Noom vs MFP-any other Noomers on here with experience?
monaraehill2
Posts: 61 Member
There seems to be an awfully large difference between noom and mfp.
Same exact entries today, but noom has me down as haven eaten 1420 calories while mfp has me down for only 899, and this is not the first time....any other noomers out there that noticed?
They are both synched with my garmin....hmmmm...maybe this is why i haven't been able to shed appropriately....that's quite a spread. geez.
Not sure why or how this is happening....not sure which to trust, but my history with NOT losing much on MFP, makes me steer towards Noom....
Same exact entries today, but noom has me down as haven eaten 1420 calories while mfp has me down for only 899, and this is not the first time....any other noomers out there that noticed?
They are both synched with my garmin....hmmmm...maybe this is why i haven't been able to shed appropriately....that's quite a spread. geez.
Not sure why or how this is happening....not sure which to trust, but my history with NOT losing much on MFP, makes me steer towards Noom....
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Replies
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I noticed higher calories on Noom as well but usually about 100 or so difference. I personally trust mfp more but maybe check portion size on mfp to make sure you are logging accurately.2
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So how do you log? Do you use a foodscale and make sure the database entries are correct?0
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yes, using a food scale.....the portions seem to be calculated slightly differently....for instance, coconut milk....cup on mfp, bowl on noom, i was assuming that a bowl is 16 ounces = 2 cups......Doesn't seem like that could be it, but maybe. I am going to use the same calorie count, see if that makes a dif...it's a bit weird....lol0
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Volume measures for everything but true liquids are easy to get wrong. Try using weight measures wherever possible. I use grams for everything I can. That should help tighten up your logging.3
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There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings1
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@monaraehill2 did you get it figured out? I've been on Noom since November and stopped using Noom to log just over a month ago and went back to MFP. I still log in to do the readings and chat with my coach and group. Noom not only had strange portions for many foods (and no gram option) but often the calories were inaccurate per the label on the food. I talked with my 1:1 coach about it and she said use MFP if that's what works for me. I use a food scale and measure to the gram on everything. As soon as I stopped logging in Noom and went back to measuring to the gram with everything and using MFP, I started losing again (after really no progress with Noom after 2 months). I think there is just no comparison between the two food logging platforms - for both accuracy and user options. Hope that helps!0
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I get the impression Noom is designed for those who won't actually weigh and properly measure all their food or take the time to look for a good database entry. Additionally, I found the entire platform very - entry level.
Tried it briefly for the free trial period, and it was WAY to basic for me, and seemed designed for those with little to no fitness/health experience and no idea where to even start - so might be great for that category, but was not something I was finding remotely helpful.3 -
I'm curious about noom, I've heard people talk about it but what makes it different from MPF, WW, or Jenny Craig?
Karen0 -
I have never used Noom but I do see a lot of inaccurate entries in MFP or entries that do not include a weight (grams or oz). I prefer to weigh things since it is just easier for me. When the entries only have fl oz or ml, it can be difficult to convert it without knowing more about the food.1
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I tried noom and I think it would have been a great tool when I was first starting and did not know much about nutrition. However having been on my journey for so long now and have a much better understanding it was too basic for me. I prefer all the options for customizing my goals and settings in MFP, but at the beginning MFP was a little overwhelming and noom would have been an awesome tool to start with.0
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makethistimedifferent wrote: »I'm curious about noom, I've heard people talk about it but what makes it different from MPF, WW, or Jenny Craig?
Karen
@makethistimedifferent, it uses cognitive behavioural therapy techniques to teach you how to lose weight, puts food into colour buckets to help steer you to foods that may help you feel full longer, and provides group and coaching support.
The articles were supposed to be fun but I found them grating sometimes. I wasn’t 100% sure my coach was a real person and my group wasn’t very interactive. Often I couldn’t find foods and if I recall, there wasn’t a way to add them.
On MFP I can eat how I want to, my friends are supportive, fun, and engaging. And during my time have found groups that are interactive. The database is more expansive (if not always accurate).
Haven’t tried Jenny Craig and it’s been about 20 years since I did WW so I cannot compare against those ones.
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I just canceled my Noom. It basically said that I had to eat at 1200 cal a day in order to lose weight. I’m 65 years old and 183 pounds and 5 foot six. That didn’t seem very healthy to me and yet when I was eating 1500 cal a day I still didn’t lose weight. I upped my exercise intensity in yoga and walked about 20% more insteps, and added several glasses of water to my daily intake. I liked the daily weigh ins, however, my weight fluctuated within a 3 pound range over those 19 days and essentially I may be only lost 1 pound. Not too good since I’m trying to lose 40 pounds for my bone frame. I’m hoping that a better understanding of what makes up the green yellow and red foods will be more helpful to me. My daughter tells me this is macro eating. So, While it was fun, bottom line is I didn’t find Noom any added value For the $44.99 per month price.0
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makethistimedifferent wrote: »I'm curious about noom, I've heard people talk about it but what makes it different from MPF, WW, or Jenny Craig?
