Considering Noom? Here’s My Report on My Initial Results at the 11 Week Point
My mom loved me.
I knew that as a kid, but especially when she would slide the “extra” porkchop on my plate.
As the oldest of an ever-increasing brood in a Catholic family in the 1950’s the pork chops were “thin cut.” I remember that because it was not unusual for me to be sent to pick up a few pounds worth at Harrison’s, the corner grocer. Back in those days, they still ran a tab for regulars, and John the butcher would special cut them for us.
It’s not fair, but I have often used the anecdote of the “extra porkchop” to transfer some of the blame for my being overweight onto my mom’s back. But I was complicit. I would race through the first chop, like a wood chipper on overdrive to show my appreciation for the tasty chop. That may have set the stage for speed eating, as well as my appreciation for pork chops, and especially for crispy pork chop fat.
I also joined the clean plate club as a child. My aunt, Sister Benora had been a missionary nun in China, which earned her a chance to spend time in a Red Chinese concentration camp when Mao’s Red Army captured the village where she lived. We were often told to eat everything on our plates as it somehow made it better for the starving children in China.
Meet the Fat Man
There are lots of reasons, for my becoming a fat man. Some a bit darker than the above, emotional ties to things and events and perhaps some self-destructive behavior as well. But whatever the reasons, the results were that I was not just fat but morbidly obese.
But not at first. As a boy and young man, I was if anything skinny, but as life and time took hold, I slowly but surely added a few pounds here and there, year after year.
I noticed. And I would from time to time try one or another diet. My wife began developing a rather sizable collection of diet books, thinking maybe she could help. Unfortunately, her reading a diet book didn’t seem to have any direct effect on me. A few time I think it backfired when I revolted at some of the skinny meals she lovingly prepared. I may have engaged in some resentment eating.
The Diet of the Week
But I was not oblivious to the issue. I frequently agreed to join her in the diet of the week, or the fast or the cleanse. I did well, a couple of times with weight watchers, until the chore of meetings, and occasional shame of non-performance took their toll.
As the decades rolled by, my weight slowly but surely increased until one day at age 60 something I hit the scale at 310 pounds. We had a family wedding in Florida that year and I remember the trip to the Big and Tall Shop to buy presentable clothes for the event.
The VA to the Rescue
Luckily, I had just finally learned that as a US Navy veteran, I was eligible for care at my local VA hospital. And I soon heard about their Move program for weight loss. I signed up for a series of twice-weekly classes over a period of time — I think 8–12 weeks or so. And I had success. For a while, after the formal program ended, I attended weekly group sessions and even signed up for a three-week stay at the hospital where I was put on a very strict 800 calorie a day diet, Monday through Friday. Weekends were at home.
After that effort, I had dropped from 310 pounds to a low of 237. I kept trying to get to 235, to claim an even 75-pound loss, but just never quite got there.
The Yo-Yo
Just what happened after that is a blur. It seems obvious now that I allowed myself to rest on my laurels, and I did deserve some back-patting. Losing that much weight was an accomplishment.
Without noticing I managed to nudge up to my “DO NOT PASS” weight of 250, and not too long afterward broached that landmark.
I had learned a lot of tips and tricks, from the Move program and from many suggestions shared by my wife over the years from her readings. But knowing what to do and doing it are separate things.
The good news is that I did not gain back all of the pounds I lost, but I did regain a significant portion to the point where I was hovering on either side of 280 most of this year. Still down from my whaling days at 310, but not at all what the doctor ordered, if you know what I mean.
Searching for Help
This past June 1st, my youngest son finally got married after a 4-year engagement and 11-year relationship. I dieted in advance. Over the years, I’ve observed myself gaining weight in advance of family gatherings. So I took off 10 pounds with some effort, only to regain them by the weekend of the event. I was proud of myself. Had I not made the extra effort I would probably have just added another ten to my 280.
It may seem strange, but my success at pre-losing those 10 pounds in anticipation of the wedding, lead to a decision on my part to do something significant once the wedding guests had returned home. I was ready and willing to do something to tackle my weight once again.
A business client of mine had been having success on Nutrisystem, and so I asked him about his experience. I had considered such plans in the past but was always afraid of the cost and the lack of control they represented. He was flourishing on it though and I was willing to take the plunge, but he stopped me. Not because he was anything but happy with his Nutrisystem experience. He cautioned though that he was single and had to wonder how well he would have done with a partner in the house.
You both have to do it, he advised, and you have to keep at it. I think my wife would have supported me and done the program, had they offered a vegan option. (and they may — we never got that far.)
Discovering Noom
Instead, I decided to check out Noom, which had been advertising on public radio and TV.
When I went to their site, I discovered they had a little front end quiz which asked about my current weight, my ideal weight, age, sex and a number of health and other questions. And then they made a Big Promise. Per the results of their questionnaire, they suggested I could lose 40 pounds in 16 weeks. Getting to 240 from 280 was bell-ringer for me.
Plus, I could join for free for 2 weeks and then cancel if it was not working for me. Now here was an opportunity. I could try this and if it did not work, I could still turn around and try the Nutrisystem approach that was working for my friend. And for the icing, the potential cost was a fraction of the food-service price and I could eat what I wanted.
A few days after the wedding, I signed up and now just 11 weeks later, I am still in the program and have lost 35 pounds so far. About 3 pounds a week on average. I have a ways to go to hit my prior low, but it is clearly in sight.
