Jessica’s 90 Day Noom Review

Hi there- Jessica here! You may have read a review or two of mine where I talk about my love of skincare and beauty products as a whole, but you haven't seen me talk about my experience with my health and my weight. There's a reason for that: my size has always been a source of shame for me, so throughout my entire teenaged and adult life, I have done almost everything I could to make sure my weight was not up for discussion. I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone when I agreed to join this group review and publicly share my feedback and experience using the Noom app out but, like I'm sure many of you have experienced, Covid was a big derailment to my overall health and weight once it came like a wrecking ball into my life.

What I Hope To Achieve With Noom

The year before Covid entered the picture, I was actually the healthiest I've been in my life. I was religiously tracking what I ate with MyFitnessPal, meal planning and portion controlling like nobody's business, working out 5-6 times a week and loving it (I still miss the gym I had access to as an LSU law student- it made working out so much more fun), and the scale was showing a lower number every time I stepped on it. Towards the end of 2019, I started to slack off with my good habits; it's a ten-week wait from the time you take the Louisiana bar exam and the time you get your results, and since I was having difficulty finding a job as an attorney even though I had already graduated from law school, I was working part-time as a hostess at a steakhouse. All of that stress combined meant less time and energy to work out, less structure to be able to eat pre-planned meals at set times during the day, and a lot of weekend nights at bars trying to have a tiny bit of fun in an otherwise miserable time. All of that is to say that it's not completely Covid's fault that my good habits disappeared, but once the shutdown of all non-essential businesses came around, it was just me, myself, and an intense boba craving with nothing really to do except doom scroll in horror.

Covid has been a part of our lives for a while now, and I definitely acknowledge that only I can take charge and be responsible for changes in my health, good or bad. I've heard about Noom in passing, and even know a friend who has lost a significant amount of weight following the program. I know it is possible for me to be a lot healthier than I am- I was literally living that exact life two years ago. But I need help getting back on track, and I am hoping Noom can help me right the ship and get back to being the healthiest version of myself I can be- especially since I am still young enough that my weight hasn't caused any comorbidities, and I would like to keep it that way.

My First Impression

Noom asks a lot of questions during the sign-up process, and honestly, towards the end, it started to stress me out. At one point in the process, it gives you a timeline and an estimated amount of weight you could lose if you followed the plan. Noom told me it thought I could lose 70 pounds in ten months. That seemed like an unrealistic timeline, and I started to become slightly panicked as I kept answering questions, while Noom kept shaving off time until the app was telling me it thought I could lose 70 pounds in eight months instead of ten. I've spoken with doctors, nutritionists, and other health experts at various points in my life about my life, and that just felt insanely unrealistic based on the information I have been given by medical professionals in the past. Noom makes a big point to talk about how you have to believe you can be successful in order to find success, and then I stressed that I was already setting myself up for failure for questioning that timeline. Nevertheless, I pushed on, but I did so being incredibly cognizant that I did not want my Noom experience to result in disordered eating.

It was easy for me to sync my Apple watch to the Noom app, and since I always am wearing my watch (as an attorney, I need to keep track of the workday by the minute- a watch is a non-negotiable part of my uniform), I have no issues with reliable data being uploaded to Noom. I started off by exploring the courses, and I like that you can see a path that you're following as you go through each course and learn more information. I am hoping to become better at mindfulness and intuitive eating, so some of the small chunks of information really were food for thought- I was fascinated by the lesson on caloric density. After a few days of doing the lessons, I realized I had a question, and that is when I utilized the coaching feature Noom offers and sent a message off to my coach, Monica. I appreciated how quickly she responded, and I like that that is available as an option.

I think my favorite thing so far with Noom is that they still have information that is new for me to learn; I thought I knew it all by now, given how long I have obsessed and negatively thought about myself and my weight, but I still am able to go through the courses and learn new things. I have noticed that I do have a shifting mindset regarding some foods, and I mean that in a positive way. I have it engrained in my brain that all carbs are bad (even though I know that's false), so I have a hard time associating anything that's carb-heavy as something that is good for me. After the lesson on caloric density though, I realized that oatmeal isn't the enemy, and I actually now look forward to the mornings I order it for breakfast along with an herbal (read: calorie-free) tea from Starbucks. That already is a small victory for me that comes from using the Noom app, and I appreciate it.

Time will tell where this journey will take me beyond the first 30 days. I had a birthday trip at the end of August where I indulged and had an absolute blast (and then was extended when Hurricane Ida canceled all flights into New Orleans for almost a full week, but that's a story for another time), and I did not track a single thing I ate. I look forward to seeing how Noom continues to help me in my day-t0-day life, and what future lessons may spark in my mindset.

My Experience After 60 Days

That wild adventure of mine mentioned at the end of my 30-day summary... well, it didn't end when I finally made it home to Louisiana. A few days into September, I was actually diagnosed (and been experiencing symptoms of) Covid. I couldn't breathe through my nose whatsoever, and more than once, my diet in a day consisted of Pedialyte popsicles and watermelon popsicles (because... balance).  Even after I was able to leave isolation and return to the real world, it took a while to get back to my normal energy levels (and I weirdly went on a hummus kick, when I was 'take it or leave it' prior to this experience). So, as you can imagine, I was not diligent with Noom during this time. I didn't give up the app completely, but waited until I was back to my regular routine before I went back to doing the day's courses and logging my meals.

