal weight by the time my first session was about to end, but I wanted to keep going and continue for one more session. Then I cancelled and continued with my habits.

So once you're done with Noom weight loss coach, if you are wondering how to delete a noom account and stop your noom payments, it is simple. Just send a message to your coach through the app. I recommend doing this weeks ahead of time. If you tell your coach that this is your last noom session, he or she can cancel your next noom coach payment and still give you access for the session you are in. So if your custom program is say, 16 weeks, and you are on track for your goal, check in with your coach around week 12 and let him or her know that you would like to cancel after the session. Confirm with your coach, but when I did this I still had access until the day before my next payment would have occurred. I'm glad I didn't wait until the last minute though, because Noom coaches are real people and have regular work hours. I usually get responses from my coach pretty quickly but when it comes to billing, it is best to give them plenty of time, like any human! They do have a Noom Customer Support Page if you need additional help.

Can You Still Use Noom After You Cancel?

After you finish your program you can keep logging your food and weight in the app without paying, it is the daily lessons and coaching that ends.

How Much DOES Noom Cost?

Noom's pricing is different for everyone, based on your customized program. This is because pricing is based on how long your program lasts. Someone looking to lose 15 pounds will have a different plan than someone needing to lose 75 pounds.

Click here for a thorough breakdown of how much Noom Costs.

Can You Really Lose Weight with Noom?

If you really use it, you absolutely can. If you do the trial and find yourself not committed to it, then like any other program, probably not. You can see my results at the bottom of my Noom Review, but also check out results of Brandy and Cobie.

Noom Versus Top Competitors:

Okay, now that we know the answer to “What is noom?” and the most common basic questions, it's time to talk about how it stacks up to other top weight loss apps and programs. Here are the most common ones that people ask about when comparing to Noom.

Noom vs Weight Watchers

A few of my friends have had great success on Weight Watchers, and others have seen Noom's ads comparing Weight Watchers to MySpace. So it makes sense that I've been asked to compare Noom vs WW. Noom and Weight Watchers are similar in a lot of ways but there are a few differences that really set them apart, such as in-person meetings versus in-app coaching and group support. Both are great options. It just depends on what you are looking for. I actually discuss the differences in my post, “Is Noom the New Weight Watchers Alternative?

Noom vs Rise

If you're wondering how Noom compares to Rise app, there are several differences. Rise has you take photos of everything you eat and post it in the app for your coach to see. Your coach reviews your photos (or you can type in the info, but the point of the app is taking the photos) and provides feedback as a comment under the photo. The feedback is helpful if you need daily, individual guidance. But there is no overall education or cognitive behavioral therapy in Rise, so once you stop using the app, you only have the feedback you've gotten on your previous meals. You can choose how the coach responds- in a super friendly manner, or kicking your butt into shape, or in the middle. I think if you just need focused help for the short term, it's a great accountability app, especially for people who are already in the habit of taking pictures of their food. But if you want to learn long term habits for a healthy lifestyle, it's hard to get that from Rise. I also found it awkward in several social situations to take photos of my food, but I know a lot of people who do it all the time. Kind of depends on what you prefer.

Noom vs MyFitnesspal

I've used MyFitnessPal for years to log my food. The ease of food logging is the best- better than Noom I'd say. In fact as soon as my Noom subscription is up, that is what I will use to continue logging my food. If food logging is all you need, it's a fantastic app. If you've tried logging your food and didn't see results from that alone, or you know you have bad habits (cravings, binge eating, emotional eating, social eating, stress eating, etc) that you need to tackle, I highly recommend Noom for that. Then when you're done fixing your bad habits, cancel your noom account and continue logging on MyFitness Pal.

Noom VS KETO

If you are wondering how Noom works compared to the KETO diet, a low carb diet or atkins, I actually talk a lot about that in my Keto Diet post.

Is Noom Coach Worth It?

This is probably the most common question I've been asked. I really go into detail about if Noom is worth the cost in my Noom Review post. I suppose it depends on what you are looking for. For me, I had been getting my fitbit steps every single day for years but my eating was all out of wack. I had issues like stress eating, social eating and other habits that were contributing to weight gain. I didn't even know some of my bad habits I had until I read about it in Noom. So for me, it was 100% worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I have used the services of a nutritionist in the past, which was also extremely valuable. This is very similar in my mind, but the cost was less than seeing a nutritionist. If you like meeting in person and want specific foods or you have dietary or medical needs, a nutritionist or dietician might be more appropriate. But if you are not interested in face to face meetings, want guidance and want to change bad habits, Noom is an excellent value.

The other reason I think Noom is worth the money, is that of all the weight loss plans out there- shakes, pills, 30 day challenges, portion control containers, etc, none of them seek to correct the habits that caused your weight gain in the first place. So would it be cheaper to take some magic bullet weight loss shake? Maybe or maybe not, depending on the cost of the product you choose. But when you stopped paying for Noom, you have changed your eating habits. When you stop taking the shake or pill, you are back to your old habits. That really crystalizes the difference to me.

Is Noom a Scam?

The funniest question I've gotten is- one person actually asked me, “Is Noom coach a scam?” Nope. Noom is not a scam. It's a weight loss app developed by people who wanted to use technology to help people live healthier lives. The only reason I can think of for people thinking it is a scam is if they did the free trial and waited too long to back out and got charged. But that doesn't make it a scam. The costs are explained before you sign up for the trial. If you submit a cancellation before you are due to be charged, it will be recorded in their system so the coach just has to submit it. Like any other free trial in the world, if you don't cancel in time they'll assume you're on board, though, so, you'll be charged. Anyone who has questions about their current account can head to the Noom Customer Support Page if you need additional help.

Ready to get started? Take their quiz to see your custom plan today. 

Now that you know the answer to “What is Noom?” what other questions do you have about Noom Weight Loss Coach? Let's hear them in the comments below.

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3 Comments

  1. Can you send me copies of your food guides you need for red, green, etc. I signed up with them yesterday after reading your review and saw that you had made your own lists for quick review. Thank you!

    1. Hi Thanks for your feedback! I’m glad you have found solutions that work for you. I personally have used MFP and Fitbit for years but for anyone who has emotional eating issues or has never learned how to balance their diet, I do think Noom is very different and made a huge difference for me. Everyone is different though and again I am glad you have a solution for yourself!

  2. I saw my Doctor today. She is on this plan and doing very well! I must lose 44 pounds and learn to control my cravings. Especially in the evening! So I am ready for a different way to eat and be satisfied.

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