My Noom Journey (25 pounds lighter)

My Noom Journey (25 pounds lighter)

My Noom Journey 25 pounds lighter.jpg

I joined Noom back in mid-October. I basically was at a point that I really felt like I needed to do something about my health. I did lose around 30 pounds back in 2019. I counted calories and exercised. But the moment stress hit (we listed our house, we sold our house, moved, life), I gained it all back. I gained about 15 of it pretty quickly, then the other 15 over a year or so. COVID baking and take out did not help either. I had heard about Noom from many sources, and I finally decided to give it a go. I knew it was similar to counting calories, but I heard the articles could be habit changing. This is key to help me maintain the weight loss after I succeed. I received an email with an 80% discount, and I decided to just do it. I signed up for a year upfront. I did get a 2 week trial for free, however. I will try and do a post all about their app later. But you can find my experience so far below! I also created an instagram specific to my weight loss if you want to follow along. I am hoping it will help with my accountability as well. It is @livingmore_weighingless.

The App

So I won’t go into too much detail here, but I did want to share some basic info. First off, this was my very first meal with Noom. Brad’s parents were visiting, and so we had donuts and breakfast casserole along with soda for BREAKFAST alone. I mean if that doesn’t paint a clear picture to my health and my being overweight, I don’t know what does! However, you will see in the second pictures, I have gotten better about managing eating out and still staying within my calories and colors. Speaking of the colors, there are three: green (eat more of), yellow (eat a moderate amount of), and red (eat the least of). Red doesn’t mean bad or you can’t have. It just means you don’t want to make up your entire diet of just red because you will be hungry sooner. The idea is green foods keep you fuller longer, so eat more of those. I must say, I have been overall happier and less hungry doing Noom vs simply counting calories. Back in 2018/2019, if we went out to eat, I would eat nothing but a protein shake all day to save my calories. Now I make smarting choices to stay full but still enjoy eating out.

After the trial period ends, you are introduced to your group. You can be as active or as inactive as you want.

The articles are pretty helpful, but can be overwhelming. The idea is you tell them how many minute you want to dedicate to the articles a day. Then you only receive articles that should take up that time. They do offer some extra credit articles that will put you over that time frame. But some of the articles require some thought and “extra” work. You can see one of those below. This can be overwhelming on bad days. If you don’t read an article one day, it just carries over to the next day. This has happened to me a few times during busier days (especially the holidays). I try not to let it fluster me or get me down though.

Exercise

So exercise is not required or pushed really with Noom. There is a step counter and exercise log within the app though. The steps start small in the beginning and increase or decrease depending on if you meet your goal that day. I did buy the exercise guide they offered. If you have a program or knowledge on exercising, it really isn’t necessary. It provides you with a plan and description of every move. I did it a lot in the beginning, but I have lately been focusing on my steps more.

Food

I also purchased the meal plan, and it was not worth it at all. It did include a few snacks that I did find helpful, and one recipe, but that was it. Below you can see some of the meals I have with Noom. I will also start an ongoing post that I include recipes ideal while doing Noom. Of course you can have any food, but these recipes are more Noom friendly in that they are “greener” and generally healthier.

Breakfast

So I am going to be honest, my breakfast is usually cereal, a smoothie, or just coffee. I am not a big breakfast person. Most of the egg dishes below I eat at lunch actually. But I did want to include them under breakfast. I will include links for any recipes I have a post for already.

Lunch

Like I said above, I eat eggs a lot for lunch. I also make sandwiches, stir fry, salads, and leftovers.

  • Egg Sandwiches

  • Tuna Sandwiches, sometimes I get creative with hotdog buns, ha

  • Bellpepper Egg Salad Boats

  • Stir Fry - Use precooked chicken from freezer or buy some from fast food, use rice cups, and whatever veggies you have on hand

  • Honey Ginger Salmon (any salmon recipe will do) with a salad

  • Salad in Pita Bread - I like to get a salad from Panera

  • Taquitos

  • Homemade Tortilla Chips

  • Tacos in Lettuce Cups

  • Leftovers!

Dinner

I definitely put more effort into our dinners. I like to try new things when I can, and I try to make it more wholesome. My goals each night are to not snack after dinner. So by making a heavier dinner I feel I am more likely to do that. It doesn’t always happen of course, but I try!

Before and After

So as of the post, I have lost 28 pounds. I wasn’t very smart about putting the before picture first in all of them below, but you should hopefully be able to tell, ha.

My goal is to lose 100 pounds. I am taking it 25 pounds at a time though. I have a chart I am keeping at home in my closet to keep track. I will also include a less personal version of the chart below. This is showing my weight loss through February 2021. Stay tuned to more posts about Noom and my weight loss journey (again).

Noom Yearly Chart.jpg
Pizza Bowls

Pizza Bowls

Honey Ginger Salmon

Honey Ginger Salmon