I appreciate that the Noom app didn't scold me- and then a few days later, I reached the part in the Noom course where you can actually have the app text you if you don't log in for a certain number of days (you get to choose the length). Sure enough, about a week later, that check-in text from my coach, Olivia, had arrived. I don't actually know why my coach switched from Monica to Olivia, but I don't use the coach feature that often.

I've become pretty good about logging my breakfast and lunch during the week into the app, and I will admit to being slightly annoyed that hummus was a yellow food instead of a green one considering the rate I was eating it. I know, I know- yellow isn't bad, it just means it doesn't have as low caloric density the way the green foods do. When I log my foods, sometimes I have to play around with which item I am choosing if there are multiple versions of that food. For example, one morning I got a fruit and protein smoothie from a really healthy smoothie place that only uses organic fruits and veggies (and charges an astronomical price for it!), and I know that's a green food. When I searched "strawberry protein smoothie" though, there were multiple options with some being green, yellow, and even a few reds. I wish when we were logging foods (specifically foods made from other foods), there was more information beyond calories, so we knew which one to select (for example, including at least a snippet of the ingredients list for that item would make it easier to match up what I ate to what I should log).

I haven't been really talking about my Noom experience beyond what I write here, but I did still have a friend who was already curious about Noom, and they asked me if I had any coupon for signing up. I think it's nice that Noom has a referral program, and if my friend signs up after the free trial (she gets a 20% discount), then I'll get a $20 Amazon gift card.

I haven't really noticed any major changes with my weight using Noom yet, but I am hopeful that my 90 day check-in will be a different story. Now that my energy is fully back and the weather has been cooling down, I have been trying to take a lot more walks than I usually would, and I have been able to meet my exercise goal two weeks in a row. Halfway through October ,I met the exercise minutes goal my Apple watch set for me, and I was pretty stoked. Noom syncs with my Apple watch so they know the steps I get in, and each time I meet their step goal, they increase the goal by a small amount. I like that approach, and I am cautiously optimistic that after 90 days of Noom I will be able to combine the food knowledge I learn from the app with moving my body more for some tangible results.

My Experience After 90 Days

As much as I loved the feature that Noom will text you if you don't log in within X number of days (I set mine to three), I was a little disappointed in it. I guess I thought once I logged in, it would reset the days I've logged in by, and then if three days went by again they would message me again(?). I relied a little too hard on that assumption, and when life got busy and I didn't get that reminder text, Noom stayed out of sight and out of mind. I did get one text from my coach at the beginning of November (in addition to that one from September), but I genuinely do not think I logged into Noom at all during that second half of November, so it felt a little weird to get that text after a few weeks. I'm not saying it's Noom's fault that I haven't been great with this; I fully acknowledge that is first and foremost my responsibility. But the nature of my work (I'm an attorney in the family law field) means that some periods of the year get crazy busy and overwhelming, and my health is usually something I push to the side when I am managing an overloaded plate.

If humor is a motivator for you, Noom has a lot of cheesy jokes built in that usually made me smile. I think my favorite joke so far has been from the "what type of eater are you?" with one of the options being a "Death Eater" (there's also storm eating, fog eating, fun eating,  and fuel eating). Some people won't be attracted to the corniness of their jokes, and while I appreciated it, I don't know if it made a difference in my ability to check in with the app day after day.

All of that being said though, I still plan on continuing with the Noom app. I haven't finished the courses, and I'm curious about what else they have to teach me. I definitely won't be hitting that 70-pound weight loss goal in 10 months, but I do feel that my clothes are fitting better, and that the number on the scale has gone down a little bit. Honestly, I think a big part of that is because of my focus on trying to walk more, as well as getting Blue Apron every week (I was getting burnt out on cooking and grocery shopping, which meant I was ordering takeout a lot).

At the end of the day, I don't feel like Noom was personalized enough to match me and my personality, or the way I form habits. I would still recommend it to friends and family, especially ones who could use some solid food education (I think that is their best feature, honestly) and are highly self-motivated to make some changes and have the time to do it. If you're like me and are at a point in your life where you are overwhelmingly busy, now may not be the time for you to Noom. And that's okay! But I do appreciate that they track your steps, water intake, and you can log your meals. I didn't love the color system that much; I found it frustrating when I thought I was making a healthy choice for a meal or snack but it wasn't a green food in Noom. Of course, Noom tells you that yellow and red foods aren't bad foods (it's based on caloric density and not the overall nutrition profile of the food, after all), but my mind definitely made that correlation anyways- and I do think that affected my eagerness to log everything I ate after a few disappointing yellows and reds.

Check out the other reviewers' perspectives here:

• Kelly's 90 Day Noom Review
• Geraldine's 90 Day Noom Review
• Salina's 90 Day Noom Review
• Nancy's 90 Day Noom Review

Or follow along and see the complete review.