Everybody and their mother has probably heard of Noom. They clearly spend a lot of money on advertising. I have seen them on every single social media channel and streaming service. Even my husband, who is clueless about weight loss apps heard about Noom in a podcast. I finally decided to try it, despite the mixed reviews online.
Free Trial
I am nearing the end of my free two week trial of Noom. Before I am charged $159 for the 5-month program, I wanted to do some research. To many people, $159 for 5 months isn’t much. The ads love to compare the price to a new pair of shoes. Unfortunately, cheap people like me do not spend that much on shoes. But I’m willing to spend it on a weight loss app if I believe that it could help me.
Speaking of believing, that’s how Noom starts. It tells you to believe that this will work, because if you don’t believe it, it won’t. This may seem like a gimmick to get you to stick with the app, but it makes perfect sense that you have to believe in something to take it seriously and to make the necessary changes to lose weight. This is true for any goal in my opinion.
During the free trial, you get contacted by your coach and you get daily articles. These articles are fun, include jokes and they actually teach you about nutrition and the psychology of weight loss. As a person who has successfully lost significant weight in the past, I didn’t think that Noom could teach me too much about food. I was more interested in the psychology. However, the very first day had some fascinating information on calorie density that blew my mind.
My interactions with the coach haven’t been frequent, but that is in part because of me. I could talk to her as much as I want and I am confident that she would respond with helpful feedback. At this moment in time, I am no in need of much from a coach. But I am curious to see how supportive and useful she will be in the future.
Negative Online Reviews
I was a little shocked when I searched for Noom reviews online. So many people were pissed off, giving it 1 star reviews. My first thought was, “did I make a mistake and should I cancel this ASAP?” Then I read the reviews and realized that people were mad because they didn’t read the terms and conditions when signing up. This was a relief, but it’s true that Noom could be a little clearer about these.
When you sign up for the free trial, you do need to give Noom your credit card information. It also clearly states that you will pay for a several month long program once your trial is finished. The only way to prevent getting charged is by canceling in time. You can do this by messaging your coach.
While I understand the frustration of forgetting to cancel a subscription and getting charged, I don’t see this as Noom’s fault. When I originally signed up I did accidentally pay $44 for a one-time add-on that I thought was the program. This was totally my fault, but Noom was happy to refund me almost immediately. This gave them points in my book.
My Likes and Dislikes
So far, I’ve liked the articles that are always written in a fun yet educational way. I also enjoy the easy formatting of the app and the simple logging of food. So far there was only one food item that I had to log myself, a new mock meat that only came out a month ago.
I haven’t been too impressed with the coach yet, as she hasn’t offered me anything too helpful. So far it could have been an automated response system giving the same feedback. I also didn’t like the confusion at sign up about what was being offered which led me for paying for something I didn’t need accidentally. Although I did get refunded, so that’s water under the bridge.
While the articles have been interesting and educational, some of the stuff has been very obvious. I would love to be a little more challenged but I expect that it will come with time. For now, I will continue using Noom and see what happens. Do I believe that Noom can help me? Yes! Do I think that I could do it without Noom? Personally, yes. But I can see how it can make a big difference for people who are just starting out on their weight loss journeys.
I’ll be back for more info once I’m a Noom veteran! Enjoy some direct screenshots from Noom below:
