Still, I wasnt exactly at peace with my body, and Noom caught my attention.
If I was sick of dieting, the ad told me, then Noom was for me.
I have an intimate understanding of diet culture and the weight-loss landscape.
So, what does Nooms not a diet weight loss look like?
Maybe if you did, your body would naturally take on its ideal form?
The hashtag:#intuitiveeating.
An emphasis on thoughts and feelings is how Noom distinguishes itself from other weight loss appsin theory.
The idea is not to intuit that you should eat as many donuts as possible day after day.
Still, any attempt to break away from diet culture is a good thing, right?
After all, Noom promises to help you finally transform your habits and mindset around food.
An emphasis on thoughts and feelings is how Noom distinguishes itself from other weight loss appsin theory.
Heres what it looks like in practice.
When you fire up the app, it doesnt look like other calorie tracking apps…at first.
To do thisas happened toany numberofothersbefore meNoom started me out around 1,400 calories a day.That is not enough calories.
Yep, I know that consistency is key to change.
Yeah, I know that lettuce has fewer calories than peanut butter.
YES, GRAPES HAVE MORE WATER THAN RAISINS.
THIS MAKES GRAPES SUPERIOR.
Physics be damnedthats a recipe for a dangerous relationship with food.
Unfortunately, Noom doesnt transcend the calories=bad framework either.
It merely color-codes it.
Foods with high water content, like most fruits and vegetables, are green foods.
Foods that are calorically-dense, like oil and most desserts, are red foods.
Other red foods: peanut butter and full-fat yogurt.
Noom seduces you with anti-diet rhetoric.
The language employedlike progress not perfectionis exactly what you want to hear when practicing something like intuitive eating.
Any toddler can tell you green means go and red means stop.
And they didnt make full-fat yogurt green, did they?
Those numbers dont scream sustainable lifestyle changes.
The low success rate isnt actually a surprise.
From a business standpoint, then, Noom doesnt really want you to be at peace with food.
You dont need Noom
I certainly see the appeal of Nooms psychology-backed and totally-not-a-diet promises.
Sadly, thats just not the case.
Its important to ask questions of any app trying to make money off of you.
Why wouldnt Noom want to keep you in a cycle of restriction that also keeps you renewing your subscription?
Why would Noom ever want you to achieve true body neutrality (or positivity)?
Why would Noom be any different from any other diet?
You canmake strides to eat healthier without counting every calorie.
Because yeah, no: Any claim Noom is not a diet is bullshit.
