Noom Review: 3 Firsthand Perspectives (2024)

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Noom is a popular weight loss app that uses cognitive behavioral therapy principles to help people establish healthy eating patterns, cultivate a healthy lifestyle, and lose weight. This health app prides itself on being more than a food-tracking app and encouraging long-term, successful weight loss.

Noom has become quite popular over the last several years, so we decided to dig into the details and find out what the experience is really like. Two members of our team tried the app. For one, it didn’t work out; for the other, things are going well. I also signed up for the service just to see how Noom builds its plans.

Our Noom review is a detailed account of these three separate experiences (two of which are from certified personal trainers), and we hope it helps you decide if a Noom weight loss program is right for you.

For this review, we also interviewed registered dietitian Destini Moody. Moody shares with us some concerns about the Noom app and approach, specifically with regard to the color-coding of food groups.

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Tested By Real People, Analyzed By Nutrition Professionals

Two people on the GGR team have used Noom, with one person still actively using it at the time of writing. In addition to performing hands-on testing, our team of credentialed nutrition experts researches weight loss programs with keen eyes, looking for factors that make a program a good one.

Editor’s Note and Medical Disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Weight loss programs are not recommended for people with a history of disordered eating. For health advice, contact a licensed healthcare provider. If you need help with disordered eating, contact NEDA.

Noom App

Noom

GGR Score: 3.67

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Product Highlights

Uses a psychology-backed approach to weight loss
Provides behavioral guidance more than nutritional guidance
App supports food, weight, and activity tracking
Multiple membership options available
A stress-relief plan is also available

Pros & Cons

Pros

Gives you freedom to make your own choices
Helps you identify patterns and behaviors that may be connected to your weight
Flexible payment options
1:1 coaching plans are available for purchase

Cons

Doesn’t offer much nutritional guidance
May not be the best option for those who need a more structured plan
Expensive on the month-to-month plan

Bottom Line

Noom is built on the psychology of weight loss. Instead of specific nutritional guidance, you’ll get lessons that are designed to help you break habits that may be contributing to your weight gain.

A Quick Look at the Noom App

Noom has been around since 2008, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that it started becoming very popular. It’s available on iOS and Android devices.

Noom’s approach to weight loss is different from most other app-based programs. This app focuses on the psychological elements of weight loss and helps subscribers make healthy choices by color-coding foods into different groups (orange, yellow, and green).

The app takes you through a detailed questionnaire and creates a weight loss timeline for you based on your answers.

Before You Subscribe

We don’t recommend weight loss programs for individuals with a history of eating disorders. If you struggle with disordered eating habits, consider reaching out to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) helpline.
Noom’s psychology-driven approach won’t be right for everyone. It’s a good idea for people looking to establish healthy habits, but the platform can be potentially confusing for those who are just looking to be told what to eat.
While Noom markets its psychological approach, the emphasis is still heavily laid on weight loss rather than full-picture wellness.
Registered dietitian Destini Moody says that Noom’s color-coding approach can be problematic.

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Is Noom Worth It?

Noom plans start at a price of about $17 per month, billed annually as $209. This is the best value if you think you’ll stick with Noom for at least a year; the monthly price increases as the time commitment decreases. To subscribe for just one month, you’ll pay $70.

This is pricier than a lot of weight loss apps and programs out there, but it could be a worthwhile investment for the right person.

Great for:

People who are trying to establish new healthy habits
Individuals who appreciate a psychology-first approach
Those looking for virtual coaching support

Not recommended for:

Individuals with a history of eating disorders or disordered eating
Those who don’t want to do frequent weigh-ins
People looking for a specific meal plan rather than general guidance

Noom Specs

Pricing	Varies based on plan length; starts at $17
Trial period	7 days
Subscription options	Term length of subscription is based on your weight loss plan; monthly to annual options
Diet types supported	Any and all diet types
Access to Professionals	Yes, health coaches available
Custom meal plans	Yes (charged separately)
Available on	iOS and Android

Getting Started With Noom

To understand how exactly Noom works, I went through the entire sign-up process, even though I don’t have a weight loss goal at this time.

To become a Noom user, you first have to take a rather long quiz. It asks you about your current eating habits, dietary restrictions, and food choices; you’ll also answer a lot of demographic questions regarding your current weight, age, relationship status, health conditions, pregnancy and lactation, and more.

