What is Noom? (In Basic Terms… No Technical Jargon!)

Share it or save it for later!

Have you seen ads for Noom but have no idea what it is? Today I'll answer the question of “What is Noom?” in layman's terms. No fancy jargon needed! Take it from someone who has completed the whole program, including the optional add-ons. I paid for the whole program, finished it and now I am telling you about it, in case you are curious about What Noom is, what the Noom Diet consists of, and more. When you join you also get a referral link to share with friends and family. If you find this information helpful, I'd love it if you join through my Noom referral partner links throughout this article.

What is Noom? The Simple Answer.

Whether you have seen ads online, caught their TV commercials or heard about it from a friend, chances are you have heard of the Noom app and are wondering what it is.

Simply put, Noom is a weight loss app that helps you break unhealthy habits and create new, healthy habits. The outcome for most users, is sustainable, long-term weight loss. Wondering how? I'll tell you more about how the app helps and about the weight loss program is uses.

What Does the Noom App do?

How Noom works. Bottom line, Noom teaches you to break the bad habits that led to gaining weight, and helps you build new, lifelong, healthy habits to help you stay at a healthy weight for good. It is not a list of foods to follow for a while, then when you stop, you gain weight back again. 

Let's start with the fact that Noom is an app for your mobile phone or tablet. You join on the Noom Website and they send you to the right place based on your device. Other than joining, you do not interact with Noom on your computer, the Noom app is used only on your phone or tablet.

Once you've joined and gotten the app, you login to the app and get started.

During the joining process, Noom connects you with actual live people based on what you say in a short weight loss quiz.  Based on your simple answers to questions like your current body weight, your weight loss goals and your age, you will be matched up with a Goal Specialist to touch base with each week, a Group Coach who facilitates discussion between a group of Noom users like yourself, and the group members themselves.

It does take a couple days from when you join for all of the parts to get going in your app. So a lot of people join and then right away wonder, “Where is my Noom Group?” or “Where is my Noom Health Coach?” If you don't see all the parts immediately, that is why: They are matching you with actual people, and it may take extra time during busy times like around New Year's Day. If you really think there is something wrong, you can reach out to the Noom Support Page, but it really should all be set up soon. Having done Noom before, I appreciated that they took the time to match me up with people that suit me.

Generally when looking at the app, you will see a daily menu of tasks. They will not take you long, but the more attention you devote to each one, the more you will get out of Noom in the long run.

Some of the daily tasks on the Noom app may include:

• Log your meals (You just enter your foods and serving sizes, the app calculates the calories for you)
• Read a short daily lesson (think about the length of a long Facebook or Insta post)
• Take a quick quiz (I feel like the quizzes and lessons are actually fun and light-hearted, but make me think)
• Weigh yourself
• Check in with your group

The first few times you do these things, it may take getting used to. That's ok. It's new. It will get easier. You're worth the work either way. 🙂

Here is a screenshot:

The daily lessons are really the most valuable part of the Noom app. Each day you will have a little snippet to read that applies to the most common habits that lead to weight gain. 

Some topics you will read and think about during the short, explore your relationship with food. Topics of daily lessons include:

• Stress eating
• Boredom eating
• Social cues of eating (Like when your friend orders a dessert and that makes you want to order dessert)
• Environmental eating cues (Keeping a candy bowl at your desk probably makes it harder to cut back on candy!)
• Unbalanced food groups in your diet

It helps you see just WHY you are making all those eating choices that have contributed to your “current results.”

For example, it helped me to see why I was shoving 3-4 slices of cheese into my mouth each morning while I made the kids school lunches, and why I settled for calling that “breakfast.”

It helped me see why I was “saving” fresh fruits and vegetables for my kids, and not eating them myself.

I saw how splitting a whole pizza with my husband, just to make sure I got my share, was mayyybe not necessary.

Do you have any of those little daily habits that you could work on to be more healthy? That is what the Noom app does.

See Each Step in Action in my How Does Noom Work? Video.

It is best viewed on your computer, rather than your phone. You can make the video full screen if it helps to see it better. 

In the video you can see:

• How do I log food in Noom?
• Where is my Coach in Noom?
• Where is My Group in Noom?

 

How Much Time Does Noom Take?

The first week or so, it took me a while to get used to logging my foods on Noom. But it actually remembers your meals and common foods, so as you do it more, it gets easier. I would say throughout the day I spent around 15 minutes a day between logging foods and reading the lessons.

If you are wondering how long it takes to lose weight on Noom, well, there is no simple answer. Sorry. The fact of the matter is: Everyone is different. One person has 20 pounds to lose, another 50, the next one 70. And everyone has their own speed at which they lose weight. There is simply no way to tell you.

