I lost interest in Noom a month in.
I’m back to an old fashioned journal and MyFitnessPal.
I keep eating sensible meals during the day, then undo my progress by snacking after dinner. If I don’t have junk around, I end up snacking on healthy things, keeping my weight at a plateau. I don’t have the willpower I had in my 20s and 30s.
It’s really more that you don’t have the hormones and/or insulin sensitivity that you had in your 20s and 30s.
Without taking time to read this long thread, I supported my wife when she went on Noom. The dietary conclusions I reached were that I need protein, and eggs or just a few ounces of some sort of meat are the best ways for me to get it. I need some fat, and a few pats of butter now and then and a bit of avocado on my bird bread toast are plenty over the course of the day. I need carbs, but there are all sorts of carbs. I have tried to 86 the highly processed sugars, white bread sorts of carbs, etc. and to up the higher water content vegetables, dried beans, and nuts. I drifted slowly, over a year, from two hundred pounds but not looking particularly overweight to 155, dropping a few inches, and looking much thinner. Best of all, it has been easy to maintain. I still have a drink most evenings and the occasional splurges like carrot cake, enchiladas, and cheeseburgers. Lots of water throughout the day. A daily walk of three miles with plenty of steep hills. If my weight drifts up a pound or two I do not let it go any further and quickly peel it off with things like vegetarian minestrone, ramen, salads, and grilled chicken thighs or lean pork.
Congratulations, that sounds like a positive change and journey that you’ve been able to align with your life.
How did Noom (and the after days) work for your wife? I
It’s both hormones and willpower/trouble with moderation in my case.
I used to be able to not eat after dinner.
My fat distribution has changed due to the hormonal changes. I always have had a thick waist and no hips or butt, and it’s become worse. My weight has stayed the same for the past 7 years due to the efforts I’ve made , including monthly meeting with a registered dietitian, which keeps me on the straight and narrow at least a couple weeks a month.
It worked very well. We have truly altered not just the way we eat but also the way we want to eat. It took time and reading Noom’s daily information. Now it is second nature, and based on what I eat I can predict my weight change within about two tenths of a pound. Just had a lunch of about an ounce of leftover pork tender, a scallion pancake heated on a dry griddle, and a dipping sauce of tamari, rice vinegar, mirin, garlic, and ginger. Breakfast was a one egg breakfast taco on an HEB 45 calorie flour tortilla with a little Herdez avocado salsa.
Good for you and your wife. I have a couple of friends who lost a bunch (20 & 30lbs, respectively) on Noom. I did not, not in the 5 months I tried. I found the pop psychology a bit annoying, the logging can be done for free on MyFitnesspal (not that I trust most calorie entries for products, since they can vary wildly), and in the end, all it is is a glorified calorie restriction program.
I was on 1,200 calories for most of the program and did not lose a single pound lastingly. My friend who lost 30lbs gained most of it back within half a year… like most people tend to do.
I have found that, to lose weight, I have to consistently and severely reduce my calorie intake to the point where I am almost starving myself. Physical activity, cutting down on booze by 75% - none of that made one bit of a difference. Hormones are certainly not helping at this stage in life.
Eventually I will have to decide whether I want to chasten myself for the rest of my life, or if I can let go of what is essentially vanity.
As long as you are healthy, be happy!
That damn vanity, though. I’m lucky in that I carry some extra poundage fairly well (it’s evenly distributed 
), but my many dresses don’t care. I’m “only” about 16lbs over where I’d like to be, ideally, but even the nurse at the last visit asked if “I knew about BMI numbers.”
Message received 
Weight loss and clothing can be tricky to navigate. I needed to replace everything but socks and ties. Fortunately I have, and like, a reasonably sized but definitely on the small end of reasonable, wardrobe. I ended up with an odd numbered waist size. So my khakis and shorts bunch a little at the waist. Dress slacks can be readily found in odd numbered sizes. My collars are a smidge loose on my neck, down to just under 15" from a full 16 1/2, but it is not noticeable. Another unforeseen is that my shoes are more comfortable.
Maybe, although what a lot of people (including nutritionists, docs, etc) call willpower or lack thereof is actually insulin resistance rearing its ugly head. It can turn “mouth” cravings into “body” cravings, which are much harder to resist, in the blink of an eye.
Good for you for maintaining your weight for 7 years! Not a small achievement. I’m sure you’re getting excellent advice from your RD. It’s a tough but worthy battle. I’m on day 3 of resisting opening the 3 huge bags of Halloween candy we bought for the hordes of trick or treaters we get every year. Hopefully after culling out a few favorites on Monday, we can give all the rest away. I don’t have a major sweet tooth, but also haven’t indulged it at all for the past few months. The peanut butter cups and Almond Joy’s can call out to me if they’re around…
Congratulations!
Any predictions with the ramen? I am not frequently tempted by carbs, but ramen is sometimes on that short list.
@Lambchop , so far I only have Snickers, so if nobody comes…
Lol. To me, Snickers don’t taste like they used to, but that doesn’t stop me this time of year if I have a craving. I’ll also munch down on a Kit Kat or 2.
ETA: did you read the post about Hero Bread? 0 net carbs per slice, also tortillas. Spendy, but would be worth it if they taste good, or even ok.
I make “cheating” ramen. Season roasted vegetable broth with ginger, mirin, tamari, sliced shiitakes, scallions, and julienned carrots. Toss in buckwheat noodles and thin sliced sirloins. Top with fresh scallions, sunflower sprouts, and a halved seven minute egg. By not using the deep fried ramen noodles you reduce the calories a good bit.
Have made satisfying pho with spiralized zucchini noodles, also good when mixed with a few regular rice noodles. Shirataki can be quite acceptable as well.
