Noom vs. MFP

red_ivy1211

Let’s hear your thoughts about using Noom and/or MFP for healthy weight loss. What are your pros and cons of these apps?

lemurcat2

I gave some thoughts in your other identical thread, if you are interested.

cwolfman13

I don't know how you could really compare. Noom is an eating plan. MFP is a calorie counting calculator. Noom can be beneficial for those who don't know a whole lot about nutrition and healthy eating I suppose, and there's not a lot of thinking that has to be done...eat what is prescribed. With MFP, those choices are yours as to what you eat, and you count the calories.

Either way, when you lose weight it comes down to creating a calorie deficit. Noom works for many because it is largely a whole foods based approach which for many will auto create a calorie deficit...some people also find the counseling sessions beneficial. It really just depends on how much you can or will or want to do on your own vs how much outside assistance you might need. I have had friends that have done Noom with great success and the biggest thing I've heard from them is that they just couldn't bring themselves to put in the research and work to calorie count, which I totally get...for a lot of people, "just eat this" and follow the plan works. That's why a lot of guys I've known that have lost weight like Nutri System...it took all of the planning, etc out of it and just let them follow a plan.

Lietchi

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I don't know how you could really compare. Noom is an eating plan. MFP is a calorie counting calculator. Noom can be beneficial for those who don't know a whole lot about nutrition and healthy eating I suppose, and there's not a lot of thinking that has to be done...eat what is prescribed. With MFP, those choices are yours as to what you eat, and you count the calories.

Either way, when you lose weight it comes down to creating a calorie deficit. Noom works for many because it is largely a whole foods based approach which for many will auto create a calorie deficit...some people also find the counseling sessions beneficial. It really just depends on how much you can or will or want to do on your own vs how much outside assistance you might need. I have had friends that have done Noom with great success and the biggest thing I've heard from them is that they just couldn't bring themselves to put in the research and work to calorie count, which I totally get...for a lot of people, "just eat this" and follow the plan works. That's why a lot of guys I've known that have lost weight like Nutri System...it took all of the planning, etc out of it and just let them follow a plan.

Hm, I tried Noom for a week or so and there was no meal plan. There were just red, orange and green foods, indicating how calorie dense the foods are that you're eating. Like a really imprecise way to calorie count 😁

And there was the motivational side as well, working on goals and such (quizzes and such). Which I kind of appreciated, I just didn't like the coaching side of things since I wasn't interested in having a stranger asking me about my progress and goals and such. Just the idea of that have me unnecessary stress.

That's when I looked for an alternative and ended up here, happy to do my own thing alone 🙂

Jthanmyfitnesspal

Noom costs a lot more than (particularly the fee version of) MFP. My wife found it easier to use and liked the dietary feedback. MFP just helps you add it up. And the database is crowdsources, so it is full of bad entries.

FitAgainBy55

I used it for a month to restart logging after several failed attempts on my own.

I'm very knowledge concerning weight loss and fitness, having participated in a forum like this (another site) for several years after successfully getting fit. The knowledge wasn't the problem, failure to re-establish a consistent routine was my problem.

So, I signed up for the free trial and then paid for it for one month. The daily reading content, followed by a quiz and the reminders allowed me to re-establish a routine. I paid no attention to the green/red/yellow terminology. I also never responded to any attempt to contact me by the coach -- that part wasn't hard, they don't appear to do much one-on-one coaching, it's more group.

After I established my routine I canceled. It cost me $50 and given my prior failed attempts to sustain a restart it was well worth it. I don't use MFP to log food -- I have all my data in loseit.com. I wouldn't use Noom long term even if it were free -- the lack of a website (it's mobile app only), data reports, logging previous meals etc... make it pretty unusable compared to a full featured logging site like MFP or loseit.

But, if you are having trouble with momentum and sustaining logging your food and exercise, you might find it useful -- especially if you are new.