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“Holy shit…what is going on?” It’s the second time I’d said that in a week as I stood on the scale – only this time it was because I’d lost 7 pounds since I started using the noom app – which bills itself as a lifestyle-builder rather than just a weight-loss app.
So let’s go back a bit….a week ago, I had just woken up after a night of having fun and drinking with friends. I looked down at my belly and thought, “Ugh… what am I going to do about you?” I’d been toying with the idea of losing weight, in a serious way, for about 2 weeks. Almost 5 years ago I weighed 45 lbs less, was strong af, and loved all the clothes in my closet. In the ensuing years I’d dealt with the agony of unexplained infertility (tell me to ‘just relax’ and I will lose my mind), the depression that can come from said infertility, and the knowledge of just about every fertility diet out there with no result of a baby or weight loss.
Sure, I knew that if I had just gone back to the way I knew that my body liked to eat (Paleo) then I’d lose the weight, but I was convinced I also needed to couple that with crossfit in order to make the weight loss happen and I just didn’t want to do that.
Same morning, I’m scrolling through Facebook and I see that a friend of mine tried noom and had lost 6 lbs in 3 weeks. She’s already starting at a much smaller weight than myself, so I figured that was actually pretty good. I downloaded the app with the skepticism of a dad who’s daughter’s date had just told him “I’ll take care of her, I promise”.
Looking over it, it didn’t seem much different than other calorie counting apps – what goes in must be less than a pre-determined number of calories given for the day. How this was going to be any better, I had no idea.
On the first day they intro you to the app and the science behind it. They tell you not to weigh yourself, but let’s face it… I needed to see the damage I’d done since my last foray onto the scale.
“Holy shit…what is going on?” I was 10 lbs over my highest ever weight. And to top it off, my smart scale no longer recognized me because I was SO far from my previous weight that it labeled me as ‘guest’.
That was it… if this app didn’t work, fine. But I’d give it a really great shot because I seriously couldn’t carry this weight around anymore. It was beyond appearance (I see you body positive warriors!) – my knees hurt, my pants buttons were in a fight for their lives trying to hold it all in, and I was just overall unhappy.
So let’s talk about what happened today, 7 days later, as I stepped on that scale 7 lbs down and wondering how it happened because it went against every idea I’d had about counting calories, having ‘bad foods’ and not punishing myself about it, and actually losing weight.
Each day this week I’ve worked out twice. That might sound like A LOT, but it was a 30 minute walk in the morning and then about 30 – 40 minutes at the gym (or a yoga class) at night. Whenever you work out, you earn a half a calorie back so you’re able to eat more, but you’ll always be at a deficit if you stay in the Good zone (see pic below).
When you log your food, noom tells you if it’s a green food (have at it!), a yellow food (moderation is key), or a red food (limit tf outta these) but it doesn’t tell you that you can’t have a food or an alcoholic beverage for that matter. Then it gives you a set amount of calories in each area that you should strive to hit for the day. Once your calories end up in the ‘Good’ zone for the day, well… you’re good!
noom bases its methods heavily on psychology and works to help you understand why you eat the way you eat and how to overcome your triggers and obstacles. Each day you have a check list of things to do and if you complete them, it helps you stay on track.
My most surprising morning over the last 7 days was today. Yesterday I again did my 30 minute morning walk and gym workout at night. I ate 1993 calories and part of those were a protein style In n Out burger with cheese, a Black Cherry White Claw, and a paloma (tequila and grapefruit soda). I prepared myself for an increase on the scale, after all, I felt I had splurged.
This morning I woke up to losing another 1.5lbs.
It’s only my first week, so maybe I end up falling off the wagon…maybe I don’t. But I know one thing… noom has me so intrigued that I can’t wait to see what I lose next!
You can learn more about noom and take it for a test drive here.