And, because Noom diet plans also focus heavily on behavioral changes, you will also answer questions about your mindset around food logging, establishing healthy habits, self-esteem, and so forth.

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Noom Review: 3 Firsthand Perspectives (2024) | Garage Gym Reviews (7)

Noom Review: 3 Firsthand Perspectives (2024) | Garage Gym Reviews (8)

Disordered Eating Awareness

One thing I really appreciated about the quiz was that it inquires about potential disordered eating habits. For example, it asks if you’d love your body more if you were to achieve your goal weight or the same no matter what. I assume the algorithm takes these things into consideration when building your plan and selecting, for example, the daily lessons that are available in the app.

Weight Loss Mapping

I told Noom that I wanted to lose 20 pounds and answered all of the questions as I would have had that really been my goal.

Plan Enhancements

The questionnaire will also ask you what other health-related things you’re interested in besides losing weight, such as healthy aging, stress management, improving sleep, or having more energy.

I selected stress management and energy levels, and then Noom recommended adding an “enhancement” to my plan to assist with this. You can’t see how much additional cash the “enhancements” cost during the quiz, but Noom does say you can remove them later if you decide you don’t want them.

At checkout, the mental health enhancement pack was fully discounted from its list price of $50—if I signed up for the week-long trial in 15 minutes. After that, the offer expired.

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Behavioral Profile

Part of Noom’s psychology-based approach is providing users with a behavioral profile. According to your quiz answers, it’ll tell you how it’s going to approach your plan.

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Experience Using Noom

I haven’t used Noom for an extended period of time to reach any specific goals—I just went through the setup process and questionnaire to understand what it was like—so I’m pivoting here to tell you our product tester’s experience.

Sarah Price, HR director at Pillar4 Media (GGR’s parent company), has been using Noom for several months to reach her health and fitness goals.

The App Experience

Sarah says the app is very user-friendly and isn’t overwhelming like some other diet and nutrition apps.

“I love the Noom app,” she says. “It is super easy to use and offers the right amount of information. There is a home screen for the day, where you log your meals, enter your weight, and read the daily readings. It’s bite-sized and just enough for one day.”

The Calorie Density Approach

Noom uses a color-coded approach to food groups according to caloric density and nutritional density. There are orange foods, yellow foods, and green foods. Previously, Noom used a red foods group, but it seems that they’ve changed it to orange (I assume that’s due to the negative psychology of associated foods with the color red).

The more calorie-dense foods with lower nutritional value typically fall into the orange group; low-calorie, highly nutritious foods fall into the green group.

There are technically no off-limits foods, but this system isn’t perfect. Noom categories some nutrient-rich foods as orange foods, including red meats (high in iron, vitamin B12, and creatine) and nuts such as almonds and walnuts. Juices, even natural ones, also typically fall into the orange group.

Even lean meats, like chicken and turkey, are classified as yellow foods, which may give some individuals a negative perception of certain foods. The green foods include mainly whole grains, veggies, fruits, dairy, and unsweetened beverages like coffee.

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A Word on Color-Coding Food Groups

We asked registered dietitian Destini Moody about her thoughts on Noom’s calorie density approach explained above. This approach has been the subject of much contention and controversy in the wellness industry, and I have to say, Destini’s professional opinion doesn’t surprise me.

“Dietitians don’t hold the philosophy that foods are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and Noom’s color coding does exactly that,” Destini says. “The type of people likely to download Noom are likely Type A people looking for structure, and this color coding structure makes it easy for people to choose exclusively whatever foods they’ve ambiguously labeled as ‘green.'”

“A healthful diet has room to include ALL foods and having a diet program structured around the contrary can promote an unhealthy relationship with food and avoidance of foods we get joy from,” she continues. “It seems foods are categorized mainly from their calorie content, but there are some high calorie foods like avocados, nuts, seeds, and lean red meats that are perfectly healthy. In fact, minimizing meat consumption without any clear justification can cause nutrient deficiencies, especially iron and B12.”

Lastly, Destini says if there’s not a good amount education around why foods are labeled green, yellow, or orange, the approach may backfire. “That’s a big downfall of a diet program because how is a person supposed to learn how to eat healthy when they stop using the app to categorize their foods?” Destini wonders. “What happens when they go to a restaurant and the dish they want has a mixture of green, orange and yellow foods considering people rarely eat individual food items in isolation? Sounds confusing to me.”

