I like to post about Health & Fitness because there is a direct link between health and the way you look. So, my next couple posts will about dieting and my fitness plans.
Of course I work out, but I firmly believe that 90% of losing weight has to do with what you eat. Do you realize that it takes a helluva lot of exercise to burn 400 calories (or one meal)? Did you know that you have to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 pound of fat? Not to mention, you can't really pay attention to the scale since you'll be gaining so much muscle from working out that much.
Plus, exercising that much will quickly lead to burnout. Therefore, my answer is to watch calories. I don't pay attention to fat, carbs or anything else for that matter...just calories. With that being said, I do pay attention to other nutritional data on foods including sugar and sodium intake. Anyway, I stay within 1200 calories everyday and the only way I can do that successfully is with a calorie counting meal log. For the month of July, I used Noom Weight Loss Coach which is similar to My Fitness Pal. My plan is to use My Fitness Pal for the month of August to determine which one I like better. I have tried My Fitness Pal in the past, but I wasn't as serious about my calories then. Shoot, I wasn't real serious about anything back then, LOL.
Today I will review the Noom Weight Loss Coach app for Android (the free version).
Noom Review:
First, this is what the app looks like on my phone - Samsung Galaxy S4.
Coaching
Second, I really like this app and the main reason for that is that it's more of a coach than a calorie counting app. I really love that aspect. "Daily tasks help you understand what to do each day to lose weight".
And, let me tell you, if you like a challenge you'll love this app. And, if you like to accomplish goals (who doesn't?), you'll love it even more! Noom gives you small tasks to complete everyday which kept me coming back. I'm OCD about completing tasks, accomplishing goals and getting points! Yes, you get points for completing tasks and those points advance you through levels. I haven't quite figured out what you get for higher levels or why there are even points and levels for that matter, but I just like advancing, LOL.
Con - In order to get more coaching, they want you to pay for the Pro Subscription. It states that you can lose weight 2x faster with Pro. It's $9.99 per month, $19.99 for 3 months or $49.99 for a year.
Meal Logging/Calorie Counting
Noom makes meal logging pretty simple. You can either scan the UPC on your food packaging or you can use the Noom search engine. And, the foods you eat are saved.
Also, the app has all foods color coded using the stop light method - green, yellow and red foods. "Color-coded logging teaches you which foods are really healthy - and which foods aren't". You want most of your calories to come from green foods which are foods you can eat in abundance. You'll want to be cautious with yellow foods and your red foods are to be treated as indulgences. This is one of the main reasons I check into my app everyday because, to me, it's fun to see how many green foods I eat. It's also eye opening - in the beginning I was eating mostly red foods that I thought were green or, at least, yellow. I didn't even know how unhealthy I was eating until Noom told me. .
Con
- The app is a little touchy when adding new foods, there are a few
glitches including being unable to change the number of calories for new
foods from 200 (it's locked at 200).
Pedometer
Noom also has a built-in pedometer feature. The only problem I have with it is that I don't have my phone on my person at all times, so it doesn't catch every step I take. In addition, with the pedometer being on my phone it seems to be a bit more touchy than a regular pedometer. Sometimes, it'll count a step every time you hit a bump in the car or it'll log steps from just moving around in your handbag. I don't really pay attention to the pedometer feature. But, you can disable the pedometer by setting your daily step goal to 0.
Weigh In
Of course you are asked to weigh in every week and you see a chart of your progress, but that's about it with that feature.
Unfortunately, this is about as far as I've gotten with Noom in one month. With the free portion, you can also view your logbook (your meals, exercise and weight log) and your history (meals you've logged each day, your weigh ins and how many goals you accomplished each day). If you opt to go Pro, you can also join groups to motivate each other, log measurements and view recipes.
At this point, from what I remember about My Fitness Pal, they're pretty similar. But, I know My Fitness Pal doesn't have goals to accomplish each day and I love that about Noom. So, I think I'd recommend Noom over My Fitness Pal. But...keep looking for my review of My Fitness Pal next month. I can make my final call then.
If you've tried Noom, let me know what you think in the comment section.
XOXO
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