Hello everyone, I just checked in to see if the January thread had been started yet because I am back from my attempt at using NOOM again.

My advice to you - DO NOT BOTHER

As you may recall I was going on vacation for 2 weeks at the beginning of December and I wanted something to keep me conscious of my diet and health while I was away. So, I thought Noom, with its psychology but also coaching / group would really help me to stay on track.

To give you a bit of history, I had tried Noom a few years ago when it first came out - as I could remember, it had some good articles re: mindfulness etc. so I did think it had potential, but there was a major technical glitch.

When I signed up years ago, I was underwhelmed by the "support" aspect of the program. Unbeknownst to me, it was because there was an issue with my account and I was not assigned a group or a group coach, only a "goal specialist". Since I did not realize there was something missing until way into the program (my goal specialist kept in touch so I figured that was all the coaching that was offered), by the time I figured it out and was assigned to a group, most people in the group I was supposed to be in had either quit, or never posted anything - I was way too late to the party so did not get any benefit from it.

Oh well, I though - it was an error - maybe if this had worked correctly it would have been more valuable.

Fast forward to November - I signed up - got a new Goal Specialist and started reading my little articles, which are fine but not revolutionary - but a refresher never hurt anyone.

I noticed right away that the Goal Specialist was not as good this time around. Her answers seemed very canned and not particularly useful, last time the man was much more chatty. She started me on meal logging (ok, but already had been doing with MFP), steps (physical activity is generally not my issue but ok, fine, never bad advice I guess). When I asked for specific assistance regarding something, I was told it was my own journey or some such thing, I needed to be accountable for my own choices.. I get that, but it still seemed like kind of a weak answer. Whatever.

I signed up on November 20th - on Nov 25th I asked when I would be assigned to a group so I could benefit from the group coaching and discussion (remember - main reason I joined..) - was told it would be on day 15 of the course. Ok, will wait.

Sometime before that, I was told to build my group profile - great! I spent some time picking a nice picture, tried to make my profile upbeat and encouraging.. blah blah blah.. then waited.

Nothing happened. Continued logging and stepping. Just as I had done for free on MFP. Got some more generic goals set for me (add more green foods. Sure). I stressed again that I wanted a good support group and was told Yes! You will get one!

On Dec 5th, which would have been day 16 (I was told I would get a group on day 15) my activity told me to post something to my group. Which I still did not have. I reminded my Goal Specialist that I did not have a group. Again. Was told that yes, I should now have a group and that she would check into it.

December 8th - still not group. AGAIN. How have I tried this program 2x now, and 2x they have not managed to provide me with the number one thing that sets it apart from free MFP - personalized group and coaching? What am I paying for? So I told them to cancel my plan. I included a reason for discontinuation - that I was totally peeved off that I did not have a group / group coaching - again - even though I had clearly indicated that this was one of the main things I wanted from the program.

They responded with a computer generated message indicating that they were sad to see me go, but that I would still have access to my group until the end of my billing cycle..

WHAT??? WHAT GROUP?? THERE IS NO GROUP - that is the whole freaking problem!! This canned response aggravated me to no end. Did anyone even read my reason for discontinuing my program? Apparently not.

Then to really set me off - on Dec 9th, 20 days into the program - my Goal Specialist sent me a message that said "I can add you to a group if you would like :-) . Complete with a smiley face. I kid you not.

What? WHAAAT? What a stupid question.. or was she being rude / sarcastic? Not sure. But horrible customer service either way.

She then checked in on Dec 17 (after I had stopped logging / reading on the 8th because I was so annoyed) and again on the 23rd (Hey! Hope things are going well on your Journey! Well, what do you think? Thank goodness it was not a real journey, I could have fallen off a cliff and she would not have noticed).

This was a huge waste of time and money. Do not try Noom. I don't think MFP is perfect, I don't like a lot of the discussions as they are not relevant to me or have too much "magical thinking" diet advice, but honestly, Noom was poorly run and not worth the price.

So long story short - I am back and will be adding to the January goals discussion... ! Good luck this month everyone.