Nooming My Way to a Healthier Lifestyle
OK – I am not a diet person. Cut out sugar? I don’t think so. I enjoy food and don’t want to feel guilty about eating. But like many people out there, my weight has been creeping up over the years and then peaked during the pandemic. Again, I’m not a diet person, but I recognized I needed to make some changes. That said, I’m getting older – about to hit the 5-0 mark – and though I wanted to lose weight, I also had gotten to the point where I accepted this may just be my reality.
Nevertheless, I figured I should at least try to make some changes. Two separate friends told me they were having great luck with Noom. I was quite skeptical at first. Cognitive behavioral therapy? I didn’t understand what it was or how it would be helpful, but I was quite certain it wasn’t for me. I don’t know what made me take the leap and try it and I can’t believe I didn’t cancel it as soon as I found out I would have to weigh myself – repeatedly. And by repeatedly, I mean every day. (I am one of those people who only gets on a scale at the doctor’s office and when there I ask if I can remove as many clothes as possible and then tell them not to tell me my weight…)
Well, that first week was painful. I felt like I had to start restricting my eating right away and thought the app was telling me all of my food choices were wrong. That was NOT what the app was telling me. In fact, Noom has a completely different approach to weight loss. When they say they promote lifestyle change, they mean it. Rather than a diet app with all sorts of rules and restrictions, Noom seeks to educate and guide you to make healthy choices. The app features all sorts of encouragement and multiple modes of engagement: meal tracking; water intake, exercise, and step tracking; educational articles; recipes; sample meal plans; self-assessment activities; group discussions; and 1 on 1 coaching support. When I was actively Nooming, there were days I joked that it was a full-time job.
All I can tell you is, it worked! If you’re lucky, you lose a couple of pounds early on and that motivates you to continue. Then, you notice more progress and you realize you are doing it and you want to continue to see results. As Noom says, “it’s psychology!” I lost more than 30 pounds and have been able to maintain it for several months.
The educational articles are the key. You read a set of articles for 10-15 minutes per day. In my case, they were running a pilot where the articles were read to me for the first few weeks, which was great because I could wash dishes or fold laundry while listening. The articles are essentially a learning curriculum, which aim to show you how your emotions, your relationships, and your schedule all impact what and when you eat and by making conscious choices, you can rewrite the script. For example, change your plate size, change your portion size, plan out your meals, plan out your snacks, be intentional when you eat, reward yourself on occasion, increase your water intake…there are no rules to Noom, just lots of lessons. And, while many of the lessons are tips you’ve heard before, Noom adds in data and self-assessment activities, which somehow combine to make you really absorb the messages.
I thought I would be logging my food for eternity, but as it turns out, once you’ve done the work and learned the lessons, your planning and food choices become second nature. I still have the Noom app on my phone – almost like a security blanket – but I haven’t opened it in months. If I do need the support, I know it will be there, but I am happy at my new weight with my new choices and that’s enough motivation for me to continue on this path. I can’t recommend Noom more highly. It’s awesome!
