App of the month
*Noom*
Ok well here it is, a new year and of course a new you. If you haven’t started a new year’s resolution, no worries, the year isn’t over yet and there is still time. I myself didn’t start my new year’s resolution until February. I wish I could say that I have an awesome new year resolution, like how to save money, learning a new skill like how to reduce my carbon footprint or even learn how to repurpose old wooden pallets into exquisite outdoor furniture but alas I am fairly basic and my goals are the same as most….lose weight by means of eating healthier. As a person who likes to go with the trends I knew that I would need to find an app that was somewhat reasonably priced, because I felt if I was paying for something then I would be more committed to sticking to it, and it must be easy to use. I checked out Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, My Fitness Pal just to name a few but the one that I chose and like is Noom.
I want to start off by saying– It really works! Once I was able to get over the weighing myself every day it hasn’t been that bad. I enjoy seeing the timeline as weight fluctuates up and down throughout the days. I honestly had no idea my weight could fluctuate as dramatically as it does. Another interesting part of the app is it gives you healthy eating tips and some psychology as to why a person eats certain things or why they eat at a certain time. Noom does a personalized approach by asking a series of questions to determine what “healthy” method will work best for you.
For example: I am a “busy bee” eater, meaning I would do best eating smaller meals a day than sitting down and having 3 high calorie meals. You also have access to a health coach and a health group that you will comment in with other members who are working on the same goals that you are. Overall, I am enjoying the app and here are my thoughts on Noom going into week 3
Positives
1. Personalized customization
2. Health coach
3. Great food bank to help track calories a lot easier
4. Helps me to know what foods good, better, and best by color coding them so I know which ones I can and should eat more of. For example: green are veggies and very low-calorie foods like fish, yellow are for foods like grilled chicken and high fiber muffins. Red is exactly as it should be, the foods that should be eaten sparingly like salad dressing, cheese, candy, etc.
Negatives
1. There is A LOT of reading.
2. The step counter doesn’t work very well
3. Weighing in everyday
4. The health coach isn’t as accessible as I would like
5. Doesn’t have a desktop app available yet.
Noom is an enjoyable app that is easy to use and has a lot of information that will help to keep the weight off by not only changing the way you eat but by changing your entire relationship with food.