Karen
@makethistimedifferent, it uses cognitive behavioural therapy techniques to teach you how to lose weight, puts food into colour buckets to help steer you to foods that may help you feel full longer, and provides group and coaching support.
The articles were supposed to be fun but I found them grating sometimes. I wasn’t 100% sure my coach was a real person and my group wasn’t very interactive. Often I couldn’t find foods and if I recall, there wasn’t a way to add them.
On MFP I can eat how I want to, my friends are supportive, fun, and engaging. And during my time have found groups that are interactive. The database is more expansive (if not always accurate).
Haven’t tried Jenny Craig and it’s been about 20 years since I did WW so I cannot compare against those ones.
@Cat0703a Thank you so much for your response and insight. Do you think, assuming your coach was real and not AI, you had the same coach or someone different every time you reached out? Did you have an allotted amount of sessions you could use?
Thanks again for your time!
Karen0 -
Shocker, I know, but BOTH are wrong. Very very wrong.
The solution is simple, you want to lose weight, weight yourself each and everyday, at the same time, preferably first thing after you get up after going to the toilet. Take average of the 7 days spread and that the starting weight. Pick one calorie counter and input all you eat, liquid (cups or oz) and solids (grams). If you next week you weight less, that means keep on eating those calories until you stop losing weight. The following week, eat a bit less. How much less, well that depends on your goal but 200cal / day is more than enough to lose weight in a healthy way.0 -
soulo_ridah wrote: »Shocker, I know, but BOTH are wrong. Very very wrong.
The solution is simple, you want to lose weight, weight yourself each and everyday, at the same time, preferably first thing after you get up after going to the toilet. Take average of the 7 days spread and that the starting weight. Pick one calorie counter and input all you eat, liquid (cups or oz) and solids (grams). If you next week you weight less, that means keep on eating those calories until you stop losing weight. The following week, eat a bit less. How much less, well that depends on your goal but 200cal / day is more than enough to lose weight in a healthy way.
Basically, I agree with you . . . if we ignore the psychological challenges that are relevant for some people, and the educational dimension that could make the process easier for some. I think those may be the main appeal of WW or Noom.
But, to the bolded: Hmm, dunno. Are you saying a 200 calorie deficit is sufficient? 200 calorie actual deficit on average daily is four tenths of a pound weight loss per week, roughly, more or less. That's fine for someone with a small number of pounds to lose - ideal - but too slow for best health outcomes for someone who's severely obese. To put it another way, it's just a touch under 21 pounds of loss per year . . . and of course, the calorie intake that represented a 200-calorie deficit at starting weight will be a smaller deficit as the body gets lighter, all other things equal.
If you're suggesting dropping 200 calories every time weight loss slows/stops over a 7-day time period, weird water weight fluctuations are likely to drop a lot of people - particularly premenopausal adult women - into a too-low calorie level doing that. (I've had weeks, even when losing well, that looked like a stall. They weren't.)
OP: Keep in mind that when MFP gives you a goal, it's an estimate, the average number of calories for a person similar to you. You're an individual. If you're counting accurately, and the results differ from expected, adjust your goal based on experience, as the post I quoted implies . . . but maybe in a bit more nuanced way. If you're still getting a crazy-wide spread between MFP & Noom, something else is wrong. Opening your diary here, as Kshama suggests, is a good idea.
P.S. Logging in "bowls" is not a good idea. It's not even a standardized volume measure. It could be any size bowl. In theory, "cups" should at least be an 8-oz volume measure, in the US. In theory. Weighing in grams is the accurate approach, but it does take a little extra work at first to find good entries in the MFP food database.2 -
I love noom and it has really helped me change my attitude towards food, but their food log is worthless. Every item I log, I have to correct the calorie count. Regardless of where I log my food, I always verify the calories.1
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makethistimedifferent wrote: »makethistimedifferent wrote: »I'm curious about noom, I've heard people talk about it but what makes it different from MPF, WW, or Jenny Craig?
Karen
@makethistimedifferent, it uses cognitive behavioural therapy techniques to teach you how to lose weight, puts food into colour buckets to help steer you to foods that may help you feel full longer, and provides group and coaching support.
The articles were supposed to be fun but I found them grating sometimes. I wasn’t 100% sure my coach was a real person and my group wasn’t very interactive. Often I couldn’t find foods and if I recall, there wasn’t a way to add them.
On MFP I can eat how I want to, my friends are supportive, fun, and engaging. And during my time have found groups that are interactive. The database is more expansive (if not always accurate).
Haven’t tried Jenny Craig and it’s been about 20 years since I did WW so I cannot compare against those ones.