So what is it like?
For starters, Noom becomes your constant companion. It is a phone ap and as such you keep it with you all day assuming you carry your phone with you daily. Not only do you log your meals into the app, but your phone also becomes a pedometer and counts the steps you take during the day.
No need to hit the 10,000 step mark, they start you off easy and increase or decrease your daily step goal based on your current activity level. Yes, they encourage you to move. Having an accessible target makes the challenge real but not difficult.
Each day there are 5–6 segments you need to read and respond to daily. They include little lessons, occasional quizzes (easy -usually) to see if and to help you remember key concepts.
Over the first several weeks, I relearned many of the things I had ever heard before about weight loss, to the point that I am tempted to say they did not offer anything new, but that wouldn’t be true. Much of it was stuff I did know from past efforts and training but often presented in a way that made more sense and seemed to be more actionable.
Once onboard, for a couple of weeks and formally a paying member, you are assigned to a group. Several times a week, the daily lessons ask you to think and respond to various assigned tasks, which you share with your group.
In addition to your group, you are assigned a Noom coach, and they tend to interact with you at least weekly.
The daily time commitment to the lessons and little exercises they challenge you with takes about 5–10 minutes daily, not counting the time it takes to log your meals.
And they ask you to weigh yourself daily. One thing I really liked was that they then graph your daily weight and for the first month they actually had a prospective trend line that suggested a continuing downward path.
Based on your initial questionnaire, they assign you a daily calorie limit. In my case that was 1400 calories a day. When I logged in a meal, it would display my current total for the day and indicate how many calories I had left for the day. For me, this was a powerful tool to overcome my biggest issue which has always been eating at night. Once I was at or near my daily limit I took note and stopped eating for the day or if I had enough calories left would find a nighttime snack that fit the available budget.
Living on a Budget
Now I did occasionally bust my calorie budget and may have from time to time fudged the portion size element a bit. Occasionally I also had difficulty recording hot dishes, salads and other items with a number of ingredients. For example, a wild rice casserole with mushrooms, slivered almonds, some sour cream, and who knows what else my wife added to make it delicious. In these cases, I would approximate the meal as best I was able. The good news is that their food log includes calorie counts from most foods and a large number of restaurant staples.
The strength of my original commitment to succeed helped me stay within the budget for the first few days and weeks. That success, sustained me after the initial enthusiasm waned. Although, I have to admit the enthusiasm has not really waned that much, as the steady decrease in weight was more than enough reward to keep me motivated, until…the dreaded plateau.
As with most diets, I had a rapid initial weight loss. But after a while, I found myself staying within a half-pound plus or minus for about 7 days running. (And yes there were a few days in which the weight ticked up and not down — mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.) It seemed as though the app already knew that I was entering a plateau as the daily lessons addressed the issue. It was like the program was psychic.
It’s All In Your Head
But while not psychic, the program is firmly psychological. The science behind the program is built on and around cognitive behavior therapy as well as other disciplines. Because the key to the long term is not just losing the weight but ultimately keeping it off. And that requires a mental shift on my part. I feel it happening.
On a cognitive basis, I learned that some foods I thought were “diet” food were not, at least not in Noom’s perspective. They color code foods as Green, Yellow or Red. Most fruits and veggies are green, most meats (but not all) are red. You are given a daily allocation of Red, Yellow and Green foods, so you need not give up any foods you like, although you may need to work on portions. They cover their color coding in the first days of the program so you start with an understanding of their nutrient density system of evaluating foods.
Not Perfect
Now I did encounter a few issues with the app. Especially of late it seems to freeze up on me for a few seconds from time to time, and the pedometer function seems to be off-kilter a bit. The group I was initially assigned to was not particularly active and our group was merged with another, with little improvement. And yet, I found posting to the group to be beneficial to me, whether anyone in the group read my posts or not. For often the posting was meant more to engrain a topic in my own mind as well as to share.
I liked the fact that if I did extensive exercise above and beyond the daily step goal, I was credited with a bonus number of calories I could eat that day.
Over the course of the program so far, I have picked up a number of tips and tricks, particularly psych tricks to help me deal with the challenges that occur in real life. They know they will happen and help provide useful approaches to deal with the inevitable. I have found myself concocting acceptable meals that I like and repeat particularly for my breakfasts and lunches that leave room for a robust evening meal withing limits and even save room for an evening snack.
I have also discovered that some of the things I knew, were not in fact true. Almost always little things, but the net effect of all the little things have been a lot.
True Believer
I recognize that I am still in the program, and the real test will be my weight a year from now and not what I will be in five weeks when my 16-week program is over. You may choose to see me as an evangelist hyped up by my new found faith or conversion, and perhaps I am. But my results prove that the program can be beneficial, and I am satisfied personally that the results will last well beyond the 16 week period.
At that point, I will still have a good ways to go to reach my ideal weight. I still have 5 pounds to go to meet the Big Promise Noom suggested when I first explored the program. With five weeks to go, I am confident I will meet and exceed that number by the end of the program.
Right now I am healthier and stronger than I was at the start of the program and have every expectation that I will continue on a successful path to an even healthier and stronger body down the road.
To be successful in the program, you need to make a personal decision that you want to get healthier, and then you need to take action. The free two weeks Noom offers is an excellent way to test your own motivation. If your head is in the right place and you are able to relate to the first few weeks of lessons, then stay on the program and join me in enjoying stepping on the scale day after day.
