More on Noom App

Quick refresher: Noom is a weight loss app with both free and premium versions. I tried the premium, because I had a spark of hope that this might be the thing that helped me conquer my plateau. Let's start with the positive:

Cost. I paid $24.99 for a lifetime Noom subscription. Supposedly, it is refundable. I just put in my request this morning. Considering how expensive some of the monthly subscription apps are, this is a pretty good deal, if you're willing to buy apps for your phone. I tend not to do so. I've been playing the free version of Triple Town for over a year now. Just FYI.

Functionality. Noom will not let you down or give you up. No, seriously now, the app itself is well-designed, functional, reliable, and unobtrusive. It does not crash, hang-up, or drain my phone battery. These are all good things, ne? Overall, it is enjoyable to use and in the beginning, even kind of fun, although that wears off a little bit.

Now more the negative:

Philosophy. Noom bases its dieting philosophy on Volumetrics, a fairly ancient and hoopty method of weight loss that may not be suitable for many people. To be fair, a person over 300 lbs who is just beginning to try to eat differently would almost certainly benefit from this (and all other) means of weight loss that's based on calories restriction. It just makes sense. But for other groups it is likely to be needlessly frustrating and harmful. If a person basically has their dieting ducks in a row, but still can't lose that last 10 to 20 lbs, I seriously doubt this would help them in any way.

Additionally, Noom is likely to cause severe harm to anyone with a slew of preexisting conditions who uses their diet, which is extremely carbohydrate heavy and allergy-unfriendly. I'm a Type I diabetic. If I ate as they recommend, I would either gain weight or die from complications from high blood sugar. I would also die fuzzy-headed, cranky, and emotionally detached because of the excessive amount of grains (gluten) touted by this diet. People with celiac's...I think it could cause them severe harm too, but I'll let them speak to that one.

Noom goes through a lot of trouble to try and smear people who use low-carb or low-glycemic diets. It is actually pretty damn disgusting the amount of misinformation they are willing to spread on this topic. I lost all respect for their system once I started reading their anti-Atkins articles.

Partnerships. If you knew that your dieting app was in bed with a homophobic organization, would you keep the app? I have a pretty unflinching moral compass when it comes to groups that participate in anti-gay hate-speech. I marched in college. I gave in my twenties. I will again someday. So help me.

That's why I find Noom's partnership with Curves so utterly unbearable. I naively used the gym in my area...no, tell you what we're naming names here. I used the Curves in Fayetteville, Georgia. They routinely played homophobic music, mostly about murdering gay people - yes, I'm serious here. I mentioned that I thought it wasn't cool. OMG...snide. I quit going. Also, no, it didn't help me get into shape.

Not cool, Noom, not cool.

So that's it in a nutshell right there. I just requested my refund a little while ago. I will let you know if they don't cough up, like they advertise they will.