@Cat0703a Thank you so much for your response and insight. Do you think, assuming your coach was real and not AI, you had the same coach or someone different every time you reached out? Did you have an allotted amount of sessions you could use?
Thanks again for your time!
Karen
@makethistimedifferent, your one on one coach reaches out once per week and helps set an intention…maybe 3 short messages. It was not what I’d hoped for. The group coach posts topics but didn’t do much more than that. Both are the same “person” much of the time but there were other names that stopped in when coach was on a day off or something. The coach interaction was not what I expected at all.0 -
makethistimedifferent wrote: »makethistimedifferent wrote: »I'm curious about noom, I've heard people talk about it but what makes it different from MPF, WW, or Jenny Craig?
Karen
@makethistimedifferent, it uses cognitive behavioural therapy techniques to teach you how to lose weight, puts food into colour buckets to help steer you to foods that may help you feel full longer, and provides group and coaching support.
The articles were supposed to be fun but I found them grating sometimes. I wasn’t 100% sure my coach was a real person and my group wasn’t very interactive. Often I couldn’t find foods and if I recall, there wasn’t a way to add them.
On MFP I can eat how I want to, my friends are supportive, fun, and engaging. And during my time have found groups that are interactive. The database is more expansive (if not always accurate).
Haven’t tried Jenny Craig and it’s been about 20 years since I did WW so I cannot compare against those ones.
@Cat0703a Thank you so much for your response and insight. Do you think, assuming your coach was real and not AI, you had the same coach or someone different every time you reached out? Did you have an allotted amount of sessions you could use?
Thanks again for your time!
Karen
@makethistimedifferent, your one on one coach reaches out once per week and helps set an intention…maybe 3 short messages. It was not what I’d hoped for. The group coach posts topics but didn’t do much more than that. Both are the same “person” much of the time but there were other names that stopped in when coach was on a day off or something. The coach interaction was not what I expected at all.
What could the coaches have done that would have made your experience with them ideal or beneficial?
Thank you again for your thoughts. I genuinely appreciate it.
Karen0 -
I used noom for a while about 10 years ago when it was very different than it is now, and I also did a free trial of the modern version about a year and a half ago.
I'm just - not that impressed. The categorizing foods using stoplight colors can contribute to feelings of shame and anxiety around food. They talk up food psychology a lot, but I don't think they really quite have a synchronicity between the articles and their other methods.3 -
I'd second what @ONUnicorn said. The information in the articles is helpful though it seems to be written for a younger audience (I've been on Noom since November and finishing the last module now) but other parts of Noom (logging platform and coaching) are sub-par. And to echo what @ONUnicorn said about the color system: there are many articles about not labeling your food as "good" or "bad" but then the foods are labeled by color (by calorie density) and the yellow and red categories are limited daily, if you follow their system. It wasn't working for me - for example: I'm not a fan of switching to a fat free or low fat version of something that has more additives just so I can be in the green category. I went back to logging/tracking in MFP and started losing weight again. I'm still on Noom just finishing the educational articles since I already paid for the membership (no refunds).
@makethistimedifferent the 1:1 coaching is especially disappointing. I tried Noom specifically because I wanted 1:1 coaching and I'm quite sure the first coach I had was a bot (perhaps just temporary until I was assigned my coach), then the second one didn't actually read what I said in my messages and responded with generic messages so I asked to be re-assigned, the third one is a bit better and seems to be a real human but I have stopped looking for help from that coach. I get more out of podcasts, the MFP community, etc. I would encourage you that if you're looking for actual 1:1 health/fitness/wellness coaching, do not look to Noom for that.
The Noom group and group coach are what you make of it. My Noom group is pretty active (they merge with other groups as people drop out so it does stay active) with many of the original users that started with me back in November. If you want to go there for accountability and to talk about issues or celebrate NSV, it's great. There are topics the group coach posts and you can choose to interact if you want.
I wrote more about Noom over in this post:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10852454/anyone-used-noom#latest
I'd say that there's no harm in trying the free trial - maybe it would be a good fit for you; really just depends on what you're looking for. But, for the money, I'm not impressed and really wish I hadn't paid up front for the long-term subscription. Based on the marketing, I honestly thought I was getting a 1:1 coach and that the price was worth it but I certainly do not feel that way now. I see it as I purchased a poorly formatted online course heavily focused on the psychological aspects/theories/methods of weight loss. You don't get to keep the articles (unless you screenshot every page), you can't access the program on your computer (app only), and you lose all access to the material, your notes, your group, etc when your subscription expires.
You know best what you need on your journey! Maybe Noom would be a great place to start, maybe not. Either way I hope this was helpful!0 -
@makattack220 I was asking because I am an eating habits coach and I had one person ask me how I differed from noom, which I didn't have an answer for because I had never tried it. So my questions are a bit from a market research perspective. I appreciate the feedback from @ONUnicorn and @Cat0703a as well.0
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