You can’t miss the Noom adverts every time you open your phone and visit an App?  Or maybe with clever social media algorithms I am being targeted. I’ve shown an interest in weight loss, nutritional health and wellbeing and I am targeted daily with the Noom ads. Are you? Have you thought about getting involved in the psychology-based eating that Noon offers?  It has to be better than the diet world that works on humiliation and deprivation. Is it a welcome change in the multi-million-pound weight loss industry?

This blog will explore why Noom has become so successful in the last 2 years, what has changed to make this online app so popular and what you need to know if you are thinking of working with them? As a Health Coach, I applaud the positivity and psychology-based approach of Noom and I wanted to dive deeper, this blog will outline what I have found.

What is Noom?

Noom is advertised as the last weight loss program you’ll ever need.  It begins with a psychology-based evaluation of your current lifestyle and it is an online programme that will create a plan based on what you want to achieve.

These two goals achievement goals it offers are:

How does Noom work?

Contemporary Health Coaches like myself, always carry out a wellness audit before working with a client and Noom is no different. The first stage, when working with Noom is a detailed demographic profile asking questions about your age, sex, weight, height, preferences and then setting your personal goal.

Prefer Video? Watch My Video on Does Noom work?

Based on the answers Noom will offer a strategy depending on your current lifestyle and digs a little deeper into your activity levels to create the perfect template for you.

Noom will personalise your plan by asking questions like this:

How active are you?

• • My diet and activity need a lot of work/I  have some healthy habits/I mostly eat well and stay active

The specific combination of foods you eat can have a huge impact on your ability to burn fat. Which of the following best describes your typical lunch?

• • I tend to eat sandwiches/I tend to eat soups and salads/Other

How OFTEN you eat can impact your metabolism. Which of the following best describes your typical day?

• • I almost always eat 3 or less meals per day/I almost always eat at least 3 meals, plus several snacks a day/It depends – sometimes less than 3 meals, sometimes more than 3

What type of results can you expect with Noom?

Noom creates long-term results through habit and behavioural change, it is an move away from the weight loss industry and high street brands of the past which use restrictive dieting.  Research that Noon has carried out shows that 78% of Noom users sustained their weight loss over 9 months based on their own study back in 2016:

(Nature Research – 35,921 participants)

People who use Noom and adopt a healthy lifestyle can expect to lose 1-2 lbs per week

What do the Noom coaches do?

Noon coaches begin with a psychological approach by profiling your ability to form habits.  The questions asked before joining establish the following and help Noon to build your habit profile:

• Demographic Profile
• Habits and Behaviors
• Activity
• Nutrition

Based on your answers Noon then provides you with a diet plan in the same way that previous mass marketing approaches have done.  The app then supports you each day with a personalised list of steps based on psychology, nutrition, and exercise physiology

• Track the foods you eat by searching a database or scanning barcodes
• Log exercise, weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar
• Receive in-app 1:1 health coaching during business hours
• Stay motivated with interactive articles and quizzes

How do Noom coaches compare to a Health Coach?

Noom coaches are available online via the app during office hours, the coaches are also members of the Coaching Community.  Some commentators have suggested the feedback is a little scant and vague. Good Housekeeping reviewed the App and found that the answers and the marketing were patronising commenting:

“From both a clinical opinion and as a consumer, these words sound ever-so-slightly shy of condescension.” Good Housekeeping Feb 2020

As a behavioural change expert, I don’t have a problem with simplified or repetitive language when you are picking up a new skill because the change needs to occur in the subconscious not the cognitive rational part of the brain.  So my objection isn’t with the language, that can be personalised. My concern is the speed that nutritional science is moving forward incredibly quickly with research into macro balancing.

A Health Coach is personalised approach – using a detailed audit and a unique experience.  A Health Coach will work on the 4 pillars of your health.  A Health Coach uses a holistic approach to your health and wellbeing, coaching and guiding that good health it’s not just about the food on your plate, but also how you nourish yourself through other areas of your life and develops all “four pillars” creating fantastic health that will keep your body and mind running at its best capacity, as well as creating a strong and resilient emotional well-being. If you are interested in finding out more about What is a Health Coach read more here

Concerns with the Noon app

Noom like its free counterpart MyFitnessPal both provide food tracking capabilities designed for healthier habit formation. It is how you programme these apps and your Macro balance that is the key to long-term weight loss.

Noom charges nearly £50 a month, whereas MyFitnessPal is free. The online coaching is the benefit of working with Noom, using a mass-market approach.  You have no choice in the Coach you are working with and the answer they provide.

More importantly, Noom focuses on a macro balance that is still ‘old science’ – low fat. Noom is based on a low-fat diet and still encourages weigh-ins. There is no exercise, you have to create your own and there is little in the way of WHY you follow their prescribed diets.

And for that ‘low-fat’ reason….

As they say on Dragons Den….
I’m out

Gentle Reset: My Group Coaching Programme

Reset your body and detox your mind in my 6 weeks Group Coaching Programme

My Group Coaching programme is based on a 6 weeks course that will focus on your health and wellbeing.  Inside the 6 weeks Gentle Reset you will be able to reset your mind and detox your body and you will be provided with the support you need to get a healthy lifestyle in a place.

A big part of that means that you will have the nourishing eating habits that will give you more energy and more motivation as well as the appropriate levels of exercise.

Who is my Group Coaching Programme for?

• If you are over 40 and wondering what the next 50 years are going to look like for you, then my Group Coaching programme is a great way to reset your health.
• If you are a busy, professional woman, successful in so many other aspects of your life but find it hard to find time for you then my Group Coaching Programme is perfect for you.
• If you are looking for nutrition, exercise and emotional wellbeing that is tailored to you, your life and your commitments.
• If you are looking to move your health onto the next stage, and create a new lifestyle that supports and nurtures you rather than drains you.  Then the 6 weeks Gentle Reset is perfect for you –  Join here:  6 weeks Gentle Reset
• The next round of Gentle Reset begins in March 2021 Get your mindset ready and join today to get started on your first habit, then join in the calls when the first round starts. Click here to join the 6 weeks Gentle Reset

BE QUICK this programme, along with all my programmes will be increasing in price very soon > Click here to find out why I am raising my prices But you’ll also discover how you can grab a place before my prices go up, you need to be fast

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PS. If you have read enough and you know that this is for you, and you are ready to discover the next stage of your journey  – then click here to join my next round before the prices rise 

Find out what other clients have to say…

References:

https://www.secondnature.io/guides/lifestyle/weight-loss-programmes/noom-vs-second-nature

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a26023584/noom-diet-plan-review