Calorie Zones, Food Color-Coding, Nursing Tools and more
We continually improve and update Noom for two big reasons: first, we are based in science, and science is always evolving; and second, we constantly seek to implement feedback we hear from our community on how we can make the Noom experience – and your health journey – better.
A key theme of recent feedback has been the desire for more flexibility and control, specifically:
— “I wish Noom was more flexible to meet my unique needs.”
— “I love Noom but I don’t want a rigid calorie goal.”
— “Weighing in daily can make me feel anxious.”
— “Labeling foods ‘red’ makes me feel like they are off limits.”
— “I am nursing and I want more control over my calorie goals.”
A core tenet of Noom is to empower Noomers to take control of their health and we’re happy to make new updates that further deliver on this. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be introducing the following enhancements:
Orange is the New Red
Foods previously coded as red will now be labeled as orange to better signal that in our program, no foods are off-limits. Noom believes in having a healthy relationship with all foods in order to establish sustainable habits for every phase of your wellness journey.
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While our initial approach of labeling foods as red, yellow, and green was inspired by what is an intuitive system for many, we have received feedback from some Noomers that logging some foods as red makes them feel as though they are off-limits. We piloted the change from red to orange with a small group of Noomers and the feedback was positive – We found that changing the color signifying high-density foods to orange is just as intuitive for Noomers, but doesn’t carry the same emotional or cultural inference as the color red.
Increased Calorie Flexibility
In the interest of providing our Noomers with increased flexibility, we’re replacing fixed calorie budgets – which can be perceived by some as rigid targets – with wider calorie zones. This better reflects the reality that no one behaves the same way every day, including how they consume and expend calories. Noomers will now receive a daily calorie range where the lower limit is the calorie goal associated with the fastest healthy weight loss speed and the upper limit is the calorie goal associated with the slowest weight loss speed.
We’ve also doubled down on a more Noomer-controlled experience with the addition of a feature that allows Noomers to manually change their daily target calorie zone. This tool is helpful to Noomers who wish to take a more hands-on approach to their calorie tracking and also for those who have different calorie needs, like those who are lactating and those who wish to simply maintain their weight.
Additional Safety Tools for Nursing and Lactating Noomers
People who are nursing and lactating need to take in additional calories to account for calories required to produce milk. To support nursing and lactating Noomers, we adjust their recommended weight loss pace to reflect additional calories needed for nursing and lactating, in part by automatically adding 500 calories to their basal metabolic rate (or calories burned at rest) calculation to reinforce calorie zones that are intended for safe weight loss.
Weigh-In Empathy
While research shows how effective self-monitoring (like regular weigh-ins) can be when trying to reach a wellness goal, we also know that stepping on the scale can bring up a range of negative emotions for some. We’ve updated the language in our “prepare your scale” lesson that appears at the beginning of our program to let Noomers know that any feelings that they bring to the scale are valid and that it’s okay to opt for whatever weigh-in schedule that works for them. Additionally, our coaches are ready to help Noomers navigate the program without ever stepping on the scale if that is what makes them feel best.
We also hope that this provides more flexibility for the many Noomers who come to Noom to achieve health goals beyond weight loss.
New Content Focused on Healthy Relationships With Food
We’re excited about our new updates and we’re always all about upping our game when it comes to our educational content – especially as it relates to building a healthy relationship with food. In addition to refreshed content that gives context to our updates above, we’ve also added even more guidance on things like listening to your body, when to adjust your calorie budget, spotting the signs of disordered eating, and more.
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This isn’t the first time we’ve made updates based on your feedback – and it won’t be the last. Thank you to all who provided feedback and shared your behavior change stories with us. We’re grateful for your continued input at programsupport@noom.com.