That said, if Noom does indeed implement some behavioral modificationto help give people lasting knowledge to maintain their weight and healthy eating habits long after they’ve stopped paying for the app, then it has some credibility, Destini points out.

And, it’s not all bad: One of our product testers, Sarah Price, GGR director of human resources, actually found that the color-coding approach was a positive experience for her.

Our tester, Sarah, wanted to track macronutrients with Noom, but the service doesn’t offer that function. It only tracks calories, weight loss, and the food colors (orange, yellow, and green). Sarah said this ended up being more helpful for her than she’d originally thought.

“I started to learn what ‘color’ the foods were that I was eating and how many calories a day those foods take up,” she says. “It has changed my habits to eating more green food than orange or red. I can also make sure I am eating enough protein, which was my issue originally.”

Calorie Counting and Food Tracking

Logging food, luckily, is easy. You search for foods manually, scan a barcode, or create a food if it’s not already in the app.

“Most of the time, my food is already in the app,” Sarah says. This was really helpful. I scan everything I can and it automatically comes up, and then is saved in my ‘favorites’ or at the top of the food choices if I eat that food regularly.”

In months of using the app, Sarah says there’s only been one instance where her food was not already in the app. “Then, it asks for your help in building the database, so you create the food. You enter the carbs, proteins, sugars, and calories, and your food is added for the future,” she says.

Each day, your daily calorie budget resets in the app and, as you track your food, you’ll see how your eating choices stack up against your calorie goal. I’m not a big fan of the term “calorie budget” because of its restrictive implications. This bothered our other product tester, too, who has a history of disordered eating.

RELATED: Tracking Macronutrients for Weight Loss

Progress and Stat Tracking

Noom plans encourage daily weigh-ins to guarantee success, but this may not be the right approach for everyone. One of our team members who tried Noom ended up quitting the app largely for this reason—the weigh-ins were too triggering and caused negative thought patterns.

Registered dietitian Destini Moody says this frequent weigh-in process is one of her biggest qualms with the Noom app.

“The body does not burn or gain fat at a fast enough rate from day to day to make daily weighing worth it, because you could not possibly be getting an accurate representation of what your current body weight is.,” she explains. “Any weight change on a day-to-day basis is likely water weight and, if you were particularly hydrated one day, you could end up being discouragedand reducing food intake when you didn’t need to.”

Destini recommends weekly and bi-weekly weigh-ins instead for more positive mental health and continued motivation.

In addition to your body weight, you can track blood glucose, blood pressure, exercise, steps, and water intake.

Personal Coaching

When you sign up for Noom, you have access to a personal accountability coach who texts back and forth with you in the app, Sarah says.

“You can ask them any question and they get back to you within hours,” she says. “Noom is all about behaviors, and I feel like there is a psychologist in this app helping me.”

Because of this aspect, Sarah says Noom feels very different from other apps she’s tried. “Noom cares about your goals and weight loss, but more about why you eat what you do, and it helps you with other choices,” she explains.

Note, however, that Noom coaches are generally certified health coaches, not registered dietitian nutritionists or doctors, so Noom is not a replacement for healthcare.

Community

Noom has a pretty robust virtual support group going on. “You can share your results of basically everything with other friends in the app, or not,” Sarah says.

Additionally, “it captures and screenshots of whatever you want to share, and you can send in a text,” she explains. “I could save all my meal information and send it to my doctor if they wanted to see my tracker.”

Pricing and Subscription Options

One unique thing about this app is that your membership term and the price of your weight loss program depend on how much weight you want to lose and how quickly Noom thinks you can do it.

Trial Period

You can try Noom for one week if you aren’t sure about it. It’s not free, but it can cost as little as $0.50. I actually love the way Noom set this up. You can choose to pay as much as you want for the trial, from $0.50 to about $19.

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Noom tells you that it costs them about $10 to provide a free trial, and they encourage you to pay more if you can so that people who truly need to pay the lowest amount can.

I’m not sure how that plays out in real life, but the thought is nice. It’s refreshing to see a big company thinking about equitable access to health and wellness services.