Users typically see 1-2 pounds per week, but if you look at My Noom Results Graph at the bottom of my Noom App Review, you will see that it looks like a zig-zag. The general trend was down, but there were days where my weight went up and days when it went down.

When talking about how long weight loss will take, I like to paraphrase from one of my favorite books to pair with Noom, which is called Atomic Habits.  

The author says something like, “If you are flying from Los Angeles to New York, and the pilot turns the nose of the plane a few inches at takeoff, you would land in Miami.” 

Guys, you're boarding the plane for your future. Is the nose of your airplane going to continue in the same direction it's currently going? Or are you ready to turn, just a few inches to change your destination?

If you change nothing…. nothing changes. You can do this. If you think Noom is right for you, get started today.

What is the Noom Diet?

Honesty, there are no Actual Noom Diet Plans… Noom is more about bringing balance to the foods you eat, and addressing the bad habits that may be causing you to eat a less balanced diet.

“If there is no set diet, how do I know what to eat on Noom,” you may be wondering? This is a great question, and it is one that is answered throughout the entire Noom program.

Unlike things like a Keto Diet, changing your diet doesn't happen overnight on Noom. With low carb diets, you are supposed to just go cold turkey and “quit carbs” in order to jump start the weight loss. Some people find a low carb lifestyle to be manageable long term, but I was not one of them. And once I quit low carbing, I gained weight back because I still had the same habits of stress eating, boredom eating, etc.

So how is this different? Noom isn't about following a strict list of foods. It actually helps you break your bad eating habits so that you are not reliant on a list of foods. Nothing is off limits on Noom. You can even drink alcohol on Noom.

Noom does have a color coding system that codes the foods you log each day, which is what I think people are referring to when they ask What is the Noom Diet. But the goal is to help you reach a more balanced diet but nothing is totally off limits.

In the Noom app, foods are broken down into Green, Yellow and Red foods based on caloric density. That means, they code them so you have a good idea of which foods have a lot of calories in one bite, versus fewer calories in each bite.

I don't know the density of most foods, so having the color coding done for me feels like having a registered dietitian in my pocket!

Like the traffic light colors suggest, green foods are encouraged and should be plentiful. Yellow foods are good, but don't go crazy. Noom Red foods are calorie dense- lots of calories in each bite- so they are eaten sparingly.

You know what? My first week on Noom, every food I logged was RED. Every one. 

I actually cried when I saw that- not out of shame or failure- but just seeing that I'd been eating ONLY foods that should be eaten sparingly for SO long, it is NO WONDER I was gaining weight!

As you go through the Noom program you will learn more about what foods to add to your diet and how to still enjoy your favorites.

In fact one of the most surprising things I learned from Noom is just how much junk food I was eating that I really didn't even enjoy! It is so crazy.

One day I was eating a burger and fries, and truth be told, the fries were just really crappy. Normally, I would have shakes salt onto them, dipped them in ketchup and finished them anyhow. But I just sat there stunned. Oh my god. I was really about to consume hundreds of calories of a food that I just said was crappy!

Do you have foods that you have just eaten out of habit, or boredom, and maybe you never noticed that they are not even that good??

Well now, after walking through the Noom daily lessons, I am able to really say, you know what? I LOVE caramel. Once in a while, I can have a treat with caramel. That is worth it to me. And I really do sit and enjoy it. You know what is not worth it to me? The bread they give you at a restaurant. My husband and my son could exist on crusty bread alone, but for me, I just don't care.

For you it may be different. Maybe your “worthy” red food is cheese, or peanut butter, or ice cream.

You don't have to decide now. Your body will let you know. And if that is your food that you look forward to….? Well it's time to make sure you can enjoy that food but still take good, loving care of yourself.

On Noom you kind of carve away the junk food that isn't worth it, and replace it with healthier foods that allow you to have that occasional treat.

If you are still unsure and want just a tiny sample, check out my article What Do You Eat on Noom? But really, what to eat will really be up to you. It's just that with Noom, you will have the skills and knowledge to make better choices. And that makes all the difference- for the rest of your LIFE!

Ready to get started on Noom? Take the Quiz and start Today!

Want to hear from more people? After I shared my thorough Noom Review, tons of other people wrote in to share their experiences. Here are just a few. To read the rest head to the comments section of my Noom Review.

 

When you were wondering, “What is Noom?” did I answer the question for you? If you have other questions about it, please let me know in the comments below so I can help you and others who want to know about this app.

Share it or save